Geographic distance can lead to psychological distance. Generally, the further away colleagues are, the less connected we may feel. Cultural differences may also lead to psychological distance because we feel closer to people who are similar or who work in a way that makes sense to us. If we feel psychologically distant from our colleagues,
The technology is working well enough and everyone has learned to share screens and mute themselves. What’s next? Learning how to operate successfully as a 100% remote team and that begins with the leader. Recently I facilitated a series of workshops for a client on this topic. After three weeks of working at home and navigating
How virtual teams effectively use communication tools. We have all been in a meeting that should have been an email. And we have all read email exchanges that should have been meetings. As communication tools are the backbone of virtual work, virtual teams benefit from understanding the characteristics of the various tools and agreeing on
Swoosh. That is the sound of conferences and on-site meetings being canceled due to the coronavirus. It has happened to me, and many others, and now we are all quickly scrambling for Plan B – a virtual meeting. In the ideal world, conference organizers would redesign the flow for remote participants, such as multiple sessions, engaging virtual activities,
Sometimes looking from a different angle makes the difference. For years I have pondered the key ingredients to make an offshoring structure in a company a success. By offshoring I mean the centralization of a function in one location (ie., Shared Service Center, Center of Excellence, R&D Center) with internal customers or colleagues around the
