Remote Culture Club with Alix Dunn

How does your team make decisions? Are individuals empowered to make choices on their own, or does everything happen by committee? In remote life, clearly making and communicating decisions can make or break teams, enabling work or grinding its pace to a halt. In this mini-episode, Alix looks at the different types of decision making that happen on remote teams and unpacks how to bring more clarity to your team’s approach.

Good documentation fuels remote teams, giving your team the info they need at their fingertips to get stuff done without having to ask a million questions. But documentation is a bit of a Goldilocks problem. Teams tend to have too little of it, or far too much. So how can you perfect your approach to documenting your team’s work? In this mini-episode, Alix shares three strategies for getting your documentation juuuust right.

From email to Slack to video calls, we have a lot of ways to communicate at work these days. But what do you do when you prefer emails, but your team hates them? Or when your colleague communicates only in Slack, but you’re struggling to keep up with the constant pings? In this mini-episode, Alix talks about how to understand and respond to your team’s communication preferences. TL;DR? You can’t make everyone happy all the time, but you can find common ground. Listen in for more.

In remote work, small decisions can have a big impact on the effectiveness of your team: how you document your work, how you share information, how and when you meet, and more. That’s why it’s crucial to figure out your best way of working together. But it’s easy to keep your head down and avoid this work when there’s plenty to do and deadlines ahead. In this mini-episode, Alix discusses strategies for figuring out the how of your team’s work together without derailing work or getting lost in process. Listen to learn how to make space and time to address the small but important challenges of remote work that can make or break teams.

Meetings should be a powerful way for your team to advance their work and build relationships. So why are they so often the villain when we talk about remote working? And does it have to be that way? In this first of a series of shorter, solo episodes, Alix shares ideas to help you stop meeting when you don’t need to, find the right rhythm for your team, and meet more effectively to turn the energy you expend into real impact.

Remote organisations can hire the best person for the job, regardless of where they live. Well, that’s the theory. But the reality is that hiring around the world can lead to some tricky operational challenges, from scheduling calls to navigating employment law. This week, Development Gateway COO Vanessa Goas joins Alix on the podcast to talk about what she’s learned from 15 years in operations at a growing global non-profit. Listen in to learn from Vanessa’s expertise on wrangling meetings across time zones, communicating policies around the globe, and building real connection with colleagues who are continents away. After you listen, you can find Vanessa and say hello here. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

From Slack to Zoom to Google Doc comments, we have many ways of communicating at work. With so many channels at our disposal, why is communication on remote teams still so tough? On this week’s podcast, Remote Culture Club Director Jake talks to Tem, head of Notion consulting firm Optemization, about using Notion and other tools to support your remote team to work together. Whether you’re an individual trying to organise your digital life or a team leader looking to streamline and supercharge your team’s work, this week’s episode has tips and tricks for getting your digital house in order. After you listen, check out the walkthrough of our own Notion workspace mentioned in the episode, and find Tem at optemization.com. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

This week, digital rights researcher, consultant, and facilitator Soizic Pénicaud joins us to share remote wisdom from an organisational outsider. Whether you’re a freelancer building your own remote practice or a team leader looking for a fresh take, listen in for Soizic’s guidance on managing calendars, information overload, and the benefits of treating full-time staffers like consultants. After you listen, find Soizic and say hello on Twitter or LinkedIn. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

First impressions count, especially when it comes to new hires. This week’s episode is all about setting the right tone for new team members through remote onboarding. Alix is joined by onboarding aficionado Dave Chan to dig into the dos-and-don'ts of remote orientations, from meetings to documentation and everything in between. Passionate about getting remote onboarding right, Dave is currently helping build Sono, an all-in-one platform for creating engaging onboarding experiences in minutes. You can find him and say hello here. *This interview was originally recorded as part of the 2022 Remote Culture Intensive, a course for remote teams to rebuild their culture, while Dave was working at Shopify. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

Having a clear strategy can dramatically improve the way your team functions. But developing a clear strategy? It’s not always so easy. In this week’s episode, Alix sits down with social change strategist and facilitator Dave Algoso to demystify strategic planning. They discuss the elements of a good strategic planning process and identify common pitfalls to help you avoid going astray. Whether you’re kicking off a formal strategic planning process or just trying to figure out a way to keep your remote team moving in the same strategic direction, Dave’s guidance will help you build a better, more intentional process to reach your goals.   After you listen, find Dave at algoso.org and say hello here. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

When in-person conferences became impossible in 2020, Mozilla’s Sarah Allen and her team had to move their renowned annual convening MozFest online. But how do you move an event focused on building community into the virtual world without losing the magic? In this episode, Alix sits down with Sarah to talk about Mozilla Festival (aka MozFest)’s shift to virtual, how the new format changed her approach to the event, and how to create meaningful connection and community remotely. Find Sarah and say hello here. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter. *This interview was originally recorded as part of the 2022 Remote Culture Intensive, a course for remote teams to rebuild their culture, together.

As the leader of a remote team, you set the pace of work. When things get tight, this probably means asking folks to push to meet a deadline or take on more work. But what if you asked your team to go more slowly and do less instead? In this week’s episode, Alix talks with Hera Hussain of CHAYN about the rhythms and rituals of remote work. Hera discusses how slowing down and making time for reflection can energise a team, and she shares both big and small rituals you can implement on your own remote team. For more from Hera, you can say hello here. To connect with Alix check out our website or follow along on Twitter.

In this week’s episode, Alix talks with an expert facilitator and mindfulness teacher Faith Bosworth about the causes and symptoms of stress in remote life and how to reclaim your calm. Together, Alix and Faith discuss strategies for setting remote teams up for success rather than stress, and they unpack ways of decoupling stress from productivity for you and your team. In remote work as in life, your state of mind determines your experience, so listen in for wisdom and guidance on reframing your relationship with stress, productivity, and joy in remote work. For more from Faith, you can find her website here, and read her article, What the stress of remote work tells us about our mind and how we can care for it. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

Boundaries, they’re not just for your in-laws… In this week’s episode, Alix talks to Mehan Jayasuriya, Senior Program Officer at the Mozilla Foundation, about creating and sticking to boundaries in remote work. Alix and Mehan dig into the perils and possibilities of working remotely as parents of young children, and Mehan shares practical advice for working across timezones, setting clear expectations with colleagues, and making progress (even when your toddler didn’t sleep last night…). You can find Mehan and say hello here. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

How can you foster a sense of belonging and connection when your team doesn't work in the same office? How can you create genuine opportunities to connect with colleagues without 'forced fun'? How can you support your team to get to know and trust each other better over time? In this episode, Alix sat down with Tatiana Figueredo, founder of Business of Community. Tatiana helps leaders understand how to bring their people together & structure systems of belonging within their organisations. *This interview was originally recorded as part of the 2022 Remote Culture Intensive, a course for remote teams to rebuild their culture, together. Find Tatiana and say hello here. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

Does decision-making tie your team up in knots? Is it sometimes unclear when, where, and how decisions are made? With decision-making in remote spaces, the devil’s in the detail, and it can be hard to strike the balance between having the right people involved without getting bogged down in endless meetings and conversations. In this episode, Alix sat down with Sharon Moorehouse, former UX Operations at Shopify and now Partner Enablement Program Manager at Tines. Sharon has lots to share about how to structure decision-making processes; include people effectively; and build trust and consult teammates without wasting their time. *This interview was originally recorded as part of the 2022 Remote Culture Intensive, a course for remote teams to rebuild their culture, together. You can find Sharon (and say hello) here.  __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

Feeling floating and confused about who’s doing what and when in your organization? Nathan Evans was too, which lead him to start Peerdom. At its core, their work believes that seeing something tangible and visual in front of you is a powerful way to make sense of how we work with each other. Nathan applies his scientific background to organizing organizations, in the process making our career path more adaptable. If your organization has this huge pile of work it needs to get done every month, what’s the optimal way of dividing that through well-scoped, dynamic roles? It’s a way of working that’s less hierarchical but more effective, and allows you to see your career as a playground—ever changing and even inspiring. What’s more it allows you and your organization to say “no” to what’s not needed and outside of your goals. You can learn more about Nathan and Peerdom here. You can get in touch with him on LinkedIn. You can also reach him via email. He recommends an article on Roles vs Job positions complementary to the discussion: https://peerdom.medium.com/the-advantages-of-defining-job-roles-instead-of-job-positions-d2817a3c8d46 __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

In the first episode of the Remote Culture Club podcast, Chris Michael and Alix get into the why, when, what and how of when your team gets together. Retreats have become a really critical tool for remote teams to connect and get to know each other, but we still oftentimes use them in the same ways: we pile up the agendas as we try and figure our every little detail, ask every question under the sun, and in the process end up tiring ourselves out and spending a lot of mental energy on strategy and substance, rather than connection with colleagues who we really want to be with in person. Chris Michael helps mission-driven organizations and leaders strengthen their teams and increase their impact. Chris is a fantastic retreat facilitator, he is invigorating, creative and engaging in his approach, and you always leave with so much energy and enthusiasm for your work and the people who you work with. In this interview Chris and Alix cover some of the big questions around retreats and off-sites including: How often should your team meet for a retreat? How do you decide what you should cover? What dynamics must you avoid when designing in-person time? *This interview was originally recorded as part of the 2022 Remote Culture Intensive, a course for remote teams to rebuild their culture, together. __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.

Welcome to the Remote Culture Club podcast – building a remote culture that works. Join us in the Remote Culture Club podcast with Alix Dunn. We wanted to tell you more about the framing and project we’re embarking on. The way we work has changed dramatically, yet there are few places to go to ask questions and brainstorm ideas on how to facilitate that change. We want to be that space you can come to, and a place that can give you concrete experiments you can run yourself. Please let us know what you think, and share ideas, topics and people we should talk to–don’t hesitate to reach out, and we hope you enjoy!  __ For more, check out our website or follow Alix on Twitter.