10 Tips for Running Online Meetings

March 9, 2012 by · 2 Comments 

The Globe and Mail delivers again with this helpful article of real-world tips for improving your online and virtual meetings. I think #10 might be the best and most overlooked, it can be so difficult to force yourself to do nothing, it is like some kind of Zen koan.

10 tips for running online meetings – The Globe and Mail.

Leave a comment with any tips you have found for facilitating online meetings.

How to Make the Most of Virtual Teams – The Globe and Mail

February 23, 2012 by · Leave a Comment 

I came across this article on Canada’s The Globe and Mail newspaper’s site. The writer makes some excellent points about the ‘naturalness’ of electronic communication – and how collaboration across distance becomes easier and more productive as we grow accustomed to these new modes of communication.

via How to make the most of virtual teams – The Globe and Mail.

But I mostly wanted to share this because they are holding an online event at noon ET Friday that appears to be free to register for. The event is billed as a chat with Dr. Andrew Gaudes, an associate professor of business at the University of New Brunswick, about the new far-flung workplace.

There is a registration form on the page linked above.

3 Secrets to Turning Your Office Into The Anywhere Office – webinar replay & follow-up Q&A post

January 25, 2012 by · 1 Comment 

Late last year, I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar for Cisco where I shared my three secrets for turning your office into The Anywhere Office®. In the presentation I discussed how the world of work has changed and that whether you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, telecommuter or remote worker, there are smart ways to work without an office.

In case you missed it – you can watch the replay of  3 Secrets to Turning Your Office Into The Anywhere Office®In this webinar I share three secrets to mobilize your workstyle and make your business and projects more flexible. These simple steps will allow you to work wherever and whenever you want.

We had a lot of questions during the webinar and not all were answered, so I answered the bulk of them in a 2 part guest blog post I did for the WebEx blog. There were some excellent questions – here are the links so you can check it out:

The Anywhere Office: Collaborating While Working Remotely (Part 1)

In this post I answer these questions:

  • How can you stay connected with workmates and interact with your team in a virtual office while avoiding feeling isolated?
  • What is the best way to convince ‘old school’ management that this will better for yourself and the company?
  • How do you keep the team spirit and consistency in the quality of work when everyone is working from home?
  • How do you convince a customer to trust in remote management of his/her data?

The Anywhere Office: The Best Tools for Working Remotely (Part 2)

In part two of this Q&A I answer these questions:

  • What is the best way for a few employees to keep a task list for their boss that we can all access remotely?
  • Do you have some basic tools that you think are absolutely “must haves” for a virtual team?
  • I share some of the best free and low-cost tools available for keeping teams connected and productive.

If you’re currently a mobile worker, or you’re starting to get more involved with virtual teamwork and remote collaboration the tools and strategies I discuss in this Q&A will help. The key to success is embracing the change about what defines work and taking the time to really think about how business gets done.

So check out the webinar and part 1 and part 2 of my Q&A blogpost on the Webex blog.

If you have further questions, you can post them as comments below or over at the webex blog and I’ll answer them there.

3 Secrets to Turning Your Office Into The Anywhere Office – FREE Webinar

November 3, 2011 by · 2 Comments 

I’m excited to be hosting a free webinar with Cisco/Webex on November 17th titled 3 Secrets to Turning Your Office Into The Anywhere Office® as part of their No Office Required series.

Business as usual no longer involves working in a centralized office at set times. Whether you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, telecommuter or remote worker, modern workflow is far more dynamic and individual. There are smart ways to work without an office.

As you know, as a reader of this blog, I’ve created a blueprint for virtual work that I call The Anywhere Office®. In this webinar I’ll shares three secrets to mobilize your workstyle and make your business and projects more flexible. These simple steps will allow you to work wherever and whenever you want.

I’ll show you how to:

  • Make your work location independent
  • Improve communication and keep people connected
  • Manage a virtual team, distributed project group, or ebusiness across time and distance
Click here to view Cisco's Interactive Infographic - The Future of Workplace Mobility

Click here to view Cisco's Interactive Infographic - The Future of Workplace Mobility

This recent Cisco interactive infographic  serves as  a great visual representation of The Anywhere Office® concept I’ve been talking about for the last decade and will be discussing on this upcoming webinar. It shows the current and future state of workplace mobility. As Cisco states “Long commutes and being in an office at a certain time with limited flexibility is gradually becoming a thing of the past. The future will see an increase in workplace mobility creating the “anywhere office,” a place where employees can work anytime from anywhere.” By 2013, mobile workers will make up 35 percent of the worldwide workforce. While that leaves out over half of the global workforce, it shows us a new world of opportunity.  Are you shifting your business to “The Anywhere Office®?”

Who should attend

This webinar is perfect for anyone who must coordinate with co-workers, clients, vendors, or contractors across time and distance: project managers, program directors, team leaders, project coordinators, or anyone in a leadership role for a virtual team or distributed project group. This includes freelancers, entrepreneurs, telecommuters and remote workers.

Make sure to signup today and reserve your spot.  Even if you can’t make the live event you will be emailed a link to the recording so you can still benefit from all the tips and strategies I’ll be sharing.

I’m looking forward to a fun webinar and I hope to see you there!

Catch my video chat with Dave and Brian on Freelance Jam

June 14, 2011 by · 4 Comments 

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining my friends Dave Yankowiak and Brian Casel on their awesome web video show Freelance Jam. Dave runs AnywhereMan.com and once we met on Twitter and chatted on Skype we knew we had a lot in common! The show is targetted toward independent professionals who build the web but anyone who runs a small business can learn a lot from their guests and discussions.

In this edition of the show we talked about things like how to build trust with clients you may never meet face to face, working in virtual teams, what effect technology has on the shift from employee to freelancer and the future of the “anywhere lifestyle” – being able to do the work where and when you want. Read more

« Previous PageNext Page »