A Guide for the Newly Remote Manager

The Coronavirus pandemic has completely changed the work culture dynamic as many of us know it. Social distancing and quarantines have forced countless employees to uproot from their office environments and create a new normal for the foreseeable future — if not permanently. And those are just the lucky ones who get to keep their jobs.

However, for those who have been given this opportunity, there is a silver lining.

To be clear, this is not in any way downplaying the gravity of this global crisis, but to highlight the hidden lessons we can learn from telecommuting if done correctly.

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This article is part of a series on CES and its relationship to people strategy in the workplace. See the rest of the articles: Why Should OD and HR Care About CES.

With 4500 exhibitors at the Consumer Electronics Show distributed across 10 locations in Vegas, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Divided across 30 categories, consider that in the AI category alone, there were ~560 companies showcasing a multitude of concepts. …

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is one of the world’s largest Tech Industry trade shows with over 170,000 attendees. It’s where the hottest products are launched, prototypes are shared, and brands are built, all looking to shape the future of technology-based consumer goods. So why should internal roles like leaders of people, OD, HR, Talent Development, and Training care about the show? Sure, we are all consumers and love having the latest tech in our pockets (or our houses, cars…and brains). But what else? What’s the connection between product innovation and people strategy?

The obvious answer might be that the…

Low attention span. Difficulty making choices and committing to a path. Filtering information and appropriately responding. Respecting and navigating hierarchical lines. As the first generation to grow up with digital technology entered the workplace, millennials have made these challenges more and more obvious. For some time now, we have been analyzing the millennial problem. However, there’s a different approach; one I have championed for the past few years. It is to recognize these challenges as not just a millennial problem, but something that affects everyone and is here to stay in today’s digital world. I had the opportunity to interview…

Do you remember those days where you knew exactly who would be in the room for a meeting? Or the moment you raise a hand to knock at a friend’s door, on the fly, just to see what they are up to? Or when you had no choice but to see someone face to face to tell them something important? Digital technology — laptops, smartphones, and the Internet — changed all of that. The options for how we can connect with one another have multiplied.

How do we build relationships in today’s world? How can we use these tools to…

The concept of Diversity & Inclusion as we see it in action is somewhat flawed. The first word, diversity, describe what exists: a set of different groups. The second word, inclusion, begins to describe the goal: to create space where these different groups are (ideally) equally appreciated. Many organizations first focus on increasing diversity by striving to recruit a more varied set of individuals. As organizations progress on their journey, they set their sights on inclusion. Organizations often struggle during the shift from achieving diversity to fostering inclusion.

One of the most common approaches to foster inclusion is to create…

Millennials: the word we are — dare I say it — sick of. Yet we still don’t understand how to deal with the changes that became urgent when this generation joined the workplace. I began speaking on this topic over five years ago when I saw HR leaders repeating generational stereotypes. In my work, I have given over 100 talks that have left attendees saying, “I will never use the words ‘lazy’ and ‘entitled’ again” — a big win.

But there is much more to do. Once we move beyond bias, we can turn our attention to dealing with the…

Priyan, 26, was the golden child at his Fortune 500 financial services firm. Everyone knew it, and the numbers showed it, so nobody was surprised when his boss excitedly pulled him into the VP’s office to deliver good news.

After listing Priyan’s accomplishments, his boss’ boss gave the floor to the VP. “Priyan, soon you’ll have my job. You can even have this unnecessarily large office if you’d like” she chuckled. Priyan feigned a smile. “In the meantime, your promotion is coming early. We’re bumping your pay by 40%, so for Pete’s sake go use your vacation days somewhere nice…