 So for those, I think most of you aren't new to the series, but I've said this before that the series is run by Westlust County Council been running since September. And, you know, they've been put on in order to give businesses the option to utilize digital tools and gain expert knowledge from all our facilitators with advice on how best to grow your online presence so with the hope of attracting and gaining on new customers. So Freedom Works and Creative Bloom have run sessions previously and we've moved on. This is a fourth series run by us that was possible, looking at growth expansion and new products. So, we've been talking about anything from cybersecurity online sales, keeping productive automation, digital tools, we're covering it all in this series. And we're halfway through so more sessions coming up next, next week, and the following week, but yeah, we're halfway through the series. Those that are not aware of the digital champions this is the opportunity for you as attendees to access your eight free hours of support so business support so the digital champions experts in lots of different areas. But yeah they're going to be joining some of the sessions and offer this so feel free to just look on the slides here and see the expertise that they offer specialisms in consultant team marketing technology and all aspects of digital adoption so they'll be popping up on each of the sessions so feel free to reach out and ask them any questions. And Lace has been joining quite a few sessions as well and really helpful with that. So they're all listed here. And again, I'm just going to list on the access for sorry the way you can access the free support so as I said they've got lots of different specialisms, you've all got individual needs. So they can point you in the direction of the of the particular champion that can help you with your business support. So we'll put the link in there as well on how to access the support, but any questions feel free to throw their way. So we're continuing all our sessions through series four throughout the remainder of January, and I've listed them all here and as included today. So we'll put the link here on on the chat on how to join. So you've already met Emma, she's popped up so today's session. We're joined by Emma, Emma Mills Sheffield, who is a consultant and business coach and will be delving into the world remote working tips to support your business from onboarding and keeping your teams productive. So, over to you Emma. Brilliant. Thank you very much. I will share my screen now. So you should all be able to see my intro. I'll give you a bit of background to me. Why I'm here what I do and how I work, but what I really want to know is all about you as well so it's, it's one way as in you're muted but I really want to hear from all of you in the chat function as to what you do. What your business does in a way you are and what your challenges are so be lots of interaction throughout. So if you do actually want to come off mute, what we'll do is if you just pop it in the chat and say you want to contribute and we can, we can do that as we go. So, thank you Stephanie intro and welcome everyone today to this session on boosting productivity. I do a lot of work in the productivity space. I spent 15 years in corporates in industry. So I used to run major global projects. Obviously they're deadline driven, they're stressful, you've got very, you know, diverse needs very typically distributed teams as well across across the globe. So remote working is obviously shifted in the last couple of years to something that we go oh yeah that's really normal. But yet it used to always be part of business, yet actually, you know we never quite got it right. So the work I do is with businesses now as I'm in a consultant and have me for the last three years is working with them on how to increase efficiency productivity and resilience through their own with their workforce. But predominantly for me it's about people. So we can put in a nice project plan. That's easy that's fine and we can look at business growth, we can look at your, you know strategy your goals. We can do to help get you there. But ultimately it's down to the people in your business. So I do a lot of workshops and training on how to to lead well, how to look after yourself as a business owner, but also how is a leader and a leadership team how you can work more effectively together and create, you know really thriving and inclusive spaces in person remote hybrid as well. So I've, because I do a lot of work in sort of the productivity space I like to work much smarter I think that's that's, you know, one of the buzzwords isn't it but for me it's about life is just short so we just need to get on with what we have to do. And because of that, and my interests in the background I have. I'm also chair of the board for suicide prevention charity, sit on the board with the Brighton Chamber. I'm an associate with the brilliant always possible. Also growth champion is close to capital and student mentor. So, what I do is a little bit of everything. I'm not. It was sort of a, I guess, leaving the corporate world meant I can actually do what I really want to do and have more impact. And that was one of the decisions that made the drivers for me to to to leave that in a four hour day day commute which is, you know, not great. For me, I look at businesses and people in business, much more holistically, it's not just that hard drive of efficiency or productivity and doing more with less is very much that stop, take stock, think about what it is you want to do. How do you want to work better. How can you work with more purpose. How can you do something for your community, or how can you even just, you know, go to that four day weekend, a working weekend, you know, the ice cream on the beach all day on a Friday, because why not. And so I bring a lot of that sort of ethos into the work that I do. And today's session really is about productivity from a people sense and how you communicate remotely and how you really include people. So you've obviously had other sessions on productivity from a sort of a tools and tech perspective and tips on how to work productively. And then I'm taking that into the sort of the bigger broader the team sense so how you can work with others and encourage others. In lockdown I did quite a big piece of work with a large sales organization, and they, you know, they have real struggles and challenges, how to keep people motivated and be resilient when actually you're very extroverted sales focused person, and the world's on its head and you're now having to do everything online. So I'm going to be a little bit more open to see how different types and different people reacted. So I'm going to share some of that with you today, and talk about, you know, what makes us tick, how we can work better and how we can support our teams and our staff better as well. So first, if you have a big business and this is about a whole team. This is also, as a freelancer, how you might work with others and how you might be included as a remote team, and what tech you might need to be involved with and, you know, how you become part of that sort of satellite team for a company. In the chat, I'd love to know from everybody. What's your business, you know, tell me a little bit about it. And what are your challenges. So around that sort of boosting of team productivity and what you'd like to get out of this session today. So I'll leave you a minute to just type away. And I will start to read them out. So not enough hours in the day from Lindsay. Yeah, I think there's been some. I'm not a big TV fan, but I think there was been there's been something on about everyone having the same 24 hours and they're being a bit of an issue around it. It's quite divisive. Yes, I mean, you know, it can feel like that but equally it's, you know, there's a lot of how we prioritize and I think I don't know about you but sometimes you can start really well. You're really in a sort of a productive mindset and a bit of a groove, and you're prioritizing well. They're the next thing you just go, okay, what's happened to my diary, you know, why is this a mess. And we're not winning anymore, which I think is a common feeling, especially for small business owners. So anyone else want to contribute or Steph, I might ask you actually, if that's okay with your, your thoughts are. Huh, all coming in. Come back around. Do you want me to speak up or on the chat. Oh yeah, no please if you just yet just just speak up if that's okay. Just around the sort of the challenges around productivity and maybe there's anything you thought oh I'd like to get out of this session. Absolutely. I think, you know, I've spent you in, in length about this but I only joined as possible last year so joining September in September from the corporate world into, you know, it's a business but we work with a lot of social enterprises, charities organizations so quite a different way of working but much more. It's always possible so advanced with the way that they work in the systems, the digital realm, you know, Monday things like that. And it was, I think it was quite refreshing for them to hear that they had much better systems in place than a big corporate company, you know, who have a lot more finances resource that sort of thing so. Yeah, it's but obviously you know everyone's working remotely so I'm really interested to hear about, you know, as a small team how we can kind of support each other and be productive and how much time do we think about meeting up in person as well I think that's a key thing. Yeah, areas like that I think. Oh, thank you. And I think there's an agility for smaller businesses. Some were left behind at the beginning, because they hadn't got the tech they weren't cloud based yet. So they really struggled. I do know some businesses, and it's a bit mind boggling now to think of it but all of their systems were paper based. They were still physically taking paper to someone in accounts to rubber stamp it sign it scan it send it to somebody else. So when lockdown came they just like, what do we do. And you'd think crikey we're still, you know, I didn't think we were still working like that but there were pockets of businesses that were still on premises and not cloud based so they really struggled. I think it's the agility part you know some big businesses really do. They've got so many red tape to go through and so many or, you know, you know, things signed off. That's it and I do know one of the, you know, colleagues ex colleagues in one of the big four they were saying that the teams was just starting to come in. They were just kind of testing the water last, you know, let's say January February with quite a long lead in time. By March they're like right get on with it. Yeah. And so for them it's actually a lot of others it's really accelerated digital transformation, which has been great. What I know is you can only be in one place at one time and although it was a small business owner 2020 might not have been, you know, particularly pleasant. For other people they were still on teams calls from seven to seven, at least, and they're exhausted and they can't get any work done because this is constant vying for your time. So we'll talk a bit about that because there's something very. I'm conscious of how we pull back out of video as well. So I've got some, some comments here as well. So, yes, I love biggest challenges keeping everyone working together remotely rather than working in silos. Yeah, absolutely. It's a funny one that because it'd be interesting to know more about your business, but that's where you have to kind of unpick what's needed is it project driven is it deadline driven is it just, you know, sit there and just get on with your own work. So how do you have those much more collaborative sessions. So I use my row or mirror a lot for that, which is really quite good. And I work with different organizations using that in different sessions because it means you can chip in. I'll be honest, it's just not exactly the same as being in a room with people. But I also think you shouldn't have people in the room if they're just going to sit them on the emails because you might as well do that somewhere else so we have to change our mindset about how we work. So Gillian, yes, you can sailboat project sailing school and teach to Harvard. Officer in Brighton brilliant so welcome struggle between time and meetings and time working on my own, managing a short working day time wise. There is also, I'd say, a lot of power in not attending meetings and asking in advance it's, you know, it depends on the culture of the organization and I'm conscious that with CSCs and charities as well it can be much more collaborative. So decision making is shared, rather than it being necessary is as, you know, focused as some businesses. And that's part of the culture the ethos and it's lovely, but it can feel difficult when you know you're sitting in a meeting going, I shouldn't be here I actually got stuff to do. So knowing in advance being quite strict on what the agenda is. So am I going to contribute, or is there something I desperately need and can it be an email after do I need to be there is it a decision making is it collaborative is it just a broadcast from somebody to tell you what's what's been happening recently, and kind of working out what type of meeting is and whether you can even be really strict on saying you know what actually, I'm not going to add the most value to this, rather than saying it's not best use of my time it's, you know, my ability to be added on this one so I'll, you know, attend a different one. Working from home with MSI working from home distractions. Yes, general life and family that is a real balance balancing act and I think it's got better because you know hopefully we're not homeschooling at the same time is trying to do everything. There's nothing about kind of batching up. What it is you do. So not just the tasks but the type of tasks and thinking right this is a dedicated two hours I know I've got on my business. And then I know the kids are around so okay it's going to be a bit hit and miss. And then there's time when okay I need to be with the kids because it's, you know, dinner, bathroom bed or homework. And then we work at the same time. It's almost like mentally color coding what you do to be able to split it up. And Vicki's got a to do list focusing yet straight away from start of the day, especially even better doing it the day before you get distracted and then you kind of go in with the most strategic starting point. And yes, they probably have all come out of bigger businesses or corporate world to go out on our own so yes, keep waving the flag. And on larger projects whilst dealing with new demands and daily firefighting. Yes, that is something I hear often, and there's definitely an issue around prioritization and urgency when things come in. And knowing that the bigger project is slower moving but it's chunky and it's what's needed versus stopping and going all look teams like email ping ping ping must respond. And having those dedicated times to then look at those that kind of ad hoc back and forth. So yeah, we have moved five years ahead, I think, with the pandemic and technology so there are benefits to it. And, yeah, brilliant. All right, so let's look at tools that you currently use, and I'm leaving it really open. I'm kind of working with others. So this isn't just, you know, email, but what tools do you actually use anything other than email. So it could be in your business. And it could be you tapping in as a freelancer into somebody else's system. So Monday, Slack, same Google Drive. Oh, hey Google Drive. I don't know why does my head in. Maybe because I'm a Mac user but I don't know it. It's something that just, you know, I have to but it's not my go to teams and GitHub. Yeah, okay that would make sense in in software and in development and everything. Yeah, sorry. Yes. Okay, so different platforms for different reasons and different audiences I guess different ages and demographic and location. Asana and drive. Okay yep Trello. Yeah, struggle to get out of diary notes for data tasks. Okay, so it's really easy I think to get well into what we can deal with now. So we end up going into the detail and especially the quick wins when actually we need to keep stopping and checking ourselves and looking at back a step what's the big thing I need to be doing what's that what's the chunk of that project is going to move me forward, not the whole thing. But what's that tangible piece that I can do kind of, you know, now to be able to have an impact on the bigger, the bigger picture item. One of them. Great fun making multicolors here so slack we are probably fairly used to. And especially even as a, you know, as a freelancer you don't need to have to have a big business. It's going to be around different groups and different people setting you up on a different channel. That's great. In fact, Steph phoned me on the other day because my mobile just was not going to play ball. She said I was funny on slack. Oh, hello. Okay. And it was, it threw me completely because equally you've got WhatsApp and you can phone that's on the laptop and and everything. In fact, I forgot to stick what's up on here, but I wanted to highlight that I don't feel that's necessarily a team tool, a team management tool. And I do know businesses that cross that line into yet we've got a social WhatsApp group, but I really don't agree with having kind of business WhatsApp groups. It's not, it's quite personal. And so it can be quite invasive when it comes to a time aspect so suddenly, you know, 10pm, you've got people pinging you and it might be over the weekend and you feel like it's getting at you rather than it being a, you know, just a social thing you might want to have the alerts come in. And it's Monday, Monday.com, not Monday the day because I always get really confused when we have meetings on Tuesday talking about Monday. It's great for lots of project management and kind of task tracking and progress tracking. I don't use it so much for Gantt charts and full timelines or anything like that. The 10 days of Microsoft Project are over. Try and avoid that all costs now. It is great for also alerting people to different tasks and updates. You'll notice the colouring is and the branding is very similar to Slack. They do talk to each other very well. So you do find that you get a Slack alert that Monday's popped up and it's also sent you an email. So it's fine if you're on it, but if you're out and suddenly you get 30 pings, you think, well, okay, what's what's going on? So it's up to you and I would say it's up to you and your teams to agree on how you want to be alerted to try and dull down the distractions and notifications and just have the important things come through. Trello is nice and user friendly. Again, that can be run on a project, a person, a department basis, however you want to do it. So that's quite good and I think it will integrate, which is the lovely thing. Oh, Eila, you're still in MS Project Hell. I'm sorry about that. I think if it's absolutely needed, it's needed. Asana is quite good, but I think Projects is still the king of what you possibly need. Microsoft Teams. I think it's not a fan. And I have three teams accounts because I use them on different client accounts. But it feels less, it feels like it's driven more for a single organization. So if you're in a business that has a lot of people, teams is great. If you're trying to dip in and out, you literally have to log in and out every time to a different instance, rather than, say, Slack where you can just hop across channels and it doesn't give you a problem. So I find teams quite buggy. So that's not my, not my go to, but for people who do have teams then obviously it's absolutely everything in one place. And that makes sense. So I love it. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but it's very much online collaboration, whiteboarding. You can have very quick outputs as well. If you get the knack of running workshops and sessions on it, you can have an output quite quickly without having to sit down and go right and go back to all the notes and sending something out. You know, two days later you can just send something out in a couple of hours. You can collaborate online at the same time. Also, separately, you can send a parcel protected link. I think it freaks some people out if they're not used to it. So don't be surprised if you do use it if people don't then come back in afterwards. But it is, it is useful. I think it's great as well. So I'm thinking great question. Are they payable or can you start up on free versions, apart from teams because I think it's part of the bigger suite and I'm not sure what the subscription is on that. The others generally slack you can absolutely use very well without having to pay. I haven't noticed that I mean they sort of harass you to pay, but it doesn't affect functionality. Trello. Yes, you can do a lot for free. Miro, you can go in for free, but it depends on what your usage is going to be as to your collaboration requirements as to how much you pay. But again, there's sort of only less than 15 pounds a month, but it depends on what you're using it for as to why you need it. So I'm going to Miro session and I sent you a link, you know, there's no you don't need to pay you literally just, you know, just hop in. And Monday as well, I think there's a free that's normally a base level of everything. So that's, you know, you shouldn't have to shouldn't have to pay an awful lot at all. So what I tend to talk to people about as well is use what's appropriate for your needs and the output that you expect. We are brilliant at being magpies with technology, especially when they put a flashy advert in front of us and go hey this is really easy to use them, brightly colored and fun and we go all you I need that I need that. In reality, there's probably a lot of apps and programs sitting on phones and laptops that aren't used. So I always think about what's really needed using Cisco and their WebEx function and their whole kind of Microsoft Teams equivalent is great in a big business, not necessarily relevant for a small business. So always use your tech appropriately and accordingly. And if you've got for staff, you know, you can sit in that baseline entry package, I think quite well. Yeah, so I think that's fine because otherwise subscriptions do creep up when we add in zoom and we add in Canva and we add in calendarly or acuity and all of those great things. So that's just a little view of collaboration. Yes, they do go with mobile phone apps as well. In fact, all of them do. Before I say that, I haven't used mirror on my phone yet, but it would be a bit fiddly so all the others. Yes, something to just step back a moment and think about when we talk about productivity is this is a study done by McKinsey at the beginning of lockdown. And I don't think it's changed which is why I still use it and refer to it is that we need to understand what the remote working landscape is for people. It's the same setup. Not everybody has peace and quiet and a home office and a comfortable, you know, ergonomically laid out space or anything. Some people are still craving the face to face learning, they might be new graduates, it might still be sitting at the end of their bed. We have a house share, everyone's at home, you know, there are loads of different things going on for people, or also digital issues with connectivity. There's so many. So I think it's important to still remember that although we've kind of got our heads around working remotely, it was still very different and we have different time zones, even if you've absolutely nailed it. You're still working across continents. So think about being flexible. What are the challenges people have between work and personal lives, particularly working parents and caregivers. There's, I've seen a few times. There's some sort of things that are cropped up a bit of dissatisfaction from, you know, teams saying that we're all about flexible workings all very very easy flexible great absolutely promoted. So that seems great in writing, but we have a nine o'clock call every single day. And so it goes against the flexibility when you think about school runs or shift work or anything like that. So just be conscious of how you structure that time. And also being remote, have the opportunities to pause and reflect, have healthy habits and have a sort of sense of community and shared purpose. I'm going to come back to that later, right at the end. But we do need to make sure if diaries are maxed out that, you know, we stock and take stock of that. I was talking to an employee who was quite fraught, and she was really cross that her diary was basically full from eight to six. And she had a slot at 12 o'clock for an hour. And that was her only slot she wanted to get lunch and somebody put a meeting in there. Because it was free. And she felt the onus was on them to be respectful of her time. And I said, Well, actually, the onus is on you to block out chunks of your day, because you're the only one that can control your diary because if someone sees a free spot that's it they're in. So do make sure you and people in your team have those that kind of rhythm to the day and those habits. Even if lunch is blocked out for two hours, you can find I just don't do calls and meetings in that time. I take a break, take a walk. But actually get my own stuff done as well so I'm working but I'm, you know, it's my time. So just be quite strict with your calendars. Community and motivation can be driven when you kind of change team structures as well have different projects going on different ways of working. And that can also boost motivation, especially intrinsic motivation. Delegating authority means that people suddenly feel more empowered to do something and therefore they're more motivated and they start to kind of work differently. And that works very well. So it's two way communication, even more important when you're not face to face, and also clear expectations. So sometimes we can work faster when we're with somebody else and we're kind of bouncing ideas around. But if you're sitting there, and this is the silo issue sometimes with your head down for days, don't really know what's the end game. So what what are we trying to aim at aim for what are the expectations. So somebody says I've got a four hour day, because that's what I'm doing between because they work, you know, 10 to two and that's routine. They're not going to be able to do 30 hours working a week. So just be conscious of those expectations and the needs. And in the support of the environment you need to create is to have empathy and flexibility for people is prioritized mental health and also creating psychological safety, which is absolutely paramount. It was more critical, you know, 18 months ago, but even now you need to have those environments where people the culture is driven to the extent that that people will call out bad behaviors, and you're not having those teams channels and those chats which is just gossip or it's toxic that people actually say well hang on a minute that's that's not okay. Because otherwise if people are remote predominantly, or 100%. You can feel very got at, and we can also lose nuances of communication as well as special in typing. So that's just a remote working landscape, I would say something to just think about when, and also for you. If you work on your own just think yeah well actually I am dealing with loads of different suppliers and freelancers or clients, and what's their, you know, what's their view of flexibility. Do they love it if I email them or send them a message on teams at seven o'clock on a Friday night. Because you know that works for me but you know might not work for them. So delegation. This is something that is, I love talking about delegation to people, but I'd like to know what your thoughts are. Can you just add into the chat. What your experiences are of delegation. Okay, as you're typing, I'll just move on to the next slide. Okay, yes, I love. As long as the delegated persons trusted to get on with it rather than micromanage to death that you almost read my next slide. Yeah you're absolutely right. I'm not going to delegate because I haven't got time to show you what to do. So it's easy for me to do it 20 times over than to show you once how to do it. But it's often a fear of relinquishing control. There might not be good enough. But actually we can we can work around that. Difficult for Jillian. A number of paid team on short number of hours yet and volunteers are obviously unpaid apart from expenses. And it has to just be so super clear, very, very straightforward. And you know this these are the tasks basically, that's quite repeatable that means you don't spend ages showing somebody how to do it and then the next time having to show a new person again and again and again. And yeah, as long as you're precise, I mean people know exactly what they need to do in the expectations should work well. Sometimes what we think it is. And you hear this in larger organizations, especially very hierarchical ones that it's always it's all downwards and literally just kind of get rid of it. Delegate the heck out of everything and ultimately it lands at the bottom somewhere probably doesn't get done how you want it to you don't take any ownership. Often tasks you don't want to do, or too much work, not enough time. It's a lack of resource or capability, which is why we get rid of things and also just not my problem. So, you know, it comes in so Stephanie gives me something and I look at it and go, Oh no it's not for me and I give it to Annie Marie and she's thinking well, oh thanks for that great. Now what do I do with it. You know so she's immediately going to think well hang on. Am I going to do okay with this will I fail will I not because I don't know why and so I've kind of brushed it off. And that's not okay. It still always goes back to the person who starts the process and they need to know what they're asking for. Do we have enough resources enough time, that sort of thing. So yes you need to if you show trust because if you agree outcomes, clear tasks or activities agree enough resources. So, you know I asked Annie Marie and she says well actually I think this is a two person job for three days you go oh okay well we need to find someone else as well. It's not fair to ask one person to squeeze it in. So, with that other timescales achievable. Just somebody need full supervision or just support. So is it a case of actually they know exactly what they should do, but they're just going to need to check in occasionally, or you're going to need to check in and say how you know how's it going. Versus full supervision which is right we're going to sort of do it together first like you'll watch me do it together then I'll watch you doing it. So just understanding where people are with their experience. If they're competent and willing bonus, I mean I know it sounds silly but they need to be able to do it but are they willing. So if they're not willing, it is not going to you're not going to have necessarily the best experience. Give constructive feedback. There's no point taking something back with an eye roll and saying I don't myself next time. It's a case of taking that time, first time especially to give proper feedback and then that should be learned. Find out who's best suited for it and also if they have a choice. So if you've got a couple of people who could pick something up and they have a choice over it, then the person who wants to do it is more likely to succeed and more likely to prioritize it. They're more likely to be able to commit to it and put more time and effort in and ultimately a better outcome for everyone. So that definitely is a productivity piece because when you're working remotely need to be clearer on who does what and how. So it is very much those kind of bite sized tasks at times. So part of boosting a productive team is about having good internal communication and cohesion. So good manager good business owner will be planning communicating decision making delegating problem solving and motivating all of the above. In my mind it should just make a good all around decent human being, but they will actually take skills and not everybody has all of them. But by breaking down those chunks of it, you can work out what it is you need to do and realize that here. So we've got communicating is its own section and also motivating so when we think about cohesion in a team for how do we look at motivating a team. Well maybe we're going we've got a new project delivery right so under problem solving we're going to work out who's going to do the right thing when. Who needs the support and how is it going to go and how we all going to agree to communicate around it and sort of make that to make that real. Not everyone's going to be brilliant everything all the time, but it's good to just think about those key elements of, I guess that internal communication. If you're in a big office, you're as detached as if you're working remotely, if you're in a small office you overhear things all the time. So you know what's happening and you can sense the mood. But if you're remote, and you get an email that's quite stern, that is, you know, quarterly results update full stop, or, you know, quick catch up your performance. And fear into most people. It's not necessarily the intent from the sender, but you need to remember how your messaging is going to land, especially when it's written. So, think about how you work with your teams and how you want to communicate and also it's the same with clients, you know if you're going to have to tell them there's a delay on the project you're working on, probably going to need to pick up the phone and then probably you can't avoid it. And if you just send an email it doesn't always, it doesn't always land that well. Yes, no caps, no shouting. I do have someone that does that a lot. And it is actually really reflective of their character, which is not ideal, but you do get suddenly get these highlighted words in caps and you think God you really are quite, you was kind of doing angry typing as they're going. But that does bleed into the culture and the staff and you know it's not not ideal. So key staff interactions. This also does apply to working on your own and freelancing. Some of the key staff interactions, I would say we're on boarding. Well actually let's go back a step. We're interviewing interviewing remotely. That's a that's a different skill set completely. And onboarding, introductions, one to one's both formal and informal catch ups appraisals fall into that. Socials. That's another weird one. So remote working through the screen remote socials through the screen. And when you leave, you sort of put the lid on the laptop down. The laptop gets collected. And then on Monday, you get delivered a new laptop lift up the screen and go, Oh, new teams call new team, but I'm still sitting in the same place. There's a really weird shift that sometimes doesn't happen when you leave jobs and you change jobs between sort of where you were and where you are, because you still sitting on the same seat. And that's quite odd. Lots of people don't think about that when you're bringing new staff in. Managing performance issues can be really challenging remotely. And that's where I'd always urge you to get HR advice on that. How do you have these conversations? And whilst you're putting things in the chat, Steph, can I canvas your views because we had a good good chat about this, didn't we? But about onboarding always possible because obviously you're fairly new in and your experience because I think that was that was for me that was a really good example of what works well how it can work well. It was, gosh, I'm trying to remember what I said to you. Yeah, it was a really positive experience. I think the way they did it was, was quite new to me. I was asked to record a short video, almost like a little interview with myself around what I could bring to the team, which threw me a bit at the start, you know, people are used to writing a cover letter doing a CV. So putting the owners on me, but also so much of it is about character fit. And I think people forget about that. You know, it's obvious when people go into interviews, but interviews are invariably done over zoom now. So having that interaction and being able to see someone can definitely, I felt like it separated, you know, if I was going to be up for the job or if I was suitable candidates. So that was interesting. That was the first phase. And then I had an interview with two of the team, one of them was not going to be directly working with me or they're doing some projects. And then I had an informal chat. So the process was just really positive. It was, there was lots of phases, but it wasn't really, really stressful. The approach was good. They acknowledged on the call that zoom was not an ideal way to do it, but in COVID world, that's how things had to be done. So it's about, you know, having that awareness and making people feel comfortable from the offset that, you know, it's not how people want to do it but make it as relaxed as possible. Yeah, so I think that was the process. It was, it was quite a new one to me, but the actual onboarding part of when I joined, I had lots of chats with, you know, remotely again with the team. It was, you know, individual chats. It wasn't work related. It was just, you know, they said find out and, you know, common interests have just a chat. So it was very laid back, very relaxed. It wasn't pressured. I got to know people before we started working together really, which was, it was a really key thing for me. But also, you know, we have regular team meetings where we actually meet up in person every couple of months. So it's nice to see the team then. But, you know, we have, we also have team meetings weekly on a Tuesday morning and it's, again, it's not so work focused. It's more just checking in and really, really focusing on people's wellbeing and seeing how they're feeling, whether it's work, personal, you know, just having that open forum. You know, we're fortunate we are a small team. There's only 12 of us now, but it definitely eased me into feeling part of the team and feeling valued and that people really wanted to hear how you were and people were checking in on your mental health because there's no getting away. Working remotely is challenging. So, yeah, sorry, I've gone into too much detail. That was great. I know I said to you, Emma, when we spoke previously, it wasn't, it couldn't have been a more positive experience and I think that's the way they did it. And for them, it was quite a new, a new thing, you know, they've, the way they've recruited previously was different. So, they really thought a lot about it, but it felt well thought out and well planned for taking into account that it was just going to be conversations over Zoom and that was, that was the only way really. And I think that's great because you've got different interactions with different people. And I think two years ago, for most people, if you said, Oh, can we have a video call? Oh, I suppose. Where do I sit? What do I do? And, you know, and if someone invites you to a Skype, you think, Oh, yeah, I can't, I'm still using that. But it's, you know, there's a good sort of, there was a need. I mean, I've used Zoom for a few years, but not everybody does or did. And so you almost had to have a good reason to do it. And it was uncomfortable for a lot. And if you're asked to do a video interview, or sorry, a video piece to camera. A couple of years ago, would have sent you to most people, whereas now you think, Okay, so it will like it, but I'll do it. Whereas when you have the chat, it's so much more human. And we also do hop on a call, but very quickly. So it's not weird. It's very much. Yeah, let's just quickly see you face to face. So I think our confidence has grown because you've had to adapt to it. And, yeah, I mean, I've even, you can do remote remote desktoping. I've done that on Zoom in lockdown to fix my mother's IT issues. That was great. So yeah, there's definitely ways and means. And it's, it's just how we adapt. But it's not the same as face to face. But if you can make it as close as and as human. And even having people working, you're working anyway on your own stuff, but you've just got to open in the corner so you can ask and say, Well, you know, I'm new. Well, where's this, where's that, where's the other like you would in an office. I think that's underestimated the power of that because if you aren't online and it's a formal meeting or you sorry to bother you because everybody's busy, or yet it's another slack or teams notification. I'm going to phone you and think, All right, am I going to bothering her she's probably on a call. And, you know, how do I find the HR policy, for instance. So you want to be able to have those very quick chats with people and I think that's where we can use technology better and remember how it works well. Otherwise, we do start a new job and you're just left in the lurch to say, Well, here's a link to the server. Here's all the stuff we do. Get on with it. That's when you get a lot of disconnect. Yeah, but I think having those kind of informal chats with people just finding out about them. You know, you could, people would argue that it's a bit frivolous and it's not a good use of time but it's so important for people who start massively valued that because I felt, you know, it built a relationship and a rapport. And then, you know, and the same with our weekly meetings that they're not particularly work focused but they're really about just connecting people and, you know, the team of rich Richard RCO said it himself it does feel frivolous but it but it's not it's massively valuable to everybody and we all look forward to it so and it's fun and it's yeah keeps it light in it. Yeah. So if you look that into the workplace physical sense, you'd still go for lunch with people you'd still have copies you'd still stand at the water cooler. I remember looking around offices in the past thinking actually doing any work, because this kind of 30 to 40% of the working days productive if you're not, if you're not careful. So even if you are focusing on okay we have an hour together, that's still probably less time but because it's structured it feels frivolous, but it's still probably less time than if you're in the office and just all having that kind of, you know, chit chat around so I think it's good that it's there that space. Yeah, great. Communication skills just a quick overview here around just been careful because we're remote, we have to work a bit harder with communication skills. And so clarity of message is is key. Checking understanding. Especially if there are different cultures involved and different responses to questions. It's worth just working out okay. What's happening. What's the summary of that. Is it agreed upon. Yeah, yeah, yeah, great off we go. Taking turns it being a fair conversation, especially if someone's very maybe shy they may be more introverted. So always be conscious of who's taking up the space in a in a room. Listen actively. So that's a completely different piece of piece of work to sort of do all the training around empathetic listening and active listening and good communication skills. But make sure you listen to understand, let people talk. And choose the right method of message. It could be a WhatsApp could be a teams could be a phone call, or it might be because you're not that far. Actually, let's have a coffee. So just know what you want to say and how it's going to land. Be self aware. So you're in body language and how you come across and if you're, if you're really stressed or wound up. Just be aware that that, you know, might be really seen by somebody and if they're on their own at home and you've been delivered difficult message, you might just want to have that called a different time. It's appropriate body language, not so bad on zoom on calls, but don't be distracted. Don't be that person sitting there like that typing away on a call knowing that they're not, they're not listening so make sure you're present. In body language I think there is, you know, an element of arm flailing and sitting there like that, you know, maybe disengaged but that's probably the person that would do that in an office so once you know people. It's easier but just remember that your first impressions come across really quickly in that little, little square like that. Communication types. And I was thinking I was going to have a break but because we're just cracking through content I think we'll just keep going and we can always finish a little bit early so that's all right. Again, looking at communication style and types of people. This is a whole, you know, modules of things elsewhere. This is how you come across and how others come across with your, this is sort of a manipulation or submission going on, aggression and passive aggression was being assertive is the more conscious response the others are more emotional. They can be quite. All of them can be manipulative actually. But being assertive can come across as being blunt. It doesn't necessarily mean it is, but be conscious of how you do come across online, especially with your teams and also if someone's being very submissive are they also quiet and maybe introverted, and they're being submissive. They're really not contributing how they should. So it's worth that call just one to one say okay, you know maybe a meeting didn't go that well online because there are a lot of conflicting views or lots of loud voices. So it might be worth having the chat say okay well you know what's how do you want to handle these in the future. So just to include everybody, whereas your aggressive person will be there, you know, straight out there in front of the meeting. They also probably need a phone call about how they come across to others because they might be grandstanding and you know taking up all the space. So that's just something to think about. Because we take a very quick view online, when we're on video calls we suddenly go, Oh, that wasn't nice, or that didn't land. You can't have the natural conversation where you cross over YouTube in two of you are talking another two and another three are all kind of mingling and talking around the room. You have to be very much right, your turn, my turn, your turn, my turn again. So, if you've got any issues with, with these styles, you find that it's, it can be harder to deal with online. The manipulative person gossiping might be the one who's in the chat function on the side. Talking down about people in that meeting. And so things like that are very very destructive. So, ultimately, we want people to be assertive speak their mind but very balanced and respect the rights of others. Top tips. So, moving on to kind of keeping team productivity high. So, moving on to reduce distractions. So, in meetings, yes, reduce distractions because no one wants to hear the, you know, click click of a alert coming in. But also when you're working on your own, and with your teams agree, well, when are we kind of going to unplug. So, let's not have those alerts always going. You can reduce them and I would always urge you to so keeping to the point to limit the people and limit time. And with that working with your energy levels so not against them. If you are very energetic in the mornings then that's the time to not be distracted by emails, but the time to really work on that sort of topping green that strategic tasks, that one thing that if you achieve will make a massive difference. Don't get hijacked by other people's issues. It's about you taking time when you've got the energy to do the right thing. And also knowing that by the time you get to four o'clock, if you've just been working, and you haven't really been on calls, you can probably keep going. If you've been running sessions on really difficult calls and meetings all day, the likelihood of you wanting to sit down and then be super productive and do something, you know, really strategic at four o'clock is really diminished. So stay regularly connected. Everyone is different. So what do people want and how do they work best. Maybe they prefer a phone call once a week. Maybe they want something very structured online or perhaps it's just a quick text message. So just understand that everyone works differently. Bottom one in purple choose your apps or platforms according to the outcome you need, which I mentioned already be clear on what you're trying to achieve. So that works for you and for others. Divide and conquer the big tasks so you don't have to do everything yourself. So understanding flexible working patterns should cover this again, she got time zone differences as well know when you are overlapping. So when is it asynchronous and you know when we work in sync in sync. So having that difference and, you know, not expecting somebody the other side of the world to be answering what you should be doing right now. So breaking down your time if you can have time to really focus time for admin and time for client calls or meetings or something like that. It's not just for you it's about you and your teams if you have this kind of general agreement, then it just means that you can all get more done and get it done in a nicer way. So activity often gets really pushed and gets a bit of a bad bit of bad press, but it's not about just starting to be productive. That's for me that's way down the line that's on the right. You need to know what your purpose is first and why you're doing what you're doing. Then you need to prioritize what you need to do, and especially if you're delegating. And then with the end in mind, and I would know that from a project planning perspective but literally, where are we getting to right now let's work backwards. Be clear on the outcomes for you, team client, you know what's needed and why we're doing what we're doing, then we can prioritize reduce your distractions for everybody. So have your contributions Jillian and yes, hope you enjoy other sessions when they come up in the next week or two. And getting the right resourcing. That's the other thing. So be pragmatic and sensible about what you can do, and who can help and, you know, what time is available, then you can be productive. That's always the last kind of outcome. Just looking at motivation. So what motivates you. Do you think it's the same as what motivates others. And this is where I'd like to hear everyone's chat. Motivation is it money. Is it. I'll definitely not the same. Correct. I would absolutely agree with that one. And I'll give you a few ideas over the next slide. Some people want money, creativity, problem solving, flexibility, and every yet that is a motivator for lots of people. Flexibility in time, but also flexibility and maybe what you do or how you do it. So not being micromanaged and, you know, just drip fed things to do. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are very different. Extrinsic is very outcome driven and also it could be deadline driven. You may get external social gains that could be money or power. Fear of punishment or avoiding consequences. So if you don't meet the deadline. Where are we near the end of January so filing and paying your tax return is. The main is the extrinsic motivator intrinsic motivation on tax return probably not a lot, but maybe peace of mind that knowing that you did it months ago and you know it's not an issue. So you've got a fear of punishment there or consequences could be, you know, performance issues at work. The benefits from the outcome of the process is is another part. So you're not going to have to go through competition or fearing failure. So your motivator is to get it done faster than anyone else because you know you don't want to fail but also you want to be seen to win. So that's very extrinsic. Whereas the intrinsic motivation is going to be sort of inherently interesting work. So something you actually want to pick up and get out of bed for in the morning. So psychological needs for autonomy and competence. So that's a big very important one purposeful meaningful and challenging work. So something we can get our teeth stuck into and we actually believe we're doing the right thing. And rather than having a benefit to the outcome of the process we actually enjoy the process itself. So it's not just the fact that it gets finished and you know you get a completion fee, because it's done early. The process itself that is rewarding as you work through mastery is something that we often want to to learn and to sort of hone and curiosity and learning. So being curious about what we want to do, having that broader picture and knowing that you've almost got that permission to play and it's safe to fail. So the intrinsic motivators and that's generally what will get people out of bed in the morning as an employee. If you're not ticking the boxes on the right. I would say there's a lot on the left which is okay it's going to be salary it's going to be promotion. And maybe that's it. I'm pleased you enjoyed you like the slide it's often I do work with lots of teams on this and understanding how to manage people differently and work with people differently. So it's, it's something to just be a reflect on and also for you to think, you know, why am I struggling with something maybe I just, I'm not enjoying. I've got this massive report or something. I'm not enjoying the process itself. That's probably it. But the, you know, there is a deadline so that's the motivator externally. Maybe mastery. That's where it comes down to it's like okay you know what I'm nailing it this is exactly what I do and I'm the go to person for, you know, massive gnarly reports in future and skip over that one because relevant right now so this slide here about keeping productivity high. This is actually more about managing and leading and coaching. So if you are telling people what to do on the left. Typically this is time bound it says time driven so it could be a deadline it could be delegating just giving you stuff. But it's not great. You are saying what you need them to do specifically. And I don't mean that in the delegating well, but literally right you just got to sign all these reports just got to do these things. Here's the plan. This is how it goes is what needs to happen. It's not negotiable. And this is what goes wrong if we fail. Basically telling somebody. Now there are instances when that's okay. So if you've got the time to invest in people. And this is how we keep teams more motivated more productive is if you move to the right hand side, where we're coaching. It's much more reflective and you're helping people understand that now they know what the goals for the project are which is, we're going to submit this massive report. How do you see yourself doing it. What do you need what support, how can I help, who else can you talk to, and you've done it before so you know what the process is like, what went well what didn't what could you learn. And then ultimately, they're defining what success looks like to you, rather than you saying this is exactly what has to happen. And in the middle is like a mentoring is like a continuum really a spectrum. But it's okay so in my experience. Yes, we've got this big report. I recommend if you speak to X, YZ people about it. You might get some information. We're just going to give it to you, but your journey and your learning is that you're going to find out. Kind of tips on what the pitfalls might be things to consider, and also in your experience well, you know this maybe worked well just didn't. You know in your experience, you know what the technology normally falls over on the last day so we should probably plan quite early. This is not tools based digital is going to be people driven so looking at team productivity. Nobody loves too much of what's on the left, especially this told is quite strict rather than it being autonomous. So, you're really going to be told exactly what to do, and that's all you're going to get. You've got a little bit more about it and you've got that space to think and chat to others and collaborate more. You're moving into the right hand side and actually it becomes a, it's a much happier and productive team. Last couple of slides. I'd like to see if you have an answer for this anyone. What do you use for positive change. What is positive change and where the tools come into this, because we often use tools to just get the job done, but what is out there what do you use. If you don't have an answer put across a question mark. It's not a, it's not a trick question, but it's not an easy one, actually. So I'm going to show you. That channel showing good news. Yeah, that's good. And actually having one that's very specifically fun stuff. And I did definitely I did have to mute the word or one because I don't play it and I thought I can't do it. I can't be pinged. But I, you know, it's great when you've also got jokes and fun stuff and whatever you've got in different channels. You've got an active channel that one isn't it. I think it's divisive as well. It is divisive. I even muted the word word along Twitter because I just thought I can't be doing this. I think it's one of those just phenomenons that's going to fade away but at the moment people are excited. Well you know it's lasted longer than Clubhouse so there's something to it. So we've got sharing positive things that is, that is a good, it's a good place for that. I have seen with Slack that actually very different groups that cut across a lot of different businesses. Lots of collaboration. I mean there'll obviously be people holding back thinking well I'm not sure about sharing because it might be competitors, but loads of different, you know, who, who knows somebody who knows X. So I had one channel I set up in there for a sort of a, you know, who I'd love to meet, not quite a lonely heart, but it was very much an intro space. So does anyone know someone that does for development in this set in this field. And so it's just useful. It just connects people across different companies as well because we can be very focused and working in our own only. But there's one thing I wanted to show you just around positive change so this is quite cool. Actually no it's very cool. I like it. I like the ethos behind it. But on hand is a great app so it's an employee volunteering. And it's a lot of micro volunteering in your own area could be online but typically it could be dog walking dropping off shopping, and it's a platform that connects people. So it's, it's very low cost entry point. And it's really good to help people do something different. And having that sense of purpose if you remember you've got purpose and prioritising and productivity, and that intrinsic motivation, knowing that you don't have to be stuck at your desk all the time but you can do something else for other people. It's fantastic. So I was racking my brain thinking about tools of positive change and I thought this is just really obvious because it's something I'm working with at the moment, with a couple of organizations. And it makes a lot of sense. So can use the tools you've got differently to be positive, or you can, you know, look at a different platform entirely to create that community spirit because also you then have a internal aspect to it as well and sort of sort of like leaderboards but it's nice to know that everyone has an impact and you're not, you're not just doing a CSR hours from, you know, central point but you can do things differently. And that's it really for me because I want to leave room to have questions and chat and for Stephanie as well to tell you about what's coming up next. I don't have much to talk further about any of the topics I've covered please do shout. But that's, that's it for me on the presentation side Steph I don't know if we, if you want to come off mute or just chip into the chat, any questions just go for it. Yeah please do this MS round for the next few minutes so please do but thank you very much for that. I really enjoyed that and it was nice to hear the people's thoughts about how they're working the challenges they face because it's still, it's still a learning isn't it this remote working it's still, it's still a new one for a lot of people and trying to I was even talking to Annie Marie about it yesterday it's like trying to balance how you separate your day and really been quite strict with it. So it's interesting everybody's got a different approach but yeah. Thank you and that was great. I've noticed I try. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't try and separate out times in the day. But then I realize, you know, you look and go God it's back to back all day today for instance or yesterday. Work out when you're out when you're online because as well we seem to forget now takes time to travel and sometimes you rush back in you literally screech down in front of the laptop and open it up and do back online again. And then knowing that probably tomorrow can't do quite as much first thing, and I still forget that but I am getting better at blocking out time, especially if you know I might, I might share. It might be something really early in the morning work all day and then share a board meeting in the evening. And then you just go yay and next morning I'll just crack on as normal but you kind of can't. Can't get the energy back to just lift up the laptop and go yay back online. So just knowing how you work with that flow. And it's okay to say that and, you know, be honest with yourself and know when. Yeah I think you know we talked about it on Tuesday as well it's about knowing when those, when you are if you're a morning person. You don't realize that time and now really do stuff but if you do have that three o'clock long accept it and take it and go for a walk or whatever it's yeah, it's just understanding that. I think so, I think so I was quite brutal before Christmas, when a few zoom socials started to crop up. Everybody's had a bad experience of one and it's just, it just stays with you doesn't it. I think it goes back to, it's what we had to do. And not what we want to do and so when it cropped up again and someone local because I've cancelled a couple of things before Christmas they're like oh let's just catch up online instead and I was like no. I'd love to spend time with you guys but let's just meet in January because I can't force another, another one and book clubs online because they couldn't be in person and I was, you know, my eyes were like that at the end of some 10 o'clock at night having been online for 14 hours and like no I'm not doing it again. So being quite strict about what you have to do and what you. Yeah, I think I think it is it's it's you can be more selective and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. You know, times pressures and you said that right the start. You have to be really selfish about it I think because otherwise we can give too much. And you do get zoomed out and you've got people in different locations I've got one group of friends we kind of really only catch up on zoom meet once a year and three times a year will catch up on zoom and that's fine. And I don't mind a lunch time time chat with someone, but if it's a forced right eight o'clock get back to the computer. I tend to. Yeah, duck out. Yeah, I know I just said then they tried to set up a fun channel whether it was whatever and it died to death. Yeah, it happens. I think we're quite unique I think I'm sure not everyone's up for it but most people get involved and I know it's if it if it if it's something you know that entertains everybody but it is quite challenging today I've definitely seen them not working in previous roles so yeah it's a tough one. And especially if it's forced fun. Yeah. That's the other thing you're like oh no you've now made it a thing. So I get why they can just die. Yeah, but it depends on what you said what the theme is I mean there probably won't be a word or channel in three months. Maybe one in three weeks. It'd be interesting to see all these channels that have just, you know, they've been there and then they've just disappeared. All the pub quiz invites they need to have gone a long time ago that was that was very May 2020. We're all we're all guilty of you know novelty value and something new pops up you know people want to get involved guilty that so yeah they have a shelf life. They have a shelf life and you know what they had a real need at the time. And that's fine but then when it starts to become a, I think a bind when you think oh it's that social that we have to be on. I spent all day at my computer. Yeah. So yeah the thought of having a glass of wine on zoom again you're like oh no I thought those times are gone. But there's a time and a place so if you're not online all day long, that's great for lots of people. If they have a very physical job or or they're out and about or you know they're not not on screen, then it's great. So yeah. Yeah, so Vicky no bingo now online. Again, novelty value. Yeah, it's a bit fades. We learned how we had to connect people and you know there was a big camaraderie but also a need and also need to check in on people who are on their own. Whereas now I think we've gone back to much more so back to normal dare I say it. But when people were on their own or you know health reasons or how they lived you suddenly think are actually. There's a different inclusion need rather than assuming everyone's got a family around and remembering we're not all the same as us, but no one's the same as us. You know what they need so yeah. Right. Thank you Emma. Well yeah again I just want to say a final thank you for joining us today and I certainly enjoyed today's session I hope you did too. And we've still got lots more workshops running this month so next Tuesday and this kind of bottom of the slide that will be joined by the wonderful Lucy Payne who we work with a lot some of you may have met a previously on our workshops. We're going the tools out there for innovating business so anything from funding and tax benefits to deep data insights. So hopefully join us for that and we'll include the link here again for you to join those sessions then next Thursday so week today, a slightly different session. We're actually it's going to be a panel. So, more of a Q&A session but panel guests from visitor economy businesses in West Sussex will still be looking at tech and digital tools but looking at that disruption that they that caused during the pandemic so various businesses sharing their own experiences about how they navigated this what tech they introduced and how they used it and where they are now some of them have, you know, we've got piglet pantry joining us. We've got National Trust, also a company that works with lots of bars and pubs so obviously they were hit massively in the pandemic and how the government rules changed all of that and how they support those businesses so yeah, hopefully you can join us for that. We'll include the link again so please do join us but enjoy the rest of your Thursday and to see you again next week. Thank you very much.