A Blog For Virtual Teams - The Couch Manager

Reviews of “Write Your Book on the Side”

My latest book, Write Your Book on the Side is now published and here are some early reviews about it. As a full-time Harvard Trauma surgeon, a full-time researcher and a full-time father of 3, I do not have the time to write a book on the side. Or so I thought. This book completely challenged my misconceptions and deeply motivated me to write a book myself. Flawless in its structure, focused in its approach, engaging in its style and tone, Hassan Osman's book is the one book I needed to ... Read More

Here’s Why Daniel Victor from the New York Times is my New Hero

Daniel Victor wrote a one-word article in the New York Times today: It reads: When I’m Mistakenly Put on an Email Chain, Should I Hit ‘Reply All’ Asking to Be Removed? No. Genius. Here's the link to the online version, where he expands a bit on the "No." On Twitter, he also gave a shout-out to a couple of his NYT colleagues for their awesome job on the layout, and to the editors for approving it. Kudos to @waynekamidoi and @FredBierman in our print hub for perfectly devising ... Read More

The best spill proof coffee cup (that you can’t knock over)

I love coffee. And I happen to drink a lot of it while working next to my laptop (which isn't too smart, I know). So I've been looking for a good spill proof coffee cup for a while now. I’ve had a few close encounters over the last few years that almost completely ruined my PC. In fact, I had to throw out my external keyboard once because it drowned in my cafe latte. So the other day, when I came across an awesome spill proof coffee cup, I had to buy it. It’s called the Mighty Mug ... Read More

Why the Future of Work is Virtual [Video]

I believe the future of work is virtual. I work from home, and this is the story of how I got my current job at Cisco Systems. The talk is about "The Future of Work," which I gave at the NewCon conference in South Africa to explain the trend of both working and learning from home. I couldn't present at the conference live due to the timezone difference between Boston & South Africa (I was scheduled to talk at 2:30am my time - which would have been a disaster!), so I pre-recorded the ... Read More

10 Inciting Questions That Bring Remote Teams Together

This is a guest post by David Hassell, the founder and CEO of 15Five It’s no secret that remote work arrangements have become more prevalent in the last decade. In fact, remote work has increased by 50% over the last five years. With this rise, companies are facing new communication challenges, along with keeping relationships strong, and aligning objectives. In a survey 15Five conducted this year, we found that the top reasons managers are allowing remote work include ‘better ... Read More

15 Awesome Team Building Quotes that Inspire Your Team

Whether you're a manager at a Fortune 100 company or an entrepreneur, you need a great team to succeed. This is a given fact, but most people take it for granted. So it's important to keep reminding your team members of the importance of collaborative teamwork. To help you out, I put together a list of team building quotes that help inspire your team to keep them motivated. I divided the team building quotes into two categories. The first is a list of 6 quotes that I personally found ... Read More

Virtual Teams Pros and Cons: All You Need to Know

I have been blogging and writing about virtual teams for several years now, yet I haven’t really put together a concise article about the main virtual teams pros and cons. I must say upfront that I’m biased because I’m a huge advocate of working remotely (I work a full-time management job from my home office in Boston), but I do admit there are several advantages that you miss out on in a virtual team environment. In this post, I’ll outline the different advantages and disadvantages of having ... Read More

Quick Summary of “Don’t Reply All” on SlideShare

The following 20-slide SlideShare presentation is a quick summary of my latest book "Don't Reply All." If you already bought a copy, then you can download the presentation as a PowerPoint file (there's a link inside the book that you can click on to download it). The PowerPoint file is fully modifiable and you can use it with your own team to share some of the best practices during a project kickoff. A few entrepreneurs and managers have sent me shout-outs that this was quite valuable ... Read More

What People are Saying about “Don’t Reply All”

My latest book, Don't Reply All, is now published and here's what some folks are saying about it. It's easy to overlook the little things when it comes to effective and efficient email communications. Hassan has masterfully compiled a set a real-world tips & tricks that can be actioned against immediately. From seasoned executives and new hires, this book is packed with practical advice for everyone." - Larry Gioia, Director, Health Industries Advisory at ... Read More

9 Trust Building Activities for Virtual Teams

One of the primary prerequisites for any successful virtual team is to establish trust among your team members. This post will give you simple and easy to implement trust building activities that will help you build a solid level of trust within your team. Let's start with what trust actually means. What is trust? Here’s one definition: Trust is the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. (from Merriam-Webster) Although this is a ... Read More