30 min listen
WLP183: Co-ordinating the Conversation in Remote Teams
WLP183: Co-ordinating the Conversation in Remote Teams
ratings:
Length:
59 minutes
Released:
Nov 1, 2018
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
To mix things up from our usual magazine format we have just one long substantive interview for you today, where we really dig into the detail about how one organisation manages their communications using Slack. We’re sure you’ll find it interesting to go really in-depth into this example, and reflect on how you select and use tools within your own organisation. And a quick shout out to listener Stephan for recommending our show to someone on Twitter, and in turn we recommend an episode in the show Reasons to be Cheerful, episode 55, (https://pca.st/0IN0) where they interview the founder of Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand, where they have been experimenting with the four day week (which we mentioned in episode 179 https://virtualnotdistant.squarespace.com/podcasts/values-driven-culture but didn’t talk to them directly). Why not let us know what you think, we’re easy to reach on Twitter, either @PilarOrti or @Virtualteamw0rk Meantime, on with the great big chat: 08.25 Voice behind the blog: Jamon Holmgren Jamon is the cofounder and CTO of Infinite Red https://infinite.red/, and author of the post “5 Slack Channels Every Company Needs.” https://shift.infinite.red/5-slack-channels-every-company-needs-dd0f103e0f9d With a team of 25 fully remote colleagues, Infinite Red have been building apps since forming from a merger in 2005. (We interviewed Gant Laborde earlier this year https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/wlp174-problem-with-remote-work about a great blog post he also shared with the world). But Jamon remains conscious that their setup is unusual, that society is still not ready for remote universally – something those of us immersed in this space can easily overlook. So they had to find their own ways of getting things done, as they created their team and found ways to collaborate effectively. Infinite Red use Slack very extensively to segment their conversations, through channels which evolve organically (and get archived after use), and also guest channels for external collaborators - in fact, they insist that their clients use Slack, as part of their terms of operation, either in shared workspaces or via guest channels. Jamon and Pilar discuss how in a larger team, Slack can evolve from being an asynchronous collaboration platform to more of a real-time communication tool, with higher expectation in terms of response time. To manage this requires some forethought and alignment of expectations, such as use of threading to control the signal to noise ratio, especially in important channels – whilst other channels can fill the need for more casual chat. For Infinite Red this led to the creation of the 5 channels which were the subject of the blog post in question: 20.56 The 5 Channels Roll call: For checking in, rather than checking up on, saying “hi” when you arrive at the office. They use it for really brief greetings and signalling - it’s a little more personal and connected than just indicating through your status when you are working or not, or popping out for lunch or into a meeting. It creates a good snapshot of where everyone is at at any given moment, particularly in a team spanning multiple timezones. Kudos: For recognising the accomplishments of co-workers, in as authentic a way as possible. A good way to make different aspects of the work visible across the organisation (though private praise matters too). They also use to reward effort and endurance as well as obviously positive outcomes, and try to keep it spontaneous and genuine. Chitchat + Funny: These are actually two channels at Infinite Red, split from the default Slack ‘Random’ channel. Separating them in this way allows all employees join in chat without needing to dive down the rabbit-hole of memes and GIFs (and some ultra-geeky stuff that is really only funny to developers anyway) - and recognises that people bond over different kinds of content and humour. Announcements: Some things need a destination of their own, things which have an impact on t
Released:
Nov 1, 2018
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
WLP06 Sinead MacManus and Digital: How can digital skills be employed in the workplace? Sinead MacManus talks about the work that Fluency is doing in London and globally to help young people improve their digital skills.00.30 Pilar talks a bit about Sinead' s work (transcript... by 21st Century Work Life and leading remote teams