Heres What Happened When My Team Worked Remotely for a Week

Heres What Happened When My Team Worked Remotely for a WeekHeres What Happened When My Team Worked Remotely for a Week Think about the last time you were on a conference call with someone in a different location. Did you run into any communication challenges- technical, or otherwise? Did you find yurself trying to speak up but failing to get a word in? If there were multiple people on that call, did you find that everyone was able to participate?Remote meetings are becoming increasingly commonplace. Not everyone you work with is able to sit down in the saatkorn room with you. For many of us, most of ur meetings now include remote employees or team members from across the globe.Thats the trend we started to see at HubSpot. As we expand globally, mora and more of our meetings and teams are spread out across our different offices. That doesnt just mean waking up early or staying up late to have a call with colleagues in Sydney. It means learning to work with our colle agues in a completely different (and potentially challenging) way.After talking to other companies with growing numbers of remote employees (including Zapier CEO Wade Foster), our absatzwirtschaft team decided to do Remote Week.We had three goals for Remote WeekAfter a week, we gathered feedback from everyone who participated, and discovered some common trends that will help us more effectively manage our remote employees moving forward.1. For larger meetings, you need a facilitator.For meetings on the larger side, it can be a real challenge to enaya everyones voice gets heard. Everyone is talking, side conversations happen between people in different locations and before you know it, the meeting is over and you didnt get the chance to weigh in on the discussion.This is where the team facilitator comes in. The job of the facilitator is twofold 1) Make sure everyone gets a chance to talk. 2) Recognize when side conversations happen so you can make sure these are shared with the ful l group.To make sure everyone gets a chance to talk, its important to notice when someone is trying to get a word in and keeps getting overlooked. A good way to spot this is to have the facilitator keep a lookout for the goldfish face the face someone makes when they keep opening and closing their mouth before they get the chance to actually say anything. By having a facilitator picking up on this and prompting participants to speak in turn, the issue can be eliminated.Another issue with large remote meetings is that side conversations that happen with people in the saatkorn location. For example, my team is spread out across Cambridge and Dublin. There are often side conversations that go on between the teams in Cambridge and Dublin by muting the call to say something to their colleague sitting next to them.One effective way that we learned to solve this is making everyone go in a different room (even if they are in the same location) to give everyone a fair chance to speak and t o make sure these side conversations dont derail the main discussion.When you are physically in the same location as your colleagues, you have the opportunity for spontaneous conversations throughout the day. Whether its a morning recap of the latest Game of Thrones episode, or a quick chat to hash out the details of a problem that couldnt be solved over email, these unplanned face-to-face meetings bring us closer to our colleagues and help us discover new perspectives.During our remote week, we knew we needed a way to recreate the beauty of these spontaneous conversations. In practice, it takes a bit of effort. It means you have to be open to hopping on a quick, unplanned video call to answer a question or clarify the details of an email .We also are big proponents of recording a quick video over Loom to communicate something when your team isnt all available for a live call. In fact, I have woken up to many Loom recordings from my team in Dublin to explain a detailed analysis or the latest experiment they wanted to run.Having regular, open communication like this is key to avoiding any miscommunications and making sure your team still feels like a unit even if they do not see each other face to face.In the morning I wake up, shower, get dressed, walk my dog and catch the bus. I get to work, make my tea, do some morning reading, respond to emails and start my day. I have my morning sicherheit , and I have another routine at the end of the day to wrap up.We are creatures of habit - having a clear routine gives us structure and enables us to be productive. And thats doubly true for remote workers.At the beginning of Remote Week, a lot of us found that our routine was just off. We woke up and then were unsure what to do next. Do we start responding to emails? Do we work on that next experiment? Do we make breakfast? Work out? What do we do first? At the end of the day, we had the same conundrum. When do we stop working? Should we have dinner, and then go back to work?Even when you work remotely and dont have to get into the office by a certain time, its still important to have a routine. Though it took us all a couple of days to figure out how to structure our time during Remote Week, we eventually all figured out our own individual rhythms to ensure we were getting our work done without burning out .If you are one of the only remote workers on your team, it can be easy to get heads-down on your work and lose out on the regular communication that goes on with the rest of the team. Something that our team became very aware of during Remote Week was finding a way to remain available and visible to our colleagues even when we werent directly in touch.There are a couple of keys to staying on your teams radar, even when youre not in sight. One of them is through participation in team meetings. When youre remote, its extremely important to speak up and share your thoughts during big discussions.Another way to remain visibleis to participat e in group discussions over chat. At HubSpot, we use Slack for our communications, and have cross-team channels devoted to everything from work-related projects to out-of-office interests, like yoga and dogs. Its easy to not participate in those discussions, but its way more rewarding and valuable to share your ideas, the latest interesting article you read, or even what you did that weekend.Even if you cant be physically visible in the office, its important to stay visible within the organization.I saved the best, and arguably most important, for last. Ensuring you have the proper technology to do your job and stay in touch with colleagues is absolutelyessential. It can be frustrating for everyone involved if all of a sudden your computer freezes, or your internet crashes and your call is disconnected. And you know that always happens when its least convenient.Before you plan to work remotely (even if its just for a day), test out the locations you plan to call in from. If you are working from home , make sure that you have a strong WiFiconnection. Test it out with a friend or colleague ahead of time to make sure youll be able to get your job done effectively and stay in touch with the necessary people.If you think you might want to journey to an alternative location during your remote work week, test that out as well. I encourage my team to test out new coffee shops they want to work from during lower-stakes meetings - like 11s with their manager - instead of waiting until a larger team meeting. This reduces the danger of your technical difficulties impacting more people.As youre getting your remote setup ready, figure out if you need other tech besides WiFi. Having a second monitor at home, for example, can help increase your efficiency. Having a standing desk is another way to make sure you get to move around during the day.Remote Week was a fantastic experience for the team. It gave us a unique opportunity to put ourselves in our teammates shoes and tr uly understand the pros and cons of remote work.Since this experience, weve learned to be more collaborative with our remote counterparts, make sure everyone has a voice in team meetings and be more flexible when hopping on a quick video chat with a remote colleague. The next time you interact with a remote colleague, remember these lessons to ensure you build a productive and collaborative environment for your team and co-workers, no matter where they work.This article was originally published on HubSpot . It is reprinted with permission.

Top 5 Trends in Materials Engineering

Top 5 Trends in Materials Engineering Top 5 Trends in Materials Engineering Assembled marvels abound and astound. But the fundamental elements that make up any engineered piece of technology, be it a mobile gizmo or an arm on a Mars rover, are often just as marvelous as the whole of which they are a part. Here, we examine five areas that are likely to have a radical impact on the products of the future. 1. Atom Thick Graphites nice. You can write with it, or make squash rackets. But its even cooler when its wickedly thin. In 2004, researchers used Scotch tape to pull up layer after layer until there was only a single-atom layer left. Since then, others have come up with more efficientand more advancedmethods for making atom-thick sheets, called graphene. The honeycomb lattice of carbon-to-carbon bonds has some pretty remarkable properties. Its flawless, light, and strong. Its flexible, can be bent into any shape, can carry a charge, and it wont oxidize. The potential applications are many. People are putting graphene in polymers, ceramics, and metals, says Nikhil A. Koratkar, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineeringand materials science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Researchers are trying to make gas sensors that can sense down to very low concentrationsat the parts per trillion level. Theyre also using graphene to create coatings that would make any metal rust-free, windows that would darken themselves when the sun is at its strongest, anodes for lithium-ion batteries, flexible solar cells, membranes for fuel cells, and membranes that would remove salt from water. 2. Electric Ink 3-D printing is upending many a field with the speed at which a single part can be dreamed up and created. But right now, the things that come out of a 3-D printer are largely inert. There is vast interest in 3-D printing, but most of the commercial printers developed to date are used to produce plastic prototypes, says Jennifer Lewis, a profe ssorat the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering. Conductive inks would enable the integration of electrical circuits not only on planar substrates, but within 3-D printed objects. One can imagine wiring up 3-D objects to create an internet of things. The ink would allow the masses to print their own circuit boards. Antennas, solar cells, LEDs, and other electronics could come hot from the printer when and where they are wanted.MIT chemists designed a pencil lead consisting of carbon nanotubes, allowing them to draw carbon nanotube sensors onto sheets of paper. Image Jan Schnorr / Mit.edu 3. The Heroics of Multiferroics Magnetism and ferroelectricity usually dont show up in the same material at the same time. Certain materials, though, particularly metal oxides, can exhibit both. An electric field will kollege the magnetic state, and a magnetic field can alter the electrical polarization. This allows us to store data us ing an electric field, which is much easier to generate than a magnetic field, says Caroline Ross, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. But with the magnetic state still present, data can still be stored magnetically. Additionally, the discovery that electric currents can flip the magnetization of small structures, or translate magnetic domain walls, is exciting for data storage and there are already spin-torque switching magnetic memory cells being manufactured. says Ross. 4. The Nano Anode A major challenge in improving the energy density of lithium-ion batteries is the development of electrode materials increased lithium capacity, says Jeffrey Fergus, professor at the Materials Research and Education Center, Auburn University. The search has long been on for a better anode that will maintain that high capacity during cycling and in a wide range of environmental conditions. Silicon has been a contender for some time, thanks to the fact that it s cheap and highly conductivethey have a much larger capacity than the standard carbon ones in use today. Unfortunately, silicon expands when lithium hits it. This expansion can generate large stresses, so creative geometries or combinations of materials are needed to accommodate these large strains, says Fergus. Researchers at the University of Southern California may have found both. They used silicon spheres mixed with boron and etched pores onto them. The result is a battery that holds three times the energy and can be charged in ten minutes. So whats holding them back from getting into electric cars? So far, the batteries are good for only 200 or so cycles. 5. Spinning Smoke Talk of nanotubes has been batted about for years. The promise of an incredibly strong, light thread was always just around the corner but never realized. But last year researchers at MIT came out with their nanotube pencil. With a tip of compressed nanotubes, it allows the user to sketch nanotubes wherever he might want them. Great for making sensors, but not quite what we need to lift things into, say, space. Now researchers at Rice University have finally managed to make a nanotube thread. Its long enoughand flexible enoughthat theyve wrapped fifty meters of it around a spool. The trick was putting nanotubes in chlorosulfonic acid and drawing them out through tiny holes. The resulting thread is ten times as strong as steel. And its as conductive as copper. Spinning smoke is what David Burleigh, a professor in the Materials and Metallurgical department at New Mexico Tech, calls it. In theory we should be able to build the space elevator, an elevator to a geosynchronous space station. Michael Abrams is an independent writer.Researchers are trying to make gas sensors that can sense down to very low concentrations- at the parts per trillion level.Nikhil A. Koratkar, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

3 Steps to Be Your Own Job Search Assistant

3 Steps to Be Your Own Job Search Assistant3 Steps to Be Your Own Job Search AssistantNow youre your own assistant.When youre working in an executive capacity, your company provides a clear support ordnungsprinzip to take care of day-to-day tasks Administrative assistants and other players within your organization free you up to focus on the critical tasks that drive revenue or reduce costs.You cant do a high-level job without a support system, and dont fool yourself You cant conduct an executive job search without one, either.A job seeker accustomed to a position atop a team of many often falls into disarray when she finds herself a team of one.Even after I was laid off and having an outplacement program provider, it was still my responsibility and challenge to come up with a system to organize myself and my search, said Allen Cantnor (well call him), an executive health care administrator, who asked that we not use his real name. Creating a clear system to organize your search can be the key advantage you have over your competition. Online resources, spreadsheets, e-mail records, LinkedIn and an inventory of business cards can be helpful. But so many tools can become chaotic. You need a system to organize them, whether you purchase it or create it out of a raw Excel spreadsheet.Then prioritize your activities as if your full-time job is now your search. Isnt that what it is, anyway?Follow these steps to help get organized about your job-search tasks.1 Remove Obstacles.In todays job market, it sure feels like you have to marshal and maneuver forces in combat. Barriers to your goal can slow or stop your proper job-search maneuvers.According to Cantnor, I found myself in a sea of clutter at home. I had an office, a nook and a kind of man cave where I put all my little awards, papers and files. I had a computer and a pretty nice arrangement where my loving wife and two kids would even give me some space. But the truth is, I stumbled over everything. I had no fili ng system and the acoustics when I talked on the phone made it sound mora like an old phone booth than an office.If you have the means to do it, you need to optimize your work space.Create a place where you feel comfortable working. If you have access to an outside-of-the-home office, take advantage of it.I know many executives in transition who can adapt easily. They have adapted for years by working on spreadsheets while theyre on the road. They can work in hotel rooms, lobbies (of all kinds) or just about anywhere. But others need a kind of quiet to hone resumes, cover letters, applications and other paperwork for an intensive search.2 Be More Prepared Than Your Competition.While you organize your work space, get your thinking in order, too. Prepare yourself to outmaneuver the competition.On a job hunt, how do you prepare for a competitor you havent seen?Assume your competition has your skills and better.To be more prepared than her, become more prepared than you are.Anticipate t he toughest bewerbungsgesprch questions you will receive on the phone or in person and prepare to answer them. I had the wrong thinking about practicing the interview, said Ron Caufey, a combined technical and sales executive in transition from a major software firm, who also asked that we not use his real name. I really thought that I had the gift of gab and could pretty articulately brag about my performance.WhatI did not have organized is a carefully thought-out and practiced interviewing plan, he said. In actually doing or being part of the executive interview process at my last job, I found out that we sometimes hired people who were the most prepared in the interview process vs. the most qualified on paper, so to speak. So pulling off the live interview to me was another way for me to win and have an advantage over my competition. I knew my competition was not putting themselves through such pain3 Have a Backup Plan.Especially when times are tight and ideal jobs are scarce, yo ur goals need to be multilayered and realistic. Develop goals associated with salary, bonuses, time and more. You may need help with making these goals reasonable and obtainable. If you do not have a goal, then all your organized plans wont matter, Cantnor said. I had to set up a plan for contract and consulting work if my full-time work didnt happen. I had to set up a separate plan for a local job search and a distance search if I could not transition in my local geographic area of 50 miles. Lastly, I had to get real about salaries and income expectations. I had to be willing to take less or give up more.I was aware of what I needed from a job and income perspective, Cantnor said. I was realistic but aggressive. I think thats the right frame of mind.