Podcasts about sococo

Jody Grunden, a virtual CFO, discusses the transition from brick and mortar to virtual business and the use of virtual assistants. He shares his experience in transforming the accounting industry by creating a virtual CFO service and changing billing models. Grunden emphasizes the importance of deliberate communication and building a strong virtual culture. He also highlights the challenges of managing a virtual team and provides tips for success, such as setting regular meetings and creating a professional virtual office environment. He discusses the importance of strategic coaching and how it has helped him achieve a work-life balance with 150 free days per year. He emphasizes the need to delegate and systematize processes in order to scale a business and increase its value. Grunden also highlights the benefits of hiring virtual assistants and utilizing AI in business operations. He encourages entrepreneurs to embrace AI as a tool and learn how to leverage its capabilities. Takeaways • Transitioning from brick and mortar to virtual business requires careful planning and consideration of software, office space, and internet connectivity. • Deliberate communication is crucial in managing a virtual team, including regular meetings and fostering a strong virtual culture. • Tools like SoCoCo and ClickUp can help create a virtual office space and manage processes effectively. Building a virtual business allows for flexibility in work hours and location, but it requires intentional processes and systems to ensure productivity and client satisfaction. Strategic coaching can help entrepreneurs achieve a work-life balance and focus on tasks that bring in profits. • Delegating and systematizing processes is crucial for scaling a business and increasing its value. • Hiring virtual assistants, both domestically and internationally, can be cost-effective and improve efficiency. • AI can be a valuable tool in various aspects of business, from writing emails to analyzing financial data. • Entrepreneurs should embrace AI and learn how to leverage its capabilities to stay competitive in the market. Sound Bites • Grunden what should I call him? My nickname will be the virtual guru virtual guru. • We basically transformed the accounting industry in regard to creating a virtual CFO service. • The virtual thing has really kind of opened it up. • I have about 150 free days, which is kind of cool. • You've got to figure out how to get yourself out of the weeds. • If everything's snowflakey, good luck on selling it for a premium. If you have any questions in general you can reach our office at: VastSolutionsGroup.com Phone: 415-854-6512 Email: info@vastsolutionsgroup.com Monday-Thursday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Pacific) Thank you for listening!

Andy Tryba is a technology optimist and 19x CEO. He is the co-founder & CEO of Ionic Partners as well as the CEO of 2 recent acquisitions by Ionic – Gigster & Sparkrock. Ionic Partners is an enterprise software buyout firm focused on reaccelerating companies that have grown to $20-$50m in revenue, but now need additional playbooks & talent to reach the next level. Prior to co-founding Ionic Partners – Andy created and ran a $1B division of ESW Capital called Think3. Through this fund – Andy has purchased and was the CEO of 12 enterprise software companies – Engine Yard, DNN Corp, Kayako, Bizness Apps, FogBugz, MyAlerts, School Loop, Agemni, SLI Systems, Infinio, Sococo and StreetSmart. Prior to Think3, Andy founded one of the largest online talent marketplaces – spanning over 130 countries. Crossover grew from scratch to over $500m/yr in revenue before being acquired. Andy also created the world's only non-profit rideshare – which completed over 3M rides in 4 years. Through the non-profit model – RideAustin was been able to innovate with local organizations to help solve transportation issues – including driving underprivileged patients to doctors' visits, Veterans to their jobs and medical visits, elimination of underutilized bus lines and enabled local charities to raise $450k in donations through the Round-Up feature – also first in the industry. Andy is a Board member of the Texas High Speed rail – working to bring the first high speed rail to the United States, serves as a Delegate in the US-Japan Leadership Program – bringing together key leaders from US & Japan, and founded a local Japanese school in Austin called the Japanese Heritage Academy. Previously, Andy started and sold 2 software startups, spent 14 years running strategy at Intel Corporation, and was also an advisor to the US White House on the future of jobs and engineering talent. He received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Illinois and a MBA from Rice University. Connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/andytryba/  Connect with Jon Dwoskin: Twitter: @jdwoskin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.dwoskin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejondwoskinexperience/ Website: https://jondwoskin.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondwoskin/ Email: jon@jondwoskin.com Get Jon's Book: The Think Big Movement: Grow your business big. Very Big!   Connect with Andy Tryba: Website: https://gigster.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/andytryba Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gigster_official/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andytryba/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TryGigste *E – explicit language may be used in this podcast.

BONUS: The Surprising Costs Of Outsourcing Software Development, And Effective Outsourcing Strategies with Douglas Squirrel Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Squirrel delves into the misconception that outsourcing engineers overseas automatically leads to cost reduction in software organizations. He explains that while the salary expenses might be lower for offshore teams, other costs come into play.  He illustrates the situation with an example involving two tech teams, one located onshore in California, USA, and the other in India. The Indian team had one quarter the salary of the onshore team, prompting the question of why the more expensive US engineers are retained. The discussion highlights the importance of evaluating the genuine costs of offshoring beyond just salaries. Additionally, Squirrel raises the question of which team is more productive and points out the time zone difference as a significant factor impacting communication and coordination.  Surprisingly, when the overall costs are tallied, they often don't exhibit a substantial difference due to various expenses that often get ignored. The aspect of speed of delivery is also examined, and the suggestion is made to have a local representative support the outsourced team to facilitate smoother communication. Beyond the operational costs, we also talk about how difficult it is to maintain effective communication between teams, and the cost of frequent international travel.  Squirrel emphasizes the necessity of having experienced individuals in the offshore team, highlighting that it's even more important to hire very senior people in offshore teams. We also discuss how hard it is to find accommodation for senior engineers that move to the offshore locations. Effective Offshoring Patterns Squirrel delves into the patterns that can enhance the effectiveness of offshoring. The concept of near shoring is introduced, especially when there are significant challenges in finding talent close to the headquarters.  The discussion then pivots to the importance of team organization for offshoring success. The idea of cross-functional teams or feature teams is introduced as an effective approach. Squirrel references FeatureTeams.org, emphasizing that these teams possess the flexibility to work on any feature, thereby minimizing communication dependencies.  A strategy to integrate feature teams across regions is presented through the "ambassador pattern," which involves designated individuals who bridge the communication gaps between teams in different locations. Optimizing Communication and Resources for Remote Teams We also discuss how to optimize communication and resources for remote teams. Squirrel introduces the notion that outsourcing and offshoring may be a possible solution to solve the talent problem by tapping into global talent pools. He offers practical tips, such as conducting all meetings online and making it a rule to always include offshore team members. Creating opportunities for "osmotic communication" – the exchange of information through casual interactions – is suggested as a means to foster team cohesion across distances. Recommended Resources The episode concludes with a list of recommended resources for further exploration. These include Stack Overflow's own experience about fully remote work, Squirrel's own website (DouglasSquirrel.com), Team Topologies (a topic which has been presented on the podcast by its authors Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais), the FeatureTeams.org website, and the virtual office platform Sococo. Throughout the conversation, Squirrel provides insights into the complexities of offshoring, shedding light on the multifaceted considerations that impact its success. From cost evaluation to effective team organization and communication strategies, the episode offers a comprehensive overview of the nuances surrounding offshore software development teams. About Douglas Squirrel Squirrel has been coding for more than forty years and has led software teams for twenty. He uses the power of conversations to create dramatic productivity gains in technology organisations of all sizes. Squirrel's experience includes growing software teams as a CTO in startups from fintech to biotech to music, and everything in between. He lives in Frogholt, England, in a timber-framed cottage built in the year 1450. You can link with Douglas Squirrel on LinkedIn and connect with Douglas Squirrel on his website. 

When was the last time that you trusted your community with the responsibility of collaboration? In this episode of Community Signal, Matt Leacock shares lessons he's learned while designing popular collaborative board games like Pandemic, Pandemic Legacy, and Forbidden Island. Matt also discusses how he leans on the board game community for his own games. In the pre-launch stages, he has rallied supporters to pre-order his games and prove demand. In the development stages, he's openly shared rules documents, inviting feedback from fans. After a game launches, he also discusses the role that players have when it comes to helping one another as questions and loopholes arise. Having a shared goal –– winning the game –– is perhaps what motivates players to come together at all stages of the game's development. Knowing that your community members also have a shared purpose or goal, are there ways that you could trust them with collaboration opportunities that could lead to positive outcomes for everyone? That's winning!  Matt and Patrick also discuss: Competition within collaborative games Establishing norms within games and communities The importance of establishing straightforward nomenclature Our Podcast is Made Possible By… If you enjoy our show, please know that it's only possible with the generous support of our sponsor: Hivebrite, the community engagement platform. Big Quotes Trust as an integral part of cooperative game design (6:54): “In a cooperative game, you can guide people along. You're all working toward the same goal, so you can help each other out as you go along. I think that does help build trust. Having that common goal really helps. The opposite is true with semi-cooperative ones, or even the ones with the hidden traitor. Most of the game is really about social reduction and trying to guess what people's agendas are.” –@mattleacock Getting buy-in on community norms outside of the context of guidelines infractions (8:45): “To the extent that people can understand what the norms are before they exhibit the behavior the better. … It's not just, ‘Here's the rules. Follow them.' It's, ‘Here's the intent of the community [and] where we want to go, so that's why we have these rules.'” –@mattleacock Board game communities step in when players need help (13:43): “I lean on BoardGameGeek pretty heavily because there's so many rules questions about so many of the games. Some of them are quite simple and very easy to monitor. Especially when the game is released, I want to make sure that no one's found any loophole or has any big questions. I look at those [communities] pretty carefully after release.” –@mattleacock Trusting your community with collaboration (18:52): “We put the rules [for Thunderbirds] up online … in Google Doc format and invited people to edit, which was this leap of faith. People would see the text, and they could make suggestions right in the text. I would obviously monitor this stuff and pull out any abusive language. I was really impressed at how just meeting people with good faith, how far that went, and how much buy-in that created.” –@mattleacock The upsides and potential pitfalls of crowdfunding (20:25): “There are certain advantages of trying to get buy-in [for your board game] from the community, where you're listening to them and understanding what's important. If that's taken too far, then you get perhaps people that feel entitled to tell you exactly what they want and expect it.” –@mattleacock About Matt Leacock Matt Leacock has been designing board games full-time since 2014. He is best known for his cooperative titles, Pandemic, Pandemic Legacy, and Forbidden Island, and he has designed and developed over two dozen titles for the international market. He is currently working on Daybreak, a game about taking on the climate crisis. His games have won many awards including four nominations for Spiel des Jahres and the Sonderpreis in 2018. In a prior life, he was a user experience designer at Apple, Netscape, AOL, Yahoo, and the chief designer at Sococo. Related Links Sponsor: Hivebrite, the community engagement platform Matt Leacock's website Jonathan Bailey, formerly on Community Signal (three times) Board Game Arena BoardGameGeek Stats on Kickstarter's categories, including games Daybreak Overview in 7 Minutes Transcript View transcript on our website Your Thoughts If you have any thoughts on this episode that you'd like to share, please leave me a comment, send me an email or a tweet. If you enjoy the show, we would be so grateful if you spread the word and supported Community Signal on Patreon.

Insanely prolific author, snappy dresser, and Hall of Fame keynote speaker Jay Baer joins me. We talk about running a remote company and how it has evolved over the past twelve years. We also chat about some of his favorite collaboration tools, including Sococo, Vidyard, and Teamwork.Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

This week, we spend most of the hour giving updates on things we've been working on, including LACRM's decision to use Sococo.

O episódio de hoje é um oferecimento da Sococo, produtos deliciosos que farão de você um arraso na cozinha. Minha inteligência Emocional merece e você também. Coloquei um Plano de Ação ao final! Entre para meu grupo do Telegram! ▶️ https://bit.ly/3c8fMD2◀️ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/chapositivo/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/chapositivo/support

Switching to remote working means big shifts in the communication patterns of our teams, and the tools we use to do that make some things harder and others easier—they have different "affordances". We explore these differences and suggest strategies for better effective collaboration. SHOW LINKS: - Classic book on affordances: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Design_of_Everyday_Things - Concept Board: https://app.conceptboard.com - Sococo: https://www.sococo.com/ Transcript: https://www.conversationaltransformation.com/posts/missingaffordances/ *** 
 Our new book, Agile Conversations, will be out in May 2020! See https://conversationaltransformation.com where you can pre-order and get a free video when you join our mailing list! 
 We'd love to hear any thoughts, ideas, or feedback you have about the show. 
 Email us at info@conversationaltransformation.com

What if you could revolutionize your business by acquiring a new company every single day? Andy Treber, the visionary CEO of Crossovercom and a seasoned entrepreneur, joins us to share his audacious plans for the future of work. Drawing from his rich experience at Intel and the US White House, Andy outlines how he intends to leverage elite remote talent from across the globe to fuel his ambitious vision. His unique background, including his upbringing in Japan, adds a fascinating layer to his forward-thinking strategies in business and technology.Ever wondered how to truly maximize productivity in a remote setting? Discover how data-driven tools like Sococo and WorkSmart are transforming the way remote teams function. Andy explains the concepts of lead and lag metrics, and how actionable data can be used for real-time coaching and performance enhancement. With insights drawn from real-world applications, this episode provides a deep dive into building a cohesive remote work culture that thrives on personalized feedback and predictive performance assessments.Navigating the complexities of global remote talent acquisition is no small feat, and Andy shares the intricate process he employs to hire top-tier talent from around the world. From rigorous testing of technical and soft skills to evaluating communication prowess and personality traits, learn how Crossovercom handles over 25,000 applicants weekly to find the best fit. We also explore the evolution of remote work, touching on advancements in internet infrastructure and the critical role of trust and security. Don't miss this compelling discussion that promises to reshape your understanding of remote work and talent acquisition.Refer a Remote Work Expert As a Guest On The ShowClick here remoteworklife.io to subscribe to my free newsletter Connect on LinkedIn

If productivity is a challenge for you or your remote team then you should listen to Today's guest is CEO of Cross Over Andy Tryba. He's also a serial entrepreneur, investor and futurist with interests in a number of other businesses including, Think3, RideAustin, Crossover, EngineYard, Kayako, DNN, BiznessApps, MyAlerts, FogBugz, SchoolLoop, SLI Systems, Agemni, Sococo and StreetSmart. Crossover connects companies to the best talent from around the world and provides a seamless end-to-end solution for remote team management. But Andy and I won’t just be talking shop, no. Andy also talks through his personal experience of growing multiple business and his incredible plans to grow even further in 2020 up to 2021 where he plans to acquire one business per day... Reach out to Andy via Twitter here >>> https://twitter.com/andytryba And remember to take a look at Crossover >>> crossover.com

Marc Kirshbaum is a business leader, strategic advisor and board member to companies in healthcare, software and information technology. Marc is retained by investors, founders and CEOs to build, grow and turn around businesses that will deliver sustainable and measurable results for investors, employees and customers. Marc has been serving as the CEO of Sococo since August 2017.

It’s not uncommon for colleagues in an office to get together and work on a project. And remote teams can do this too! More and more online tools are being built specifically for simulating an office (co-working) environment: Google Hangouts, Zoom, Sococo, and PukkaTeam, just to name a few. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com.

In this episode, Pilar and Lisette share their favourite online tools and why they work for them. Can you add any to the list? visit www.virtualnotdistant.com How important are tools? Get out your pen and paper - or your favourite note-taking app! Lisette mentions HuddleWall (though she hasn't tried it out yet). TRELLO We talk about Trello!!!!! (Planner is the Microsoft 365 version.) Find out more about Trello and the company behind it in episode 68.  http://virtualnotdistant.com/trello-and-coffee/ SOCOCO To find out more about Sococo: #118 What Virtual Coworking can Teach Virtual Teams https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/lessons-virtual-coworking.com Join Virtual Team Talk www.virtualteamtalk.com IDONETHIS For narrating the work. What do you prefer: to know about people's tasks or their thinking process? Take diversity into account when selecting your tools.  Spying vs Working Out Loud Narrating the work shouldn't be linked to Performance Management, or else it becomes something else...  Pilar mentions Work Rules by Lazlo Bock and the episode 82 Work Rules Without Pants http://virtualnotdistant.com/work-rules-without-pants/ SLACK Signalling status. If you're using an online conversation system rather than email, customise your notifications.  Pilar mentions this article by Oliver Burkman: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/14/turn-off-notifications-break-free-distraction-oliver-burkeman Pilar has an article on Your Notifications are Your Friends https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/blog/notifications-settings "Under New Management" by David Burkus and the link of notifications and stress.  ZENDESK Lisette describes how the Happy Melly team uses ZenDesk Inbox to manage team emails.  TOODLEDO For prioritising and scheduling tasks.  WUNDERLIST For a beautiful ping when your task is complete. KUBI Telepresence!  Episode 87 on Hybrid Teams https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/hybrid-teams PERSONIFY For presenting online in front of your slides.  FACETIME and WHATSAPP POCKETFor saving articles.  You can send PDFs to the Kindle. Send it to your Kindle email address and put "convert" in the subject line.  KUDO BOX Say thank you via Twitter!

We talk about protecting our work when working outside the office.  INTRO and Catch-up Duncan featured us! http://banoffeesolutions.co.uk/archive/podcasts-for-remote-working/ Programming and Data Science blog by Duncan Thomson We recommend that you watch The Newsroom Join us for Virtual Team Talk.  Sococo has a new "meetings" feature, which makes it easy to organise meetings in the space and also to tap someone on the shoulder to let them know you want to talk to them, and they can easily refused. The Main Conversation We're looking at security from three points of view. From the organisation: Can I trust the people? Can i trust the tools? And for both organisations and individuals "Am i/Are we safe?" Having a policy.  Remember that people can look over your shoulder and read your emails... Can employees from the external tools we use read our data? Business Daily Protecting Your Online Data, 1 Feb 2017 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04qnwh4 In Business How Safe Are your Secrets Aug 2016 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07myxkw What's the deal with IT? Are they lazy or are we not making the case for choosing our own tools? Beware the hackers: Usb sticks being left on the pavement outside offices; emails from people in our organisation, that are not really from anyone we know...  Jailed by Skype! http://metro.co.uk/2017/02/03/judges-will-soon-be-able-to-jail-people-over-skype-6426263/ http://snip.ly/5rn3f#http://leavingworkbehind.com/introduction-to-digital-security/

Sococo VP of Sales Jack Crozier shares with Agile Amped his experience implementing Agile practices and tools in his department After the company CEO mandated that every department was to be Agile. At first, the sales team being reluctant and skeptical, but what started in fits and starts eventually grew into a robust sales workflow with clearly defined Scrum processes, tools for visualizing work flow, and a foundation of Agile values to guide future growth. Jack provides tips on how to balance work between a CRM (e.g., Salesforce) and a work board (they used Trello), how to balance existing workload with new lead nurturing, as well as how to focus on outcomes (e.g., closing a sale) rather than on activity (e.g., making a phone call). SolutionsIQ's Setarra DeVeaux hosts at Southern Fried Agile 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. About Agile Amped The Agile Amped podcast series connects the community through compelling stories, passionate people, shared knowledge, and innovative ideas. Fueled by inspiring conversations with industry thought leaders, Agile Amped offers valuable content – anytime, anywhere. To receive real-time updates, subscribe! Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SIQYouTube, http://bit.ly/SIQiTunes, http://www.solutionsiq.com/agile-amped/ Follow: http://bit.ly/SIQTwitter  Like: http://bit.ly/SIQFacebook

Everyone has baggage, and everyone lets that baggage affect their interactions with others through the stereotypes, biases and judgments that they make, often at a subconscious level. Natalie Warnert spoke on bias in the Agile workplace in her Agile2016 session "Objectivity or Subjectivity: Owning Your Own Bias and Interactions". The thrust is to get people to recognize that they have personal biases as well as biases fueled by societal stereotypes, and then to get them to understand how to keep those biases and judgments in check. This is especially powerful for leaders who have to model the behavior they want to see in others. By enhancing their own self-awareness, leaders can understand how their own personal biases are affecting their interactions with their reports. Says Natalie, "We have the right as humans to think whatever we want... [But] we also want to be able to catch ourselves in the act and say, 'How are these things influencing my interactions in either a positive or negative way?'"  Mandy Ross from Sococo, SolutionsIQ partner, hosts at Agile2016 in Atlanta, GA. About Agile Amped The Agile Amped podcast series connects the community through compelling stories, passionate people, shared knowledge, and innovative ideas. Fueled by inspiring conversations with industry thoughtleaders, Agile Amped offers valuable content – anytime, anywhere. To receive real-time updates, subscribe at YouTube, iTunes or SolutionsIQ.com. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SIQYouTube, http://bit.ly/SIQiTunes, http://www.solutionsiq.com/agile-amped/ Follow: http://bit.ly/SIQTwitter  Like: http://bit.ly/SIQFacebook

Pilar talks to Dr Clue about how the adventure of a treasure hunt can bring team members closer together and how this adventure is being taken online.  Introduction Some links Pilar mentions: The Management Café podcast blog: https://managementcafepodcast.com/ Mentoring programme starts Weds 14th September http://virtualnotdistant.com/virtual-not-distant-mentoring-group/ Episode 86 with Mandy from Sococo: http://virtualnotdistant.com/collaborative-workspace-sococo/ You can join us for Virtual Team Talk by applying here: https://virtualteamtalk.com/  If you would like to give your opinion on products and get paid for it, head over to: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243 The Conversation with Dr Clue 07:20mins Check out www.drclue.com How a treasure hunt is created. Seeing your city with new eyes. The team experience of the treasure hunt. Why do teams go on treasure hunts? New teams, teams in flux, mergers and acquisitions. The role of appreciation and trust. The tension between competition and collaboration. Our competitive nature. Tribes in organisation. Moving the treasure hunt online, using Sococo. What's the difference between the in person treasure hunt and the online version? "Teamwork doesn't necessarily mean holding hands every second." Levels of trust in teams: Sincerity Reliability Competence Caring Transparency / Vulnerability "Competence doesn't mean perfection." Why you want conflict in your team. http://drclue.com/trump-trustworthy-5-criteria-judging-trust/ http://drclue.com/hillary-clinton-trustworthy-5-criteria-judging-trust/

CEO and co-founder of Retrium David Horowitz left his gig as an Agile coach to focus on a growing problem: retrospective fails. David says, "If you ask me, 'How would you describe Agile in just two words?' it would be, 'Continuous Improvement.'" Retrospectives are the vehicle for continuous improvement. Yet across the industry, David sees many teams who treat retrospectives like a chore or a checklist item--or, even worse, they skip the retrospective altogether. It gets even worse if the teams are distributed. David decided to quit being an Agile coach and founded Retrium, whose SaaS product makes retrospectives much more effective and engaging. The biggest pitfall in retrospectives, in David's opinion: "lack of follow-through." As for pitfalls during live retrospective, the lack of a level playing field may keep teams from getting value. Seniority, personality and physical location can all contribute to--or detract from--a participant's ability to actively participate and gain value. In other words, just because someone is junior, introverted and/or remote doesn't mean they don't want to contribute to the team's growth.  David also touches on the Retrospective Facilitators Gathering, which he participates in. Mandy Ross from Sococo, SolutionsIQ partner, hosts at Agile2016 in Atlanta, GA. About Agile Amped The Agile Amped podcast series connects the community through compelling stories, passionate people, shared knowledge, and innovative ideas. Fueled by inspiring conversations with industry thoughtleaders, Agile Amped offers valuable content – anytime, anywhere. To receive real-time updates, subscribe at YouTube, iTunes or SolutionsIQ.com. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SIQYouTube, http://bit.ly/SIQiTunes, http://www.solutionsiq.com/agile-amped/ Follow: http://bit.ly/SIQTwitter  Like: http://bit.ly/SIQFacebook

Throughout Diana Larsen's Agile career, there has been a common thread: she has a strong desire to understand how people learn. Lifelong learner and champion for learning, Diana knows it's impossible to learn everything. "But if I know that you have some skills that I don't have, I can either come to you and ask you to help me learn them, or I can turn to you when I need them. And you can turn to me for the things you'd like to learn more about." Inherent in the learning process is trust and vulnerability. In team retrospectives, each team member has to trust others with their vulnerability in order to open the door to learning. Without that trust and vulnerability, no one learns--and then how do you build anything? Mandy Ross from Sococo, SolutionsIQ partner, hosts at Agile2016 in Atlanta, GA. About Agile Amped The Agile Amped podcast series connects the community through compelling stories, passionate people, shared knowledge, and innovative ideas. Fueled by inspiring conversations with industry thoughtleaders, Agile Amped offers valuable content – anytime, anywhere. To receive real-time updates, subscribe at YouTube, iTunes or SolutionsIQ.com. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SIQYouTube, http://bit.ly/SIQiTunes, http://www.solutionsiq.com/agile-amped/ Follow: http://bit.ly/SIQTwitter  Like: http://bit.ly/SIQFacebook

Dan Attfield and Paul Hammond discovered that the rules of improv comedy are the polar opposite of Patrick Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team."  For example, the first dysfunction is Absense of Trust, but in an effective team, you encourage the Presence of Trust. The duo walked Agile Amped through a series of exercises that they used in their session "The Five Dysfunctions of an Improvised Comedy Group"--which started out right with a blackout disco with Beyonce blaring on the speakers. In the end, Dan and Paul have one goal: getting people to change their egocentric views to one that focuses on making others look awesome. Mandy Ross from Sococo, SolutionsIQ partner, hosts at Agile2016 in Atlanta, GA. About Agile Amped The Agile Amped podcast series connects the community through compelling stories, passionate people, shared knowledge, and innovative ideas. Fueled by inspiring conversations with industry thoughtleaders, Agile Amped offers valuable content – anytime, anywhere. To receive real-time updates, subscribe at YouTube, iTunes or SolutionsIQ.com. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SIQYouTube, http://bit.ly/SIQiTunes, http://www.solutionsiq.com/agile-amped/ Follow: http://bit.ly/SIQTwitter  Like: http://bit.ly/SIQFacebook

As CEO of Sococo Cliff Pollan knows a thing or two about telecommuting. His first experience with it was back in 1980 when he worked in Minnesota out of the First Bank Produce building, right across the street from where Prince shot Purple Rain. At the time, the only technology that was available was the telephone, and there was no voicemail or email. Cliff spent a lot of time on airplanes "commuting" between home and work to maintain strong ties and get work done. Cliff's telecommuting experiences made it clear how important interpersonal connections are to effective work. Now as the CEO of Sococo, an online office platform, Cliff is able to realize the value of Agile by enabling more face-to-(virtual)face interactions, so that distributed teams can be more productive without devoting so much time to telecommuting. Mandy Ross from Sococo, SolutionsIQ partner, hosts at Agile2016 in Atlanta, GA. About Agile Amped The Agile Amped podcast series connects the community through compelling stories, passionate people, shared knowledge, and innovative ideas. Fueled by inspiring conversations with industry thoughtleaders, Agile Amped offers valuable content – anytime, anywhere. To receive real-time updates, subscribe at YouTube, iTunes or SolutionsIQ.com. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SIQYouTube, http://bit.ly/SIQiTunes, http://www.solutionsiq.com/agile-amped/ Follow: http://bit.ly/SIQTwitter  Like: http://bit.ly/SIQFacebook

Jay Baer is the world’s most retweeted person among digital marketers. He is a renowned business strategist, keynote speaker and the New York Times best-selling author of five books who travels the world helping businesspeople get and keep more people. Jay has advised over 700 companies since 1994, including Caterpillar, Nike, Allstate, The United Nations and 32 of the FORTUNE 500. He is the founder of Convince & Convert, a strategy consulting firm that helps prominent companies gain and keep more customers through the smart intersection of technology, social media, and customer service. His Convince & Convert Media division owns the world’s #1 content marketing blog, the world’s top marketing podcast, and many other education resources for business owners and executives. Jay believes that now more and more of our customer contact is in public, and that changes the dynamics of customer service considerably. “It changes the value of customer service considerably, but the problem is most businesses haven’t figured it out yet” He says most businesses are using old customer service playbooks to solve 2016 customer service problems. “The other thing that’s really useful for executives is to show them how customer service is the new marketing.” For example, when a customer has a great customer experience they talk about it, when the experience is shared on social media as part of a rating, review or tweet, that is part of your marketing. “One-third of customer complaints are never answered.” Most of these complaints are via social media and they go unanswered by the company. These are public complaints that other customers or prospects can see and have access to, yet they remain unsolved. 80% of businesses claim to have exceptional customer service, however only 8% of their customers agree. “There is this massive difference of opinion between what businesses think is good customer service and what customers think is good customer service.” Jay adds that customer service is chronically underfunded for almost every business because for generation’s, customer service has primarily been a “necessary evil” and nothing more. He notes that customer service is public now through social media and has more impact on purchases; companies need to re-evaluate their current focus on customer service. Jay points out hiring the right people for your customer service front lines are crucial to your business. Recruiting people who have the type of personality that can show empathy for the customer is very important. “You can learn an awful lot about somebody’s skills as a potential customer service representative just through an exercise.” Jay shares one online tool that his company could not live without, virtual desktop software called Sococo. While working with people from all over the world, Jay says this is the tool to keep everybody connected. “The greatest managers in the world understand, find out or determine what motivates each person (employee); they put incentives and programs in place at the individuals personal level to motivate each person instead of trying to motivate everyone together.” Jays sees the value in developing his people. He started a six-month program for his staff so that they could grow their speaking skills in order to go and speak at conferences all over the world. We would welcome a subscribe, rate and review for the show and also that the listeners can come hang out at Navigating the Customer Experience Community on Facebook. This is a private Facebook group for our listeners and past guests to come over share insights and industry trending topics and discussions on business and customer experience – click here! INTERVIEW LINKS: www.ConvinceandConvert.com www.HugYourHaters.com www.Sococo.com      “Different” by Youngme Moon “Procrastinate on Purpose” by Rory Vaden      

Mark Kilby thinks it's time to rethink what face-to-face means for Agility, especially in today's increasingly global economy. In his Agile2016 session "Distributed Agile: Evolution or Delusion?" Mark emphasized that collaboration and connection between team members is what's important, and that collocation doesn't automatically imply face-to-face communication. While tools like Sococo and telepresence robots are great for enhancing team connections, Mark advocates for more human patterns, namely: the buddy system, pairing/copiloting and backchanneling. SolutionsIQ's Josh Fruit hosts at Agile2016 in Atlanta, GA. About Agile Amped The Agile Amped podcast series connects the community through compelling stories, passionate people, shared knowledge, and innovative ideas. Fueled by inspiring conversations with industry thoughtleaders, Agile Amped offers valuable content – anytime, anywhere. To receive real-time updates, subscribe at YouTube, iTunes or SolutionsIQ.com. Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SIQYouTube, http://bit.ly/SIQiTunes, http://www.solutionsiq.com/agile-amped/ Follow: http://bit.ly/SIQTwitter  Like: http://bit.ly/SIQFacebook

In today's podcast, Lisette and Pilar try to figure out best practice in meetings in hybrid teams.  Introduction Leila's post: How to Give Feedback that Really Hurts. http://virtualnotdistant.com/feedback-hurts/ Pilar recommend the platform MeetingSift for hybrid meetings. New podcast coming soon, you can subscribe here for email updates: https://managementcafepodcast.com/ Mentoring Group for managers and leaders of virtual teams, starts September. http://virtualnotdistant.com/virtual-not-distant-mentoring-group/ New course on running workshops online: Flipping the Online Classroom. (Also starts in September!)     Thanks to Saros Research for sponsoring this podcast. If you would like to share your opinions on products and get paid for it and you are based in the UK or Ireland, follow this link https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243 Virtual Coffee with Lisette: Hybrid Teams 06:31 mins Our updates The peanut butter conversation. Lisette's ELMO moments... The importance of buffer time in virtual meetings. Here's the ELMO card and a link to Leila using the Supercards! http://virtualnotdistant.com/greatmeetings/ Pilar's been working with Sam and Yoris from Happy Melly One on a feedback system, using a Trello board based on the Learning 3.0 Canvas. Problems/Issues Possible Roadblocks Expected Results - what do we want to see? Stories/Experiences Options and Considerations Ideas What should we try immediately?   19:35 mins Our Conversation A few more reflections on the Audacious Salon at Agile 2016. (You can hear all about it in Episode 85.) http://virtualnotdistant.com/audacious-salon/ Lisette's 100th episode! http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/100-greatest-hits-volume-2/ Bear in mind noisy rooms - if you're in an open office, bear in mind that your ambient noise will go straight into somebody's ears. Permission to speak for remote team members during a meeting. You can read people in an office space or if everyone is virtual, you learn to read each other. How are we going to structure the discussion so that we know when we want to speak or when we need to move on? Think about how you're going to keep the conversation going and open with the technology you've got. When one person is remote... we have to redefine how we work together. "When one person is remote, the whole team is remote" is really about putting everyone on an equal footing. What are the problems in the real time meeting in a hybrid team? When should we have hybrid meetings? Try not to make the remote participant as if they were in the room, they are not, and therefore your process needs to change. Use online tools to capture ideas - you can then carry on the discussion asynchronously with your online records. Find a new rhythm and revisit how you work. Find a new way of operating together which involves adapting your practices. Breaking down your current ones and deciding whether it's going to be useful in the new context. Think about how you're allocating tasks. Decide whether you want cross-over between collocated and remote or separate tasks and projects to remote teams and collocated ones. Link to blog post on Sococo blog: https://www.sococo.com/blog/use-cases/agile/the-audacious-salon-at-agile-2016-distributed-agile-delusion-or-evolution/ Why does the agile community seem resistant to adopting working in distributed teams? The agile practices are perfect for this way of working!

In today's episode, Pilar talks to Mandy Ross from Sococo about how the tool is helping team members stay connected through technology. Introduction Link to episode on Coworking in Sococo: http://virtualnotdistant.com/online-coworking/ Pilar recommend the Kellogg Insight podcast episode on Managing Conflict in Virtual Teams because it focuses on multicultural teams, though they also take a broader view. http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/podcast-tips-for-managing-conflict-at-work Check out the Mentoring Group http://training-for-virtual-teams.teachable.com/courses/mentoring-group   Thank you to Saros Research for sponsoring our podcast! If you would like to give your opinion on products and get paid for it, use this link to register with Saros: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243   The Conversation with Mandy Ross from Sococo   Sococo, what it is, what it looks like, what it was designed for. How this workspace works. "At a certain point after you work all the time in Sococo, the technology  disappears and all that's left is the relationships between the people that are there." The history of Sococo. How the Cloud presented a threat and an opportunity... The mindshift when going opensource. Let Mandy know if you want to test out the mobile version of Sococo. @SococoMandy The importance of a fan base when you want to make an important change to your product. (Shout out to AgileBillKrebs) The early adoption system on mobile app stores. Mandy's job: Director of Marketing and Agile Coach Mandy's work history. Sococo in Japan. What kind of companies are using Sococo and in what ways - agencies working with freelancers, customer services, HR, dev-ops.

In today's episode, Pilar talks to Richard A MacKinnon from the Future Work Centre, about the World of Work model and taking an evidence-based approach to making changes in our organisations.   Introduction Pilar talks about her experience in in-person conferences (she gets very tired...). How proxemics inform our online communication - see Sococo screenshot. Changing the Context of communication in virtual teams, to allow for different people to engage. If you want to join us in Virtual Team Talk, fill in this form. https://markkilby.typeform.com/to/l9kVcd   Today's episode is kindly sponsored by Saros Research! Click this link to register: https://www.sarosresearch.com/participate/join-saros-research/?id=100243   The Conversation with Richard A. MacKinnon from The Future Work Centre 19:40mins What does The Future Work Centre do? Pilar met Richard at the E-Resilience Conference. Hear more about this in a previous episode. http://virtualnotdistant.com/eresilience-conference/ The problem with 'top tips'. "The public has a real appetite for science." Think Like a Scientist! http://www.futureworkcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Lies_damn_lies_and_statistics.pdf The World of Work Model: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/who-we-are/world-of-work/ "People don't get up in the morning with the goal of making bad decisions." On employee engagement: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/2016/04/employee-engagement-emperors-new-clothes/ Next seminar on 22 Sept 2016, London: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/events/evidence-matters/employee-engagement/ Insight into Action events: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/events/insight-into-action/ Beware of 'confirmation bias' and 'action bias'. Annual performance reviews: what's the evidence to say they don't work? Events at the Future of Work Centre New research area: Management and Leadership   Get in touch with Richard: info [at] futureworkcentre.com Follow on Twitter @fw_centre Website: http://www.futureworkcentre.com/

In this episode, Pilar talks to Izabela Russell, co-founder of New Media Europe about what it takes to organise a conference and her search for the range of ingredients that make up entrepreneurs. 48:54mins  Introduction Twitter list for guests of the 21st Century Work Life podcast. https://twitter.com/PilarOrti/lists/guests-podcast Check out Sococo. https://www.sococo.com/ - the tool that brings proxemics into virtual relationships. People at Work Summit, Pilar will be speaking there on 22 April. https://www.peopleatworksummit.com/ She'll also take part in the UK Podcasters Blab marathon, also on 22 April! https://blab.im/mike-russell-uk-podcasters-online-conference-ukpod-2016 12th April Reinventing Work Network - Creative Gatherings Virtual not Distant Academy Leadership and Motivation in Virtual Teams - Webinar http://virtualnotdistant.com/leadership-and-motivation-in-virtual-teams-webinar/   Saros Virtual Team Practice @11:50 mins To give your opinion on products and get paid for it, follow this link to register for Saros. First of all, if you are in London over the weekend 18/19 June, join us for Virtual Team Talk at New Media Europe. If you use this link to book, you'll get free access to the dinner!   The Conversation with Izabela Russell, co-founder of New Media Europe @15:40mins. Episode 16 with Mike Russell (Izabela's husband) about New Media and Music Radio Creative. http://virtualnotdistant.com/new-media/ It all began with UKPodcasters... Link to the UKPodcasters website. http://ukpodcasters.com/ How do you market a conference? Connections! The structure of New Media Europe:Day #1 Inspiration (Lisette and I will inspire you!) , evening gala, New Media Europe awards and Day #2 Information and Practical advice. Who is the conference for? How did Izabela end up "doing this"? Organising a conference, the importance of connections. What is the New Media Europe Show podcast focusing on? The personality of entrepreneurs! http://newmediaeurope.com/2016/category/podcast/ (Lisette and Pilar will soon be on that podcast!) Izabela's Twitter @IzabelaRusell

In today's interview, Cliff Pollan (CEO at Sococo) and I discuss ways to disrupt the sales force team and the three ways anybody can make the sales cycle process much, much quicker. 

Today we go straight into our Virtual Coffee, wrapping up our conversation of whether remote can scale.  Lisette's Supercards!!! Check them out here: http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/supercards/ Use cards during video meetings to soften interruptions. Saros Virtual Team Practice "Even a few minutes of fuzzy chat form a lasting connection." To give your opinion on products and get paid for it, follow this link. (Only UK and Ireland.) Virtual Coffee with Lisette: Why We Need Changing Mindsets Adventures in Virtual Co-working in Sococo. If you want to join us, sign up to the Virtual Team Talk blog and we'll let you know about the next one. [We just publish updates on our events, so you won't get too much stuff from us.] Lisette and I will talk Virtual Team Talk at New Media Europe! Collaboration Eats Competition for Breakfast! If you're going remote START! Start now with small experiments. All sorts of things will emerge - you don't know what the indirect effects will be. Pilar mentions this article on the Happy Melly blog. http://www.happymelly.com/how-trello-can-help-your-team-self-organise/ Great article, awful title: http://www.15five.com/blog/infographic-should-you-allow-remote-work-at-your-company Pilar was on OuiShare podcast, with Bernie! blab.im/bernie-j-mitchell-ouishare-radio-pilar-orti-coworking-and-remote-working-and-a-whole-lot-more Lisette's favourite Future of Work podcast, with the Gap: thefutureorganization.com/forget-work-life-balance-its-all-about-work-life-integration/

In this episode, Pilar and Lisette talk about what needs to change in our way of working and how our mindset would need to change. Introduction 00:30 Pilar introduces the episode and asks for your input, as we still need to record Part 2 on this topic. 07:50 Pilar reads her virtual rhyme Tool Overload. Saros Virtual Team Practice 03:50 mins Choose a tool that can be rolled out across different devices and operating systems - you never how people are going to access them. To register with Saros Research, follow this link.   Virtual Coffee with Lisette, talking about whether "remote" can scale 09:50mins Lisette is currently running her Work Together Anywhere workshop, so they talk about the irony that most people seem to prefer to take training about online work, in person. 12:15mins Playing with space during learning and meeting, both on and offline. Changing the dynamics by changing the space and tool. (They mention Zoom and Sococo.) 16:25mins We talk about Virtual Team Talk, what's going on there? Do groups have to be private to encourage meaningful conversation? 21:40mins You must read Team of Teams! What will the new status symbols be in the virtual workplace? Have you watched The Good Wife? Letting Go! Can instant communication suggest more direct control? Look out for episode 53, on Workshift. 43:50mins Why Lisette's Twitter handle is @lightling  (Pilar's stays as @PilarOrti)

Sococo is a virtual office where you can see where all your remote colleagues are on a virtual office floor plan. Go to an office to have a group discussion (with video and screensharing), stand by the virtual water cooler, or focus on your work in the Do Not Disturb Room. We discuss the benefits and downsides of working in a virtual office and how this way of working can create a strong sense of community and connection with remote colleagues. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com. 

www.virtualnotdistant.com Pilar introduces the virtual icebreaker that her and Lisette played during the virtual coffee and why games are useful for teams. Pilar and Lisette play "Budding Authors" a virtual teambuilding game from www.virtualicebreakers.com PIlar suggests ways in which to debrief the games. Lisette's progress with the book, how she's showing different types of remote workers. The power of Twitter: Pilar mentions Elsie Escobar, Tony Reeves from Creative Huddle. Join Freelancers Café, a new Blab - https://blab.im/pilar-orti-freelancers-cafe-1-cappucino-freelance-talk-and-coffee-smell What do we mean by 'Working Out Loud'? We mention John Stepper and Jacob Morgan. "Working out Loud starts with making your work visible in such a way that it might help others." How can you work out loud? Lisette talks about Sococo - you can watch her interview: http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/be-a-high-functioning-connected-team-in-a-sococo-virtual-office/ Intention of work and summary of work. Do we want to work out loud or just feel connected? Working out loud at an organisational level. The danger of narrating your work becoming a marketing process within an organisation. Working out loud at an organisation level. Lisette talks about her interview with Magnus Karlsson http://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/ideaboxes-a-management-system-for-innovation-magnus-karlsson/ Can it help with problem-solving? Where do we begin? Tell us if you work out loud! Get in touch: virtualnotdistant.com