#Remote meetings have been a topic that affects Agile teams for a long time. As many more teams go #Remote without previous experience, they become an even bigger topic for Scrum Masters who now need to facilitate online meetings almost every day.
In this episode, Lisette Sutherland (creator of the Work Together Anywhere Workshop) joins us to share her insights on how to make those remote meetings rock!
When going #Remote, it is harder to get the life/work balance right
We are not at the office, don’t need to commute to work, and also have our children and pets around all day. What’s not to like? Well, the problem that comes with that flexibility is that suddenly it is much harder to keep our life and work separate. Many Scrum Masters and team members report that they work longer hours when #Remote.
If you have seen or experienced the same anti-pattern, Lisette has some tips for you on how to keep those boundaries between work and life and avoid burnout.
Online meeting tools, get used to them and learn about what suits your teams
#Remote meetings are different from co-located meetings in many ways. One aspect that we struggle with is what tools to use. Lisette shares some of her favorite tools to use in facilitating remote meetings, and Retrium (a tool for distributed meetings, and more!) gets a special mention.
When should I schedule an online meeting? My team members complain about too many meetings
Are you feeling meeting overwhelm after your team moved to #Remote work? A critical question is when a meeting should be scheduled. Many of the topics our teams face can be discussed and resolved in text form (email, chat, etc.). However, some times it is better to prepare and schedule an online meeting. We discuss what might be good goals for #Remote meetings, as well as when to focus on offline conversation instead.
More tools to consider when going #Remote
Lisette also shares with us some of the tools she has been found useful, and easy to set up and use when facilitating a #Remote meeting:
- Google Jam Boards get a mention for being relatively easy to use when the participants are still learning about online tools
- MIRO and MURAL get mentioned as powerful tools that serve as the shared whiteboard for your team
- Web Whiteboard gets a mention as a tool that Lisette’s students recommend
- Retrium also gets a special mention for being a focused, specialized tool for #Remote Agile retrospectives.
About Lisette Sutherland
Lisette is a world-wide recognized expert in remote work. She’s managed online communities in the early years of the internet, and as she says: know that working together from anywhere is not just possible; it’s completely, productively workable—if you do it right.
She co-authored the Work Together Anywhere book, and hosts regular Work Together Anywhere workshop (online, obviously!) and other online meeting and facilitation master classes.
You can link with Lisette Sutherland on LinkedIn and connect with Lisette Sutherland on Twitter.
