So many of us are experiencing burnout since COVID-19. We're working remotely and juggling a busy working environment along with many other reasons.  In this episode, I share my own experiences and insights as to what is causing burnout for remote workers in 2020 and what we can do for ourselves and each other to ensure we are sustaining for the future- whatever that looks like.  Whether you're concerned about burnout on your team, experiencing it yourself or want to be proactive about preventing it- this episode covers it all.

How do we manage to transition back to an office environment when some of our teams will still be working remotely? What will the future of the workforce look like and how should we adapt as leaders? In this episode, we speak to Paul Savage, COO of Conjura. Paul is a passionate leader and shares with us his biggest insights from many years of building and managing teams remotely. There is also great discussion on the importance of seeking, for the right reasons, to carefully measure productivity, with the right message and for the right understanding. We cover the challenges that arise when giving feedback in a multi-generational remote workforce. Along with a nice touch of inner reflection from Paul during this show, we can all benefit from his sharing of thought leadership and his valuable advice!

A podcast full of great people-focussed leadership qualities from Mike Potter of Rewind, about how he supports his team of remoters during this unique time. Mike shares ideas on what to do when the initial appeal of working from home has, for many, become more of a challenge in terms of work-life balance, and how to meet the needs of those who are missing that super important human connection they had in the office, reiterating the value of ‘over-communication’ and ensuring priorities are aligned. He also leads by example when encouraging his team to manage their time based on their own unique needs. Practising empathy once again comes up as a key leadership skill, really listening to employees and employing processes and improvements that will really pay off when expanding a remote workforce. In the last section of the show, you will hear Mike and Shauna brainstorm ways around the key blocker to ‘collaboration’, which Mike’s development team are having a particular difficulty with. Mike Potter is the co-founder and CEO of Rewind, the leading cloud data backup provider. Rewind is trusted by over 20,000 businesses to protect their data on platforms such as BigCommerce, Mailchimp, Shopify and QuickBooks. He earned his MBA from the University of Ottawa and his B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering from McMaster University. Mike currently resides in Ottawa, Canada. Make sure to take good notes from this show!

This show gets rapidly interesting as the super-knowledgeable Chris, Founder and CEO of Firstbase, talks to Shauna about the logistical and physical aspects of setting up your business to operate remotely. Then he talks about how your leadership soft skills should come into play around collaboration, communication, trust, and enablement, when meeting the challenges of building and scaling a remote team. After that, enjoy some thought-provoking commentary from Chris about the future of work and how the by-product of remote working will be the ability to produce the best work of our lives. And if you have kept up thus far, then you will be ready for the live on-the-spot coaching session about removing bias from decision making! Firstbase is the physical Operating System (OS) for remote teams. Their platform lets companies supply and manage all the physical equipment remote workers need to do great work at home, as a monthly subscription.

Our new show format with live coaching is underway! We can’t wait for you to hear this episode with Marcus Wermuth, Engineering Manager at Buffer. Our discussion is about managing the latest challenges for widely distributed teams, bringing great insights on how to balance empathy with performance, how to provide the right support and guidance for effective communications, and generally seeking to make life for your team easier, not harder. Then we move into live coaching, where we strategise, coach and explore how to address the one challenge or blocker that Marcus has identified as key for improvement. The blocker, he explains, is about maintaining that team bond and how much trickier it has become, when travel and in-person events are not an option this year. Tune in and experience the power of coaching in our first show to feature a live on-the-spot coaching session!

In this episode, I sit down with my dear friend and fellow entrepreneur Rachel Jacobs. Last week, I posted an article that shared my story, a story that I've sat on for years. But then this week, I’ve had conversations that have pushed me to share this. I’ve had conversations with so many people around the world on how a bad leader has negatively impacted them. I’ve spoken to people I know, people I love, friends, ex-colleagues and even strangers and listened to their stories on the impact of bad leaders on their lives. Some have PTSD, some have mental health challenges, some have little confidence left and some continue to search for a better way forward. Leadership really matters. Hiring the wrong leader will not only change the culture of your organisation- it will negatively impact your employee’s mental health. You’ll lose great people. I’ve witnessed the most passionate, motivated and smartest people crumble to pieces because of a bad leader. I’ve crumbled to pieces because of my experience. But I’ve picked myself up and now these stories have pushed me to share my story. Now I’m sharing it with you today my story and the path that led me to create Operate Remote. You'll find the article here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bullying-bad-leadership-remote-environments-shauna-moran/?trackingId=BdGM6sYOQziXPndsRO8dkg%3D%3D

Our discussion in this podcast with Maureen Hewitt, is all around emotional intelligence and building strong foundations and relationships in the online environment. Maureen is the founder and academic director of PSG, Positive Success Group. PSG being led by Maureen, strengthens leadership in people, teams and organisations through coaching, emotional intelligence and tailored programmes. Maureen talks to us about the importance of being able to constantly adapt as we move into the remote working space. Being conscious of the elements that have been dulled down as a result of moving online and how to amplify them up again. Once again, we learn that there are terrific opportunities for businesses moving online, while recognising the need to take time to invest in learning, in order to grow and evolve. Listen in to this inspiring podcast for tonnes of wisdom and great advice for anyone operating in the virtual world.

This show features our very own founder of Operate Remote, Shauna Moran, who tells us about an ‘edgy’ change of format coming up for The Human Behind the Screen podcast! Make sure to stay tuned over the next couple of weeks as we kick off the new format of sharing insights and knowledge to build and hone our remote working skills. This week’s topic is all about the importance of ‘time’, our most valuable commodity. Shauna introduces important steps we can take as business owners and leaders, to ensure we are maximising our time and clearing any roadblocks to achieving our desired success. Don’t miss the powerful techniques that Shauna shares – designed to help us take back control and achieve the best ROI for our time. We learn to define what success really looks like and how we can ‘slow down’, in order to ‘speed up’. Use this link to avail of our FREE Time Management eBook: Scaling Your Value by Managing Your Time, and to sign up for our exclusive FREE webinar: https://operateremote.com/timemanagement/

We have a great episode for you with our guest Justine Shu, Marketing & Community Manager at We Work Remotely. With a background in the music industry, tourism and hospitality, Justine is passionate about communication and creating connection with others – a key element at the heart of successful engagement and productivity within remote teams. Our conversation is about the opportunities that open up at a personal level when you transition to working remotely for the first time. Justine shared her own transition journey, the impact on her lifestyle and what she found to be huge benefits, once she had adjusted and had learned to set the appropriate boundaries between work and personal life. Whether you are a Job Seeker or an Employer, you should definitely check out We Work Remotely. Justine has arranged a special offer for our listeners too, with 15% off Job Listings on We Work Remotely. Simply apply the Coupon Code wwroperateremote15, when using this link: https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/new?coupon=&utm_source=operateremote&utm_medium=podcast Also as promised, to avail of a special 30% discount on our course, Effective Communication Strategies for Remote Leaders, enter the discount code THEHUMANBEHINDTHESCREEN at the checkout here: https://operateremote.teachable.com/p/communication-for-leaderships/

We can uncover from within, new and better leadership capabilities, to support not just ourselves, but also our clients, through these uncharted waters. Nigel Stevens, the founder, CEO and & Growth Lead of Organic Growth Marketing, a fully remote, SEO, digital marketing and content agency, revealed some powerful qualities that we can adopt as leaders and encourage among our teams - once we have worked out the logistics of how to work in this new environment.  What we like especially about Nigel’s approach to leadership in remote working is that he does not necessarily apply ‘learned leadership techniques’, but approaches it through his own evolving thoughts, understandings and experiences. Listen in for a discussion about ‘accountability’, ‘positive reinforcement’, 'self-reflection’ and more! And finally - make sure not to miss Nigel’s key piece of closing advice to us all, about how to deal with the uncertainty and focus in on what we can control. Nigel can be contacted through LinkedIn or his website, which is www.marketingog.com.