New Ways of Working with Barbara Covarrubias

If hybrid is the future, the future is now here, and it’s time to stop experimenting and start laying real foundations. By now we all know that hybrid means a combination of working remotely (maybe from home or a coffee shop) and working in the office. But whether your people work from their suburban spare bedroom, or your city centre office location is just one of the questions that need to be answered when we define hybrid work.

It’s one thing to state that you’re moving to hybrid, but quite another to determine how you do it. Some might want to work mostly from home, with just the occasional day in the office, and others the opposite. There are many versions of remote can look like and I am happy to discuss what remote-first, remote friendly, remoteish and async first can mean with Line Morkbak

Questions we will be tackling

👉 What would my first steps be to start the discussion in my organisation about hybrid work?

👉 What does remote-first, remote friendly, remoteish and async first mean?

👉 What are hybrid roadblocks that you might find in your way and how to overcome them?

👉 What are some tactics to counteract the difficult situations with hybrid work?

👉How do you move from patchy, ad-hoc hybrid work practices, to a systematized, strategic approach that allows the business and individuals the flexibility they need?

Offering hybrid work can’t be just lip service… as a new Survey reveals: “Nearly one in three (30 percent) workers say they will consider a job offer from another company with a well-defined hybrid policy, which includes clear guidelines and tools for successful and efficient hybrid meeting participation.”

Be intentional. Get help in shaping your strategy. Don’t leave it to chance.

Hybrid meetings are hard to figure out, but the data gathered by my guest holds real promise. Given the shift to flexible work arising from the pandemic, so many people are at a loss for how to create effective hybrid meetings. Karin Reed (On-Camera Coach & Communication Expert)  is going to share practical strategies on how to navigate this challenging but essential way of conducting business.

Specific aspects we are going to discuss:

💡Why are hybrid meetings inevitable in the Future of Work?

💡Why are hybrid meetings hard?

💡What do leaders have to do differently when conducting hybrid meetings?

💡How can virtual attendees avoid being forgotten?

💡How do in-person attendees need to adjust their mindsets?

💡What equipment and technology is essential for an effective hybrid meeting?

💡How can you minimize potential productivity dips as the team switches to this new way of gathering?

💡What specific tips can you offer from those companies that have been doing hybrid meetings well?

Research has shown that when employees feel that they belong to a team or organization, they will not only tend to perform better, but also experience higher levels of engagement and well-being. But our feeling of belonging at work has become challenged over the past year as we’ve shifted away from in-person interactions and found ourselves relying on video calls and screen activities to stay connected. As the experience of culture has become more diffused, elusive, and subjective, how can senior leaders foster a greater sense of belonging among employees?

I am thrilled to discuss how to create a culture of belonging in a hybrid work environment with Aziph Mustapha!

We believe that working from home works well, for most people – provided they have the space, the tools, and the support they need, to create a work-from-home lifestyle which works for them.

This will look different for every individual, just as each of their homes looks different. Working from home means blending your environment and your personality with your professional persona, to define a workspace, routines and habits, all of which respect your boundaries and those of other people.

💡 I am more than happy to discuss this important topic with a leading expert in the field Maya Middlemiss

👉 What are important basics to consider when you want to work remotely - from an individual but also team and organisational point of view?

👉 Why decluttering when you work from home is important and how you can do it?

👉 How to find the edge between work and life? Hard or soft edges?

👉 What you want to consider about the physical space when working from home and how to set boundaries?

👉 What is the "virtual commute" and why you want to consider it?

👉 What are essential techniques to help you stay productive and focused at home?

👉 How will hybrid working/working from home options impact on women's equality?

More and more leaders are getting the message: in order to be effective, you must have regular 1:1 meetings with each of your direct reports. Managers and employees rely on those 1:1 meetings to stay on top of the details of every ongoing project, spot small problems before they turn into bigger ones, and create an upward spiral of success that benefits everyone. The problem is that many managers struggle to make their 1:1:s effective. Even if they are taking the time to regularly meet with their people, these leaders are simply not getting the results they need. (Tulgan 2020)

Therefore, I am excited to discuss with Bruce Tulgan (CEO Rainmaker Thinking Inc) What are the important basics of virtual 1:1 meetings?

👉 How to Make Enough Time for 1:1s?

👉 What to Talk about in Your 1:1s?

👉 Why You Shouldn’t Skip the Debrief?

👉 What to Do After Each 1:1?

It’s safe to say that 2020 was truly the year of video and has forever changed the way we communicate and connect. During a year when face-to-face was not possible, video proved to be a viable alternative and allowed us to create a more inclusive and engaged community even at a distance. But as the pandemic starts to slowly relax its global grip, businesses are recognizing the benefits video can continue to bring and plan to keep leveraging it for the foreseeable future. With new video platforms and capabilities popping up practically every day, video certainly is changing the world. The question is – will your business change with it?

Therefore, I am excited to discuss with Karin Reed (On-Camera Coach | Communication Expert) How to rock your virtual presentation?

👉 What does it mean to find the Right Mental Mindset On-Camera?

👉 What is important when we think of our own body language?

👉 How can you keep your audience engaged for more than 7 minutes?

👉 What are 3 Ways to Create a Webcam Setup that Wows?

💡 Is there anything more important nowadays than collaborating effectively with our colleagues to produce great work?💡 During 2020, huge numbers of organisations learned how to use virtual technology to interact with their staff and among colleagues. The only way of meeting was via technology. During virtual sessions, stuck in little rectangular boxes on screen, we dreamed about the day when we’d be back with our colleagues, able to look them in the eye, rather than having to force ourselves to gaze into a camera lens to “make eye contact”. Now we are faced with workshops, where some are at home and some are in the office. How do we make these workshops work?

I am excited to discuss with Penny Pullan (Creative Collaboration Expert) "What drives creative collaboration in hybrid teams?"

👉 Why is clarity a fundamental and how can we provide it using the Magic 6TM statements for clarity?

👉 How can planning for engagement and interaction foster collaboration?

👉 How can you make sure to include the remote colleagues?

👉 What does "remote first" mean and why is it so important?

👉 What tools can we use for hybrid collaborative sessions?

Work life in today’s digital-driven knowledge-based organisations is getting more demanding and stressful by the day. The environment in which leaders from the public and private sectors are now operating is more complex than ever before. Complexity does not mean “very complicated”. Businesses and organizations are facing frequent – even continuous – disruptive change and constraints to growth. The pressure on leaders is constantly growing.

Therefore, I am excited to discuss with Isman Tanuri (Facilitative Leadership & Business Agility) 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐲𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬?

👉 Why facilitative leadership principles are important in today’s complex workplaces?

👉 What are facilitation techniques for people growth and team productivity?

👉 What are Practical Leadership Tools for Remote Working Environments?

👉 What role does motivation play in Facilitative Leadership?

As we all faced a global pandemic in 2020 and shelter in our homes to stay healthy, for many this also meant trying to maintain business as usual while working remotely. Now, one year later we continue the conversation but talking about hybrid (not fully virtual) collaboration, which is different. Of course there are challenges, but using a combination of tools that are right for your needs can make things much easier, make creativity flow and be enjoyable work interactions for your team.

With me on my show Line Morkbak (Hybrid Facilitation Expert) to discuss "How to ensure hybrid synergy and hybrid collaboration?"

In the era of Covid-19, the hybrid workplace — one in which some employees are co-located in an office and others are doing their jobs remotely — presents a number of challenges for managers. We need to create practices that ensure employees in the office are in sync with those working from home, and also build fairness and flexibility into our workflow (HBR Knight 2020). There seems to be a consensus among scholars that the future of the workplace is hybrid. Therefore, I am excited to discuss with Nancy Settle-Murphy “Essential tips and skills for leading high-performance hybrid teams?”

The high cost associated with poor listening skills is estimated at 60% of all management problems and we misinterpret or change 70 to 90% of what we hear. Listening is the gateway to influencing collaboration, engagement, and trust in virtual sessions. With me on my show is Joel Silverstone (Effective Communication Expert, Podcast "This Feels Right") and we are going to discuss the intriguing questions on how listening for accuracy, and NOT your assumptions will change the flow of conversations and what we can do in a virtual setting?

Project managers are often posed with several challenges that can hinder the success of a project. The common challenges project managers are confronted with include keeping up with the pace of the project, managing resources and making sure the project is on track and within the desired budget. Besides, the project manager is also the leader of a team and therefore needs to have a set of soft skills. Now, as many project teams were or still are working remotely, project managers on top face the challenges of a remote team. I am discussing with a Project Management expert Adriana Girdler (Director CornerStone Dynamics) the secrets about project management in virtual teams.

Virtually all projections anticipate the post-pandemic workforce will be relatively more remote — that is, nearly all firms will experience an increase in remote work relative to their pre-pandemic baseline levels (HBR 2021). An estimated 55 million meetings occur a day. Sadly, research suggests only around 50% of meeting time is effective and engaging. Unfortunately, these effectiveness numbers drop lower when it comes to virtual meetings (Rogelberg 2020). Therefore, I am excited to discuss with Nancy Settle-Murphy in this episode how to prepare engaging virtual meetings.

Universities and organisations continue to transition learning and event operations to the virtual space, but often we do not consider inclusion as an element to be considered in our virtual activities. But, as I like to say this is of utmost importance, because "without inclusion no real impact in the virtual classroom" and this is my learning concept which I call IMPLUSION = IMPACT + INCLUSION. I am excited to discuss in this episode with Shilpa Subramaniam (Co-founder and Director at The Learning Gym Ltd.) how to design and facilitate an inclusive virtual training program? We focus on simple tips to ensure the training interventions you design and deliver, consider diversity and encourage inclusion.

Whether it is an online meeting, a presentation via webinar, or live online training, engagement is the main question on everyone’s mind. Will it be worth my time to attend or will it be an opportunity to check email instead? Interaction is the answer to successful engagement and using the features of the platform is the answer to interaction. However, the features alone do not engage the participants. It is what you choose to do with those features that will make the difference in your next virtual training, webinar, or meeting. Together with Kassy LaBorie (Virtual Classroom Master Trainer | Blog Virtual Hero Trainer Tips) we are going to discuss the intriguing questions on What are the ingredients for an interactive and engaging virtual LIVE training?

Many of us remote workers dream of a world in which no one must spend hours commuting to an office every single day and lose out on living life fully. While studies are showing that remote workers are an average of 35-40% more productive than their office counterparts and have measured an output increase of at least 4.4% (Forbes 2020), organizations still struggle to introduce flexible working policies. I am excited to discuss with Molood Ceccarelli (Founder of Remote Forever Summit) how to bring remote work to the agile world.

This year many of us needed to switch to an online setting with our training from one day to another and did not really have time to think in detail about didactics and/or tools. For many, moving from in-person to virtual live presentations brings a new set of challenges to overcome. At #virtualspacehero, our aim is to support you to go online tomorrow with as much confidence as possible! In this episode, I discuss with Matthew Richter (President at the Thiagi Group) how to design for the Live Online Experience.

Events are in the midst of a digital revolution. Since last year, everyone had to 'go virtual', but how do you do it - and what do you need to succeed? Hosting worldwide virtual events and connecting with participants through robust engagement solutions is an amazing way of increasing the outreach of your activities. I am thrilled to discuss with William Thomson (Gallus Events) how to choose the best online platform for your virtual event?

As learning professionals, we often fall into the trap of “getting through all our program content”. The focus tends to be less on creating learner-driven environments and more on just delivering content. It is about finding that balance between letting your learners create/discover knowledge and your inputs as subject matter experts – and that is not always an easy balance to find. And now, we are even more challenged by considering a totally different context, namely the virtual space. I am thrilled to discuss with Melanie Martinelli (Co-Founder & Director of The Learning Gym Ltd.) about the virtual space as an opportunity to bring learning journeys alive.

Persuasion is the centerpiece of business, training, teaching, and event activities. We want to convince customers to buy your company’s products or services, employees, and colleagues to go along with a new strategic plan or reorganization, investors to buy (or not to sell) your stock and engage our learners in our training. But too often we get lost in boring presentations with too many PowerPoint slides, dry memos, and hyperbolic missives from the corporate communications department (Fryer 2003). I am excited to discuss with Charles-Louis de Maere (Explorer at Exploration Labs SRL) in this episode how we can use stories and fairy tales in our training.

The year 2020 has been tough for many of us as we did not have much experience in virtual teamwork. Still, it also showed us that virtual teams work, but we still need to get better at leading, collaborating and communicating virtually. One of the main questions I am being consulted upon on a weekly basis is "how to increase the feeling of togetherness on your virtual team by creating a productive and enjoyable virtual workspace?". This #virtualspacehero podcast episode with Lisette Sutherland (Collaboration Superpowers, Work Together Anywhere) is about Collaboration Superpowers and what we need to consider in our daily virtual work.