I’ll work from under a palm tree, thanks. You?

That would be my ‘workcation’- somewhere where I could see the water, feel the sun, watch some boats sail by and paddle and splash in the sea. 

What about you? What’s your dreamy work location, because it could become one of those standard job perks that are today... standard, for many. 

Beyond the opportunity to ‘forever work from home’ that some of the big tech companies announced in recent months, Google is now up for the month-long remote-work-from-anywhere perk. 

This article in CNBC’s Global Traveller by Monica Pitrelli shows how the competitive advantage of employee flexibility is growing. 

I was pleased to provide some comment for the article. 

Imagine holidaying. Working. Then holidaying some more. Or enjoying the local cuisine and sights at night after remote work during the day. 

Or remote all night, party all day 😱

It could be just the holiday extender we need when borders open more, and our travel dreams move closer to reality. 

The lines are further blurring between here and there, this cocktail and that zoom meeting. 

Hybrid Work - Masterclass

Hybrid Work: some people are here, some are there, some people are alone, some are together. Onsite or offsite, work better with everyone

The new realities of work mean you’ll more likely be having a mix of where people are located, for every meeting, workshop, team and project. 

The world of work continues to change. Not everyone is working from home, OR working from an office. 

Be prepared and know what tools, techniques, processes and methods to use to lead in this unique experience of a hybrid workshop or meeting. 

You can't just 'wing it.'

I've been leading a 2-hour masterclass to answer:
- how to achieve and maintain engagement across all of these different spaces
- how to know people are engaged and participating
- how to get people involved
- how to you use breakout rooms if not everyone is on their own device
- what do we need to do differently than if everyone is in the one place (all online or all in the one location).

People said: 
“Best facilitated online session during COVID”
“The most engaging facilitator I’ve seen”
“Lots of good stuff & fun at the same time”.

Get in contact to find out more...

Accidentally excluded

It sucks to be forgotten, to be left off the list, overlooked and be invisible. It can happen by accident when we overlook or forget someone.

Yet this exclusion - when accidental - is not necessary, again. One ‘accident’ of leaving someone off a list somewhere should alert you that you need to be hyper-aware of inclusion. Every single time you’re trying to include people... check your list.

The standard questions of ‘who do we need to invite?’ or ‘who comes to this meeting?’ can’t be trusted to our overloaded attention and memory.

Set up a system. And have others check it too. Heck, even Santa makes a list ... and checks it twice.

Ask not ‘Have we missed anyone?’ - it’s a closed question that is easy to answer with ‘No ... I don’t think so.’

Rather ask, ‘Who have we missed?’ Our eyes, ears and brains then go searching for the missing pieces and names of actual people who should be there.

It’s not an ‘invite everyone’ solution either, as we drown under the weight of too many people at too many poorly led meetings. Who has been accidentally excluded ... and therefore needs to be deliberately included?

The ultimate in remote and distributed collaboration

When I'm running facilitation training programs and I gather a bunch of 'concerns, questions, challenges' at the start of the day, many people raise the remote hookups and telconference topic.

Whether it's a video hookup or audio only, there are plenty of tricky challenges:

- how do you keep people engaged

- how do you KNOW if they're engaged

- how do you achieve what you need to do in the time available

- how do .... <insert your challenge and question here!>

I am an occasional listener (wierd as it may be but thanks to my father's careers and keen interest in all things mechanical) to the Air Traffic Control feed of my local airport in Melbourne. 

Think about it - hundreds of people flying through the air at speed in the airspace above you, in big metal tubes, with a couple of people 'up front' in control of the metal tube. 

On the ground, air traffic controllers observing, managing and directing traffic through and around the airspace. 

I think this is the ultimate in remote and distributed collaboration and communication. 

Heights, speed restrictions, approaches, departures, angles, gate allocations, weather advice, wheelchair requirements for passengers (yes, they arrange this in the air) and many other key pieces of information are communicated, resolved, discussed and arranged with some, but not full visuals. 

Shorthand, codes and abbreviations are used as part of their operational jargon. It's efficient.

Questions are asked by pilots - 'can we cancel our speed restrictions'? And they are answered by air traffic controllers.

Controllers ask questions of pilots - 'can you use runway 27 or do you need 35'? 

And problems are solved - 'our headset for arrivals transmission is not operational. Can you relay please?'

If day in and out these critical pieces of information are able to be encoded, communicated and decoded in what can be perilous environments, a phone or video hookup with the team in another city shouldn't be so hard!

• You must allow more time than you think you'll need for the topic.
• Allow for time to introduce, engage, map out the agenda, take questions.
• Allow time for problem solving, information sharing and collaborating.
• Allow time for general discussions and 'wonderings' by participants too. 

In your haste to get 'stuff done', you might be communicating some messages you had no intention of conveying! The consequences could be far reaching and the rework may be costly and time consuming. Check understanding - check again for questions. 

Play air traffic controller at your next remote meeting and focus on clear communication and great collaboration. 

And now... tuning in to the feed, the massive A380 is coming in to Melbourne from LA. QF94. Now that's a BIG project to get on the ground safely!

A view from the tail camera on board the A380, coming in to land in Melbourne from LA.