Work Together Anywhere – Q&A with Lisette Sutherland

Lisette Sutherland is the director of Collaboration Superpowers, a company that helps people work together from anywhere through online and in-person workshops.

She also produces a regular podcast featuring interviews with remote working experts highlighting the challenges and successes of working with virtual teams.

In this Q&A interview, we discuss her latest book, “Work Together Anywhere” and how it could help you work in a virtual team.

Q: Why did you write “Work Together Anywhere”?

A: In short: because I love the possibilities that remote work opens for the world – and I want to help get the best people together to solve important problems.

I started interviewing remote teams out of sheer interest in both the topic itself and the technology enabling remote working. I told my interviewees that I was interviewing them for a book so that they would talk to me – but I had no intention of actually writing a book.

But as I kept interviewing people, a story emerged and I had a vision for how to organize the information. And… people kept asking me when the book was coming out. The idea seemed to have gained steam on its own. To test the market, I put a pre-sale version on my website, and people started ordering. Lots of people! At that point, I had to write it. I did my best, but one thing I learned after years of working on the manuscript, is that I am not a “writer”. I can write a decent blog post… but writing a book is an art. So I begged my dear friend Kirsten to help me. Kirsten has 25+ years experience in writing and publishing books and luckily, she agreed to help me turn my ideas into a cohesive, well written handbook on how remote teams are doing great things together.

Q: Who would benefit the most from reading it?

A: The book is written for individuals, teams, and managers. I truly believe that working remotely can be a win-win for everyone. But that win is only possible when companies have a plan for fostering streamlined, engaging teamwork, and when individuals are prepared to collaborate productively. One of the premises of this book is that to be better informed is to be better prepared. I recommend to my readers that they at least skim the portions written for those they’ll be interacting with. The more we understand each other’s perspective, the better we can forge something undeniably productive together.

Q: What’s the biggest obstacle preventing companies from adopting virtual teams?

A: Working virtually is a different way of working – and many people simply don’t like it or want to deal with incorporating it. If you’re a small company, you can get away with it. But as soon as you start to scale, you run into problems if you can’t support some sort of flexibility.

People tried remote working 10-15 years ago and the experience wasn’t great. The technology just barely enabled virtual teams. But a lot has happened in the last 5 years and it’s time for companies to take another look at what’s possible with modern video conferencing systems – not to mention telepresence, virtual reality, and holograms.

I’m not saying that working with virtual teams is easy. It’s not. But when you get it right, it can open up all kinds of new ways of working – managers benefit by saving money and resources and by having access to talent outside their zip codes, while employees enjoy greater job opportunities, productivity, independence, and satisfaction.

Q: Do you believe companies that have current remote teams will change their mind about them in the future?

A: I feel that companies should work in a way that’s best for them. Working co-located and working remotely have different sets of benefits – and companies need to adapt to meet their own needs. But whether or not you plan to allow flexible options at your company, it’s good to have the systems and processes in place that make it possible to work outside the office in case it’s unexpectedly necessary. Consider various unavoidable events that can keep workers from their desks: traffic jams, public transit delays, sick children, inclement weather. Being “remote first” will only make your company stronger and less vulnerable to life’s random events.

********

To learn more about Lisette, you can connect with her on Twitter or check out her Collaboration Superpowers site.