In this episode, we're returning to our conversation with Darren Murph, the Head of Remote at GitLab, originally recorded in July 2021. As we navigate the shifting landscapes of remote work in March 2024, Darren's insights on fostering company culture from a distance have only become more salient. This revisit highlights Darren's valuable strategies for cultivating a strong, unified company culture in remote settings and reflects on how these approaches have stood the test of time. Tune in to rediscover Darren's expert advice and explore how his wisdom continues to guide teams towards embracing and embodying their culture, no matter where they are. For more stories of remote teams doing great things, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

ADAM RIGGS is the CEO and Found of Frameable, building products to help the digital collaboration experience in MS Teams. Before Frameable, Adam was a Presidential Innovation Fellow at the Treasury Dept. and a subject matter expert at the State Dept. on various open data and knowledge management challenges. Adam shares his best practices and tools for the remote and hybrid workforce in this interview. We cover multiple topics, including the return to office mandates, building a great company culture, and tools for remote and hybrid teams. For more stories of remote teams doing great things, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

SUE HOPE is a Learning Specialist at Xero, an online accounting software company for small businesses. Sue and her colleagues have created the Meaningful Meetings program within Xero to encourage others to increase the productivity of their online meetings - and the results are promising! Company meetings are starting to have more structure, take less time, and be more productive and fun. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

Sue's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-hope-9429898/

LINE MØRKBAK is a Global Consultant and Learning Professional and the Founder of Global LEAP Consulting. She give sclients suggestions on how to revamp traditional management tools; how to utilize the cultural mix of global and local teams; how to harness the productivity of dispersed, virtual collaboration as well as introduce Improv techniques to build trust among leaders or team members. For more stories visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

YANN TOUTANT is the CEO of Econocom NL, the €6bn digital services company in the Netherlands, as well as the President of the French Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands. Yann is a strong believer in the ‘location independence’ movement. He believes the associated focus on experiences versus possessions presents a new opportunity to Corporates. In this interview we talk about how companies can get themselves remote ready. For more stories visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

MAGDA FERRETTI is a business trainer and organizational psychologist helping Polish companies introduce home office policies. Her PhD research focused on leadership in virtual teams and she uses that knowledge to help managers transition to leading from a distance. In this interview we discuss why managers are hesitant to go remote and what they need to do to develop new competencies for leading remote teams. For more stories visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

TOBY NEWMAN is a Lead of Learning & Development at HERE Technologies. He helps support and create a learning culture throughout a global organization of just under 10,000 people. In this interview, we talk about how to create a culture of learning in your organization, where people don't wait for learning to happen to them. But instead, seek out opportunities to satisfy their curiosities. And he gives us some tips for improving how we learn from each other online. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

WAYNE TURMEL is the cofounder of the Remote Leadership Institute and the coauthor of The Long Distance Leader: Rules For Remarkable Leadership. In this interview, we discuss what makes a good remote leader, how to build trust on virtual teams, and how to give great online presentations. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

REBECCA CORLISS is the VP of Marketing at Owl Labs, the makers of a 360 degree video conferencing camera called the Meeting Owl. In this interview she gives her expert tips for hybrid meetings (remote + in person) and tells us how the hybrid team at Owl Labs works from wherever they are most productive. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

ABBY DOWNING is the partner and creative director at The Superfan Company, an all female team of pop-culture enthusiasts creating powerful programs and products that engage superfans. In this interview we discuss how Abby's team communicate with each other internally - and deal with the different communication styles their clients have. We also discuss how to manage being always on, how to deal with conflict, what to look for when hiring remote colleagues, and how artists are making more personal connections with their fans. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

JAY HYETT and RUMA DAK are Delivery Coaches at Envato, a collection of themed marketplaces where creatives sell digital assets. Envato allows their employees to work from wherever they are most productive, and even encourages them to travel for 3 months of the year. In this interview we discuss how they stay aligned, profitable and connected with a workforce that works from anywhere. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

MARK KILBY and JOHANNA ROTHMAN have written a book called "From Chaos To Successful Distributed Agile Teams: Collaborate To Deliver". In this interview we dive into why they wrote this book and how distributed teams can be agile and successful. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

PROJJAL GHATAK is the CEO and co-founder of OnLoop, a platform reshaping the performance management landscape and introducing the concept of Collaborative Team Development (CTD) to transform how hybrid teams are evaluated and nurtured at their core. In this interview, we delve into the critical components of effective performance feedback, explore what leaders can do to better coach individuals on their teams, and discover how to cultivate habits around essential feedback topics. For more stories of remote teams doing great things, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com

PILAR ORTI and MAYA MIDDELMISS of Virtual, Not Distant have written a book called "Thinking Remote. Inspiration for Leaders of Distributed Teams." In this interview we talk about why they wrote the book and we dive into the content of 5 of the 13 chapters. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

TIM BURGESS is the Director at Shield GEO, a company that helps others manage and employ their international employees. Tim's colleagues work in 9 different countries across all time zones. In this interview he shares how they manage time zone issues, how they maintain their company values, how they promote team building, and the tips they use for hiring great remote workers. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

LIAM MARTIN is the co-founder and CMO of TimeDoctor.com and Staff.com, which are tools that help manage remote employees productivity. Liam is also the co-organizer of Running Remote Conference which is the largest conference on remote work that’s held each year in June. In this interview, we discuss how to manage, communicate, and hire on remote teams - and why you should join the Running Remote conference. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com 

WOUT HERMANS is a part time digital strategy consultant working as the Enterprise Transformation Manager at MURAL - and - a part time digital nomad. In this interview we talk about how the team at MURAL works remotely, and Wout's experiences on Nomad Cruises. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

DAVE HECKER, cofounder at SourceSeek, is a seasoned tech executive, speaker, and author with an exclusive focus on distributed team software delivery. Before working with any offshore team, Dave will spend time with them in person to assess whether it will be a good fit or not.

For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

LAURA FREW is the Partner at Holacracy One, a company that promotes self management practices for organizations. They are also 100% remote! I talk to Laura about how Holacracy One works, their quarterly retreats, their non-management practices, hiring and firing people, and how they manage their time. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

JOHN RIORDAN is the Director of Support Ireland at Shopify. In this interview we discuss how to build conscious connections using video conferencing and pop-up offices, finding your cadence and socialize when working from home, how to manage the feeling of being always on, and tips for managing remote teams. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

JESSE HOUWING is a trainer, coach, and tinkerer who likes to make software development fun. Jesse and I met (in person) at the nlscrum Meetup in Amsterdam where I asked him about remote pairing and mobbing. In this episode, he talks about the benefits and challenges of pairing and mobbing remotely and highlights the importance of having the right attitude and tools to make it work well. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

Does dressing up matter when we work remotely? In this episode we explore both the psychological effects of dressing up and the practical effects of what to wear for optimal video calls. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

WADE FOSTER is the CEO and co-founder of Zapier, a workflow automation tool used by over three million people to connect the work apps they use every day. Zapier is a 100% remote company with over 200 people. In this interview we talk about hiring, managing, aligning, and building a 'rockin remote team. Wade shares his experiences, challenges, and recipes for strong team building. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

ANDREA "DEA" WOODARD is a business consultant and facilitator specializing in remote and hybrid leadership. She is also passionate about personal user manuals. In this interview, we dive into how to use personal user manuals, the downsides, what it means to be more ourselves at work, and how to start building your own manual. For more information, visit https://theremotelife.notion.site/Andrea-Dea-Woodard.

For more podcasts, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

Many of us struggle to keep our energy levels up during the cold and dark winter. This podcast is dedicated to what you can do to keep going, even when you want to hibernate. For more stories, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

SARAH NOKED is the founder of Sarah Noked OBM, and online business management agency. Her team works with entrepreneurs and creatives in all stages of business to provide the structure and business management support they need. In this interview we discuss how to streamline your virtual office and get the help you need to scale your business successfully. For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

There are many ways to communicate with our virtual colleagues: face to face, video, email, group chat, telephone, social media. But each form of communication has its pros and cons. While those pros and cons are fairly obvious, it's good to take a step back every once in a while and reevaluate how we communicate with each other in various scenarios. For more stories visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

MANUEL PISTNER is a virtual team enthusiast and Founder of flashhub.io. He went from a colocated team of 40 people to a virtual team of 180 in under one year. In this interview Manuel talks about why and how he transitioned his team, what he struggles with, and how he scaled in such a short time. For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

Holiday parties can be daunting - even if you're all in the same physical location. This week, we discuss some idea to help you celebrate the holidays with all members of your team, especially those who work remotely.

A great give for any remote team are the Collaboration Supercards! To learn more about them, visit: https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/supercards/.

FRANK COTTLE is the CEO of Alliance Virtual Offices and Chairman of the Alliance Business Centers Network. He is a recognized expert on flexible working, the virtual office movement, and ‘third place’ working. For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

People and companies are going remote for different reasons. Today's Superpower Hour tells the stories of why we go remote. From multi-nationals to freelancers, what motivates us leave the office? And there are a few tips for how to go remote sprinkled in. For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

Molood is the founder & host of RemoteForeverSummit.com, an Agile Coach and CEO of Everemote (Remote Forever), a blogger & keynote speaker. In this interview we dive into what distributed agile teams are struggling with, characteristics of a good remote leader, and how to manage your time to be effective and prevent burn out. For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

“Remote work isn’t a fit for everyone. One of the biggest keys to a successful remote team is accurately identifying talent who will excel in a remote environment.” So how do you ‘accurately identify’ the best talent? Armed with a clear picture of exactly what you need, you craft an interview to help you assess as well as possible how the candidate would fare on the job—down to replicating the remote communication that team members employ every day. For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

DOV TSAL is an independent Agile Coach who makes organizations sharper and more effective by aligning their teams, leaders, and value streams. Dov is on a mission to improve meeting culture - the fun way! He's developed a tool to spice up any meeting - online or in person. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com. 

SUMEET GAYATHRI MOGHE is a product manager, a future of remote strategist, and the author of the Async-First Playbook: Remote Collaboration Techniques for Agile Software Teams. In this interview, we discuss what problems asynchronous work solves, why it's challenging and worth it, and where teams can begin. For more stories of remote teams doing great things, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

In the "Up and Coming Tools" series, I highlight a few tools that looked particularly interesting and great for the remote community. KitchinTable, Focusmate, Greenback Expat Tax Services, Retro Tool, and Giftedd. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com.

ALEXIS MONVILLE is a member of the Engineering Leadership Team at Red Hat and the author of Changing Your Team From The Inside. 60% of Red Hat’s engineering team work remotely. In this interview, Alexis discusses what they struggle with, how they communicate, what it takes to lead a remote team, and how to deal with conflict. For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

As remote workers, many of us are freelancers or sole proprietors that work for a number of different clients. Yes, we have the freedom to work when and where we want. But we are also in an very vulnerable position when our invoices are paid late – or not at all. Going after the money can be a time consuming and expensive process… sometimes not worth the effort depending on the amount of the invoice. So what can we do?  For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

TOM SCHWAB is a Navy veteran (with experience in running nuclear power plants) and an expert on inbound marketing. He is the owner of InterviewValet.com and his entire team works remotely. In this interview Tom shares his views on hiring remote employees, characteristics of a good leader, how to deal with conflict, and advise for those who are just starting to build their businesses. For more stories, visit www.collaborationsuperpowers.com. 

If you work from home, how do you create and maintain boundaries between work and play? How do you set expectations with your family, housemates and guests? In this episode we walk through the steps of how to separate work and play when everything happens in the same place. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com. 

JACK BERGLUND is the Chief Product Officer at Doodle, an app that helps you decide on meeting times and places. Doodle works with team in four different offices. Jack dives into what they struggle with, the skills needed for remote leadership, tips for dealing with culture, and advice for remote team building. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com.

If you want to work remotely, but you're not sure if you're cut out for it, than this episode is for you! In this episode we discuss the skill set, mind set, technology, and workspaces necessary to be an awesome remote worker. Make sure to take the "Are You Ready?" questionnaire: https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/areyouready/.

For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com.

LUCIUS BOBIKIEWICZ is a trainer for distributed agile teams at SpreadScrum.com in Berlin, Germany. He has managed globally dispersed teams – with members from Indonesia, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom – using just online spreadsheets. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpower.com.

We've reached Episode 50 on the Collaboration Superpowers podcast. In this podcast, I highlight 5 of my favorite segments from the last 50 interviews. Join me on this epic journey through the history of the podcast. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com. 

DAVID HOROWITZ is the founder and CEO of Retrium, which provides software for facilitating remote retrospectives. David considers continuous improvement the most critical aspect of a highly effective software team is. Since retrospectives are usually conducted in person using flip charts and sticky notes, he saw a need to replicate this functionality for remote teams – which led to Retrium. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpower.com. 

In this interview, we sit down with SOPHIE WADE, an esteemed work futurist and the founder of FlexCel. With a mission to establish "digitally integrated and responsive sustainable work environments," her company offers advisory services and transformative workshops. As the author of Empathy Works, Sophie brings a wealth of knowledge and insights to our discussion. We delve into the fascinating realm of the future of work, exploring the essentiality of flexibility and the transformative journey that lies ahead. We also uncover key focus areas for leaders as they navigate this transition into a future defined by flexibility. For more stories of remote teams doing great things, visit https://www.collaborationsuperpowers.com.

Managers of remote teams face the challenge of combating the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. How do we move away from micro-managing and set up and lead our remote teams to success? Join me as we discuss the four pillars of remote team management. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpower.com. 

Estela Kun is an exceptional leader, at the forefront of the fastly evolving location independent movement. She is the founder of FreedomXFest, the first educational outdoor festival aimed at inspiring leaders in the location independent movement to learn from each other and collaborate. In doing so they will find different ways of working and being. Estela is making a stand for making the freedom lifestyle accessible to many more people. The philosophy behind FXF is that location independence goes above and beyond simply being free to work and live as you love. It has the potential to completely revolutionize society. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpower.com. 

Each team has a unique way of communicating. And each team has a particular combination of personality types. And just like an orchestra tunes up before a performance, or an athlete warms up before a practice, tuning a virtual team helps get everyone on the same page. For more stories, visit www.CollaborationSuperpowers.com.