Telecommuting in the 21st Century: How to Implement or Improve Virtual Teams and Flexible Work in Your Organization (Part 11: Legal, HR, and Tax Issues)
March 22, 2010 by Phil Montero · 1 Comment
Welcome to Part 11 of our 13 part audio series on Flexible Work and Telecommuting – Telecommuting in the 21st Century: How to Implement or Improve Virtual Teams and Flexible Work in Your Organization“.
When approaching telework it’s important to look at some of the key business issues and consult the right professionals before jumping in. Today we will be discussing some of the Legal, HR, and Tax implication regarding telework.
In part 11 of our podcast we look at some of the considerations and planning involved for the business side of telecommuting.
So listen in to Part 11: Legal, HR, and Tax Issues
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:16 — 3.0MB)
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Enter Your Quote to Win a Free Pass to an Upcoming vPanel on Managing Virtual Teams
March 17, 2010 by Phil Montero · 11 Comments
Hello Folks – I am going to be a panelist on a virtual event next Monday (the event described below) and the hosts have provided me with 2 free tickets to give away. So if you are interested in attending the Building and Managing Effective Virtual Teams vpanel, put your name into the hat to win a free ticket by using the comments section below this post to contribute a favorite or poignant quotation about any aspect of virtual work. It can be a famous quote, or something you heard, or a quote of your own.
You only have a couple of days, on Friday afternoon I will select 2 names at random from the contributors to each receive a free pass. I will not choose based on the ‘best’ quotes, and you only have 2 days, so don’t be shy. Just a fun way to get some food for thought and give away the tickets.
To get the wheel turning I am going to offer a great quote that I believe relates to virtual teams, and in managing virtual workers in particular:
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
and Jason wants to share one of his favorites and a classic mobile work/telework quote:
“Work is something you do, not some place you go.” ~ Unknown
Now it’s your turn. Learn more about the vpanel below and contribute a quote in the comments section of this post. Read more
The Mystery of Multitasking: Productivity Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs
March 10, 2010 by Phil Montero · 30 Comments
Today I’m psyched to share a guest video post by my friend and colleague Chris Ducker. I met Chris through Twitter and it was immediately obvious we shared a passion for working virtually and living a flexible lifestyle.
Chris is the CEO of the Live2Sell Group of Companies, a thriving Total Business Outsourcing corporation based in the Philippines where he lives.
Chris has developed systems and ideas to manage his time and make his business life easier and more productive. Watch this short video where he explains why multitasking actually makes you less productive and shares tips for staying focused and growing your business:
Are you using Instant Messaging in your business?
March 2, 2010 by Phil Montero · 2 Comments
I’m always surprised that more people don’t use instant messaging as one of their key business communication tools. Sure everyone uses email (probably too much) but IM is often relegated to chatting with friends or family. That’s why this recent post by Jerry Lattimore on his excellent Refocusing Technology blog really caught my eye.
Are you using instant messaging?
Instant messaging is a fantastic tool and should be utilized by many businesses to allow for greater communication between their resources. It fits a need that isn’t completely served by email or phone communication.
In this post he gives some excellent examples of how companies are using IM – even some using it to communicate between different floors of the same building. My wife and I use to work down the hall from each other in our old apartment and we used it rather than yelling down the hall.
I use it all the time with Jason when we are collaborating on something or just have a quick questions. It’s also a great way with co-workers or team members to share files and create a sense of “presence” being that you can “see” each other online even though you are not in the same place.
What about you? Do you use IM for business communication and collaboration? Please post a comment below and let us know!
Our First Flexwork Chat on Twitter
February 25, 2010 by Phil Montero · Leave a Comment
On Wednesday, February 17th we had our first Flexwork Chat on Twitter. I was joined by Jasper
Westerway (@JasperWestaway), CEO of OneDrum, and Lokesh Datta (@LDatta) of AllCollaboration.com as well as a bunch of other great twitter folks who were eager to discuss and debate the current state and challenges of flexible work.
The discussion centered around some of the findings from One Drum’s recent flexible work study.
We discussed a number of topics including:
- How can flexible/remote working can make you more productive?
- What are some of barriers to productive remote working?
- What should businesses consider when choosing tools to facilitate remote working?
View this post on the One Drum blog for a summary of some of the key points and a full transcription is available in PDF form here (Thanks Chip!).
It was fun, exciting, and informative and we are planning to make this a fairly regular event. It looks like we will be doing one again next Wednesday so I hope you will join us!
What is a tweet chat?
For those of you unfamiliar with this online discussion format, a tweetchat is simply an organized group chat that takes place using the Twitter platform. Participants use an assigned hashtag (in our case #flexworkchat) for their tweets during the discussion. For more information on Tweet chats check out this short article.
You can follow along, or participate, by visiting http://tweetchat.com/room/flexworkchat or simply following the #flexworkchat hashtag on twitter.
If you want to know about upcoming chats (and other events) please subscribe to our email newsletter (on the right hand side of any page of this blog) or follow me on Twitter!
