One thing I loved about the days when my team was 100% in-office were the spinny-chair collaboration sessions. It was convenient to have a small wing of designers be able to swivel their chairs, usually around a table of snacks, and solve all of our respective problems together (well, maybe not all, but a lot of them!). This was especially useful in bringing new members of the team up to speed and increasing their knowledge base by having access to more veteran members.

The loss of this "circling the wagons" type of collaboration, is something I hear often from those who work in remote and hybrid roles. You miss those quick touch-bases with colleagues. You notice the loss of informal sharing and the tidbits of unwritten company knowledge that in the past were shared in break rooms and over-the-shoulder in unplanned ways. 

As a people leader of a remote team, with two seasoned veterans and three brand new team members, I struggled to know how to replicate those spinny-chair collabs. But, just because something is different or seems missing, doesn't mean it's bad or that there isn't a good alternative. It's one of my most core beliefs when it comes to remote work, that these are just new problems waiting for new solutions to be found.

One way I brought the spirit of spinny-chair sessions to my remote team

I started hosting weekly virtual co-working sessions for my veteran and new team members, bringing them all together on screen. Ahead of time, I'd ask each of them to plan to work on a project that would benefit from collegial input. And I'd set the expectations for the call based on the time we had. These co-working meetings always included several Pomodoro sessions punctuated by open discussion and screen sharing of things folks were working on. These conversations often led to sharing everything from discussions about the reasons for style choices, to keyboard shortcuts, as well as context for working well with cross-departmental partners. Instead of trying to manufacture these conversations in pre-scheduled 1-on-1s, these topics flowed naturally out of the work that they were doing in real time.

Three reasons why it worked so well:

1. There was a plan -- People can settle in when there is a plan. Hopping on a video call to "just work together for a while" with an undefined set of expectations gets awkward fast. But by setting the "rules", so to speak, it allows people to get comfortable with the arrangement. In our case, that often looked like half hour blocks of time to work independently, punctuated by 10-15 minutes to come back together to collaborate. We set the expectation that people can have cameras on or off while they’re working independently, but during the team sharing portions we’d all have our cameras on to be present on screen. This worked beautifully for our team, but you can of course arrange the expectations to fit your exact needs.   

2. There was set aside time for exchange of ideas -- It can be challenging to think of the questions you want to ask your teammates on the fly when you’re not in the zone of the thing you’re working on. But when you're engaged in the work and are occupied by something tangible, the areas you need input on or have input to share just flow. Knowing we were all going to be moving in and out of the work at the same times, helped foster the exchange of ideas, and the mentorship.

3. Pomodoros are magic -- I don't know what to say here, but they've been unfathomably effective for me and those I work with. The ability to dig-in and focus for bursts of time helps people get effective fast. Sprinkling in the collaborative conversations helps the time breathe and fosters problem-solving and shared momentum.

It may feel awkward at first to get this off the ground...but go in confidently with a plan, and people will follow and be grateful for it.

A Favorite Tool for You...

This is my favorite Pomodoro tool to use with a group. I have only ever used the free version and simply screen-share when we're in the Pomodoro session so that everyone can see the timer, and hear the background noise track if we decide to have one. There are so many spaces and rooms to choose from, and we've had a great time choosing where we're going for the day!

Virtual Space Settings & Timer

You know when you're messaging with a colleague and things are getting a teensy bit tense? 

At least it feels that way as you watch the chat bubbles hang in animation for way too long. There's a misunderstanding and that person is going to make sure YOU understand in written thesis-form. 

Truth be told, you're already getting your own novel of an email outlined to make sure they understand where THEY are wrong. Those paragraphs practically write themselves in the heat of the moment. Please tell me you've been there before too? Just me? Those moments happen sometimes, right? Yeah.

And it happens on greater magnitudes as well. Ever been pulled into a web of he-said, she-said, they-said, we-said with direct reports recounting their text-based back and forths with other colleagues or eternal partners.

When we need a détente, we need a phone call....or to turn on that camera for a clear-the-air video call. 

It's one of the most important lessons I've learned about being a remote leader -- knowing when it's time to pick up the dang phone. Almost like it's the olden days or something!

A wise manager once taught me, that when things start feeling like a "kermit typing meme" with emails, texts or chat messages flying back and forth in rapid-fire long form explanations, that it's time for the human voice to enter the picture.

Often times, so much can be solved, and heated miscommunications de-escalated quickly by talking in real time.

I realize this feels like the most simple thing in the world to say, but it's surprising the number of times it happens, and dialing a number or "hopping on a zoom real quick" feels like an epiphany all over again.

But by working in a virtual world for all this time, I've trained myself to become quicker at having that epiphany on the regular. And it's become an active tool in coaching my team as well, as all of us can find ourselves in the zone and hiding behind our lil' laptop screens as a matter of habit. It feels safe back there, tucked behind our keyboards.

Here are a few signs I've learned it's time to pick up the phone.

• The tone of the messages has changed for the negative -- maybe it feels more terse, aggressive, or passive aggressive than normal.

• On chat (Slack, Teams, Gchat): The back and forth messages have started increasing in length to three, four, or many more sentences and they are coming at a rapid pace.

• Over email: The messages have become tome-like with cases, explanations or defenses. Days are passing with this back and forth. Maybe there's lots of bullet points. Maybe the words "as per my last email" are flying about. Maybe the sign-off feels like a final dagger with a "Best" when they're usually more of a "Warmly" person. 

• Anything that requires nuance

• After a video call: If miscommunications happened live, perhaps in a group setting and things were left unresolved, that can also be a prompt to prioritize smoothing things over with a quick synchronous call.

Especially, in cases where the individuals involved generally have a good working relationship, hearing one another's voices in real time (or seeing them too if a video call is possible) can go a long way in humanizing the other person. By hearing one another out it live, can make arriving at a place of mutual understanding and next steps. It doesn't make the issue at hand magically solve itself, but it does provide the space to make it more possible. Not only that, the way we communicate with each other impacts trust and working relationships in a million invisible ways. The faster we can cut off any damaging dynamics and alleviate friction, the greater the chance of success of maintaining a healthy team dynamic.

Every November in my department, names are drawn with great pomp for a small gift exchange. This event feels a little like the NBA draft, except much more festive and with a bunch of corporate professionals of average height. ** Though who would could be sure really about the height thing? I've not met most of these colleagues in person and have only ever seen most of them on video calls. For all I know, some of them could very well be professional basketball player feet tall. **

Anyways, when the big day for the exchange arrives, we each do our best attempt at a live unboxing video, taking turns unwrapping our baubles on a video call.

Last year, while the person I had sent a gift to carefully opened it on camera, someone on the call said, "That wrapping job is SO Annie!!", as others came off mute to chime in, "That IS so Annie!".

I cannot remember what the wrap job looked like that was evidently it was so me, but I haven't forgotten that moment!

What struck me was that this virtual call full of people I've never even been in the same room with, somehow they knew enough about me -- about my personality or style -- that when they saw a little box that I had wrapped and sent to my colleague far away, it fit with who they knew me to be, and clicked enough that they all noticed.

It struck me that that kind of resonance doesn't just happen by accident. At least it doesn't happen by accident in a virtual world.

That moment of knowing, of being known and seen, only happens by pushing aside what can easily become the transactional nature of virtual teamwork, and making space to prioritize human connection through the screen. In a virtual world it takes intentionality to take the minute or two to connect about something aside from the task at hand.

Connection is built through the little conversations and hellos before getting down to business. And that knowing and being known is not not incidental to the work.

One of my core motivations as a leader is the belief that the way we work together affects what we create together, in all kinds of industries and fields. We work best when we see each other as whole people, and we’re more inclined to want to stay in employment with others who see us as whole people who are more than the work we do. Fostering that connection in virtual workplaces will always be key to the vitality of a unique and healthy work culture.

I love talking with leaders about how to help their organizations build that connectivity and finding ways that work best for their specific contexts. And I would love to talk to you if you’d like someone to think through your unique situation with you!  

A Tool For You

Here's my favorite spinner tool that we use for drawing names with added flair. What's fun about this particular spinner is you can write something fun about each person to have pop-up on the screen after their name is selected (see the advanced settings next to each name). I have a wonderful colleague who writes fun facts, or funny attributable quotes for each person, and it just adds that special something that makes a conference call feel extra fun when you need it to. Find it here:

Wheel of Names

Once upon a time, I spent a summer as an intern, copyediting a book on copyright law. I cannot begin to tell you -- though I don't suspect it will be hard for you to imagine -- how excruciatingly mind-numbing that assignment was.

What kept me from falling into a deep sleep daily, was that every afternoon, all of the editors would get up from their desks and head out for a walk around the block. Just one little loop. Ten minutes.

On a really good day, we'd stop for an ice cream cone.

Surely the movement and the sunshine were good for everyone, but so were the connectivity and the conversations. That ten or fifteen minutes (did i mention ice cream day!!) was the basis for the tone set in the office the entire rest of the time. Those were the connection points that helped establish an environment where we realized "hey! I like these people!" and wanted to be there, even when slogging through a run-on chapter about a prima facie case of copyright infringement for the fifth time with a red pen, questioning all of my life choices.

Here's the thing though:

Those walks around the block, the breaks in the action for sun and stories, those happened because of the leaders of the department. They were the ones prompting everyone to hop out of their seats and move around for a few minutes. In doing so, they gave permission.

Otherwise, its doubtful breaktime would have taken that form.

And often, permission is the very thing that's missing in fostering the development of a healthy and distinct culture in dispersed teams.

I've noticed that people at all stages of their career feel the rush of needing to get on each and every call and get down to business. Thats necessary sometimes, but if its all the time, its going to feel robotic pretty fast, and robots will break after a while.

Planned walks with coworkers don't happen organically, nor do serendipitous run-ins at the coffee pot when people are working out of their home offices far away from one another. It's no wonder that there is a pervasive feeling of transactional teamwork amongst virtual teams.

As a leader, you have the power to shake that narrative up, and infuse a different kind of intentionality into the culture of your team.

This can look a million different ways! I'd be happy to share ideas for how that could look In your particular context.