As a habitual remote worker and frequent traveler/nomad, when I travel I get used to the bustle. I get energy from it, it pushes me, drives me.

Then I pass into my other version of existence, being at ‘home’. I say another version because I don’t think of one as real and the other an exception. Neither is my default reality, they are different facets of one thing: my professional life.

When I come back to this current version of existence, I find I need an adjustment period, a time to regroup and reorient myself. Then I start looking around for things to fill my time with other than work.

I’ve started my walking again. I find its a form of moving meditation that also unblocks me when I need it. You’ll often find me by the side of a trail furiously typing into my phone. Indeed, many of these posts have been written this way.

Its the lowest barrier way of getting out and changing the scenery.

With a life and personality so anchored in experimentation and agility, I find that it’s an extra effort to create a healthy routine that gets me out of the house and talking to 3D people. Rather than put pressure on myself to do it the ‘right way’ I tend to go for the path of least resistance. What is it I really enjoy? What are the conditions I need to get me there?  Eg: I like going to the pool, but I know I’ll never go alone. Something stops me. Rather than push myself, I create the conditions that help me to do this: I ask a friend, and we go together.

Another condition is variety. I like trying new things, vs building a skill over a long period of time. So, I make plans month to month, versus putting pressure on myself to commit to one thing.

There is tension between my story or my idea of myself and the reality that I need to accept in order to be happy. The idea is very attractive, but requires a lot that in reality doesn’t happen.

Same goes for work: the idea of myself as a colleague and the reality.

It’s been awhile since my last post. I’ve been caught up in the November doldrums it seems!

This fall has been an interesting one. It’s my first fall in my ‘home’ area and I always swore I would avoid shoulder seasons here. I much prefer the decided seasons of summer and winter, when there is plenty to do and the weather encourages me to step outside. Fall tends to be pretty dreary in this part of the world. I’m happy December has finally arrived, and with it snow, cross country skiing and a new initiative inside the project that has been occupying my time this fall.

The objective of this initiative is to identify and collect storytelling techniques that encourage community building and learning on a scaffolded social learning journey. Now that we have a couple of projects operating in this space, it’s important to learn from them what works and what doesn’t, testing theories and ideas for use in later projects and certification.

However, with this initiative come questions about how to make it relevant and useful to those participating? How to make the sharing of storytelling techniques a give and take opportunity, rather than trying to get people to do it for the good of the organisation. With this crowd, that might work at first, however it’s a question that I have had to respond to in different organizational contexts, and is not a new challenge.

My mind tends towards the path of least resistance, so I think the best approach for now is to observe and take notes. That is something the organisation should take on, provide the infrastructure that allows people to be brilliant. Here, not only are we asking for these stories, we are incorporating them into the information we give to clients, making it available to colleagues in the form of a base of knowledge and will use it to support future Sea Salt Storytellers.

Our first meeting is tomorrow. This will give me a chance to gauge interest and see if it has the interest to be opened up to the wider group. Based on my experience with the Social Age Journal, one person driving is not enough. It is a team effort. I look forward to learning from this experience, and taking even more responsibility for the outcome.

My mind is already racing, let the storytelling begin!

My first post in awhile, this is because a slow summer (and much appreciated pace) allowed me to choose to take time to recharge, regroup and reflect. Now that fall is here again, fresh projects and another trip to the UK and Europe are filling my inspiration banks. Here is some of what I had a chance to reflect on in London last week.

This post is by no means finished, and I think this is a topic I will certainly continue as my trip continues and I work with the Sea Salt Learning team in different ways, from co-working, to videoconferencing to coliving.

A question that was posted to the Creative Zone at Learning Live inspired this post. What do leaders need to know to effectively manage remote workers?

In the moment, my answers were a bit superficial, but the question has stayed with me, causing me to reflect and come up with these points (so far!):

Rethink productivity: Leaders who manage remote workers should rethink what their definition of productivity is. Does it mean sitting behind a desk for 7 hours, cut off from outside ‘distractions’ like Twitter or blogging? What I have found during my 10+ years of remote working is: productivity is tied to lifestyle and work ethics, rather than location. I have, through critical self reflection, discovered that I am most productive at certain times and under certain conditions. For example, I am at my most creative first thing in the morning, in a carefully curated workspace. The rest of the day I reserve for meetings and activities that require less energy, different kind of thinking. And I don’t stay behind my desk all day. My best ideas and most creative thinking happen when I am moving, walking or paddle boarding in the summer, cross country skiing and downhill skiing in the winter. These times give me space for reflection, for my subconscious to get to work and allow things to bubble to the surface. And they do! It’s not uncommon to find my furiously writing on my phone in the middle of a trail.

Rethink meetings: Online meetings are different than in person meetings. Encourage people to use ritual for these types of meetings, a ‘dance’ that everyone recognizes. For example, use video at the beginning, to say hi and see faces. Take some time for chit chat. For some remote workers, this is the most professional contact they will have all day. It’s important to foster relationships between employees, so that working together remotely is a matter of course rather than a special case. Also take time to catch up with your employees individually. I have worked on some projects where the only contact I had with my colleagues was in client meetings. There was no time allotted to get in sync with my team, to prepare and present a united front.

Take time to meet in person periodically. While technology is a beautiful thing and allows us to live and work in the locations we choose, nothing fills the trust bank like meeting in person. Mannerisms, preferences and ways of working all come to light this way, and gives a little freedom to vent. There’s something about meeting online, the online space is thought of as the professional, workspace, that inhibits venting, expressing concerns. Meeting in person is a good way to celebrate as well and meet new team members, it builds trust between teammates, something essential for remote workers.