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Key takeaways from a #virtualspacehero LinkedIn LIVE
09.10.2020 | 15:00 CET

Bringing Remote Work To The Agile World

with Molood Ceccarelli (Remote Forever) and Barbara Covarrubias Venegas (#virtualspacehero)

Every action needs a why. More than 80% of the people do not like or fully enjoy their job and of the remaining 20%, more than half only tolerate theirs. Some of us are more than lucky to be amongst the privileged who love their job. 💪 

In this #virtualspacehero LinkedIn LIVE Barbara Covarubias Venegas welcomed Molood Ceccarelli (Founder & CEO Remote Forever). When Molood founded Remote Forever Summit in 2017 it was the first online summit about distributed agile. Many remote workers dream of a world in which no one has to spend hours commuting to an office every single day and lose on living life fully. While studies are showing that remote workers are on average app. 35-40% more productive than their office counterparts, and have measured an output increase of at least 4.4% (Forbes 2020), organisations still struggle to introduce flexible working policies. 

👉 How to create an effective distributed organization?
👉 What are structural aspects to be considered when we think of remote working?
👉 When it comes to leadership, what is crucial for a leader?
👉 Where is agile going and what are the biggest misconceptions? 

In this LinkedIn live, these intriguing questions were discussed on remote work in the agile world!

If you want to watch the LinkedIn live recording, here it is👇

How to create an effective distributed organization?

💡 Be efficient. Use all the available resources (IT, computer systems, softwares, locations, etc.) available to reach the goal or to produce enough output.

💡 Be effective. Ask yourself: What is the impact that your organization is creating? Shift your mindset from output to outcome.

💡 Transparency of information. This is a key point for creating a remote team. Communication is essential for team collaboration.There is 2 types of communication:

• Synchronous communication: information is exchanged at the same time or in real time. When Information exists it is connected to transparency of information. For example: You meet your colleague and you start the conversation with asking questions and he/she answers (or vice versa).

• Asynchronous communication: information is not exchanged at the same time and it is consumed at the comfort of a receiver. When Information exists and everyone knows where and how to find it is connected to transparency of information flow. For example you can exchange the information but you give the freedom to the recipient to receive the information when he/she is ready.

„I think that for creating an effective distributed organization, we need to understand when each of these types need to be used.“ (Molood Ceccarelli) 

💡 Simplicity of processes. Use tools, communication channels and processes that you already have. Don’t overcomplicate things and use what works best for you. But, in order to do this, we have to distinguish tools for synchronous communication (MS Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, Slack, etc.) and tools for asynchronous communication/task management tools (Asana, Trello, BaseCamp).

„Task management system is something like a place where information can be organized, structured or kept for a longer period of time. These are the most powerful tools and here is why: they already have a system for managing your work. The only thing you should do is simplify the processes within the team so everyone keeps information with the task.“ (Molood Ceccarelli)

💡 Freedom for people. This is the essence to remote work. The freedom to work from any location you feel most productive is important. Organizational support, culture, and processes should be in place so no person feels excluded/less than or less informed just because they choose a certain location. 

„For me, freedom is my top value. This is why it matters so much: I have a freedom to work from wherever I want. If you love working from an office, you should have that freedom. If you love working from home, you should have that freedom too. Work is not a location, work is what we do.“ (Molood Ceccarelli)

When it comes to leadership, what is crucial for a leader?

💡 Explain your goals and expectations clearly to the people that are working with you. When we work remotely, sometimes it happens that expectations were not explained clearly. This can result in misunderstanding and miscommunication. That’s why we should all focus on explicitly stating our expectations. 

💡 Don’t micromanage people. Don’t look for every single move your people make. 

💡 Don’t expect your employees to be available all the time just because they are remote workers. You should create a work-life balance atmosphere in the company. There should be a clear boundary between working hours and private life. You, as a leader, should respect that.

💡 Don’t add more tools . Go for simplicity in your toolset and maximize the number of tools NOT USED. In other words, if you can use only one to two communication tools, that should be enough.

💡 Build trust and connection in a virtual team. Spend time on the process of building trust in a virtual team, and read our previous article on Trust and belonging in a virtual team and Listen to improve your virtual session: Improv techniques to build trust to help you with that process. 

💡 Empower other people. Every leader should try to empower people and create other leaders. 

Our closing words and call for action:

„Although I’m a big dreamer, I prefer taking small steady actions and let the results guide the way.“ (Molood Ceccarelli)

„All of us can take small steady actions. Start small, but be steady in whatever you are doing.“ (Barbara Covarrubias Venegas)

💡 Resources 💡

Articles:

Vienna Global Leaders: Podcast: Agile Leadership – Is It More Than a Fad?
Vienna Global Leaders: Remote Work Guidelines: How to Work From Home or Anywhere Else Effectively
Barbara Covarrubias Venegas: Lost in Connection or not? Trust and belonging in a virtual team
Barbara Covarrubias Venegas: Listen to improve your virtual session: Improv techniques to build trust
Forbes: 16 Tips For Leaders Managing Their First Remote Team
Harvard Business Review: A Guide to Managing Your (Newly) Remote Workers
Collaboration SuperPowers Remote Resources

Books:

Peter Koning (2020): Agile Leadership Toolkit: Learning to Thrive with Self-Managing Teams
Simon Hayward (2018): The Agile Leader: How to Create an Agile Business in the Digital Age
Frederic Laloux (2014): Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage in Human Consciousness
Lyssa Adkins (2010): Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition