Update June 2020: I published this post many years ago, and my home office setup has changed since then. However, most of the main design principles are still the same, and I think you'll find them helpful (I also updated some of the links to the products I currently use). ********** I recently moved to a new apartment where I (finally!) got my own room to set up as a home office. I’ve been a hardcore follower of GTD for quite a while, so I wanted to make sure I take the lessons learned over ... Read More
Why the Future of Work is Virtual [Video]
I believe the future of work is virtual. I work from home, and this is the story of how I got my current job at Cisco Systems. The talk is about "The Future of Work," which I gave at the NewCon conference in South Africa to explain the trend of both working and learning from home. I couldn't present at the conference live due to the timezone difference between Boston & South Africa (I was scheduled to talk at 2:30am my time - which would have been a disaster!), so I pre-recorded the ... Read More
How to Set Up a Telecommuting Policy for your Company the Right Way
A short while ago, I was invited to speak (along with a panel of experts) about how to set up a telecommuting policy for your company. The webinar was organized by AgilQuest - a company that offers software and services solutions for the mobile workforce - and moderated by Doug Lucy, AgilQuest's director of marketing. The webinar was divided into two main parts: Part 1 was about organizations that are just starting out with a new telework or flexible work strategy, and what they should ... Read More
Webinar Replay: Building Trust in Your Virtual Team
I had a great conversation with a team of experts about building and increasing trust in your virtual team. Here is the webinar replay if you missed it (click play on the YouTube video below to watch it). I highly recommend you watch it, especially if you work as part of a virtual team or manage a remote workforce. Dr. Howard B. Esbin of PlayPrelude, and Lisette Sutherland, of Collaboration Superpowers hosted the webinar on Google Hangouts. The panel also included Alexey ... Read More
Please, Know When to Shut Up in Meetings
Here’s a common problem in teleconference meetings: some people just don’t know when to shut up to get a point across. This includes folks who keep making the same point over and over again, and do not understand the concept of “less is more.” Although this happens in face-to-face meetings as well, it is more common in virtual meetings because the presenter can’t read his or her audience’s visual cues to know whether they’re still actively listening. In the spirit of knowing when to shut up, ... Read More