Episode 55
Remote Work Done Right - with Sacha Connor
CEO of Virtual Work Insider, Sacha Connor discusses the challenges of remote work and how distance bias affects professional teams.
Marketer turned remote work advocate, Sacha Connor, shares about her journey and insights into leading distributed, hybrid, and remote teams. Sacha shares her experiences from working at advertising agencies to leading teams at Clorox and starting Virtual Work Insider in 2018. They discuss the challenges of remote work, including distance bias, creating team agreements, the importance of flexibility, and the necessity of evolving leadership skills for the modern workplace. The conversation also highlights practical solutions for improving productivity and connection within remote teams.
BIO
Sacha Connor is the CEO of Virtual Work Insider, a consultancy that provides training programs and content on how to lead, communicate, collaborate, and build culture in hybrid, distributed, and remote teams.
Sacha has 18 years of business leadership experience in marketing, sales, and new product innovation roles, including over 13 years of experience leading hybrid & distributed teams while working fully remotely.
As one of the first remote marketing directors at The Clorox Company, she led brands worth over $250M and was the first fully remote member of the leadership team for a $1 billion business unit.
Since the launch of Virtual Work Insider in late 2018, VWI has delivered over 300 skills training workshops, executive team sessions, and speaking engagements about hybrid and remote work to audiences of 10 to 1,000+. VWI has worked with clients that span a range of industries, including Toyota, Sephora, Vanguard, Under Armour, Allstate, Eventbrite, and Optum Health.
CHAPTERS
05:38 Sacha’s remote work story
08:18 Sacha’s views on remote vs. in-person work
13:10 How leaders reacted to Sacha’s remote work experiment
15:43 Becoming an omnimodal leader
17:50 Leading remote teams vs. in-person teams
19:32 The value of remote work management skills
22:24 Leadership skills and managing the abstract nature of people
26:47 The importance of communicating preferences
31:31 The mindset shift required to embed connection in work
34:00 Is it necessary to meet in person?
37:10 Building connections continuously
38:53 Focusing on goals and roles and creating team agreements
42:31 Flexibility in omnimodal environments
LINKS
Ep. 1 - The Secret Super Powers of HIghly Sensitive People - with Clare Kumar
Happy Space Work Style Profile™
IMAGE CREDITS (see images on Youtube video)
Other images and video - Canva
Narnia Image - Clare Kumar
Virtual Work Insider logo - Virtual Work Insider
Orbit logo - Virtual Work Insider - Sacha Connor
The Clorox Company Logo - Wiki
Dave Ulrich - Wiki
T-shirt graphic - Clare Kumar
Learn more about and follow Sacha:
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Highly sensitive executive coach and productivity catalyst, Clare Kumar, explores the intersection of productivity and inclusivity exploring how we can invite the richest contribution from all through improvements in design and culture. She works bottom-up - coaching individuals in sidestepping burnout and cultivating sustainable performance, and top-down – working with leaders to design inclusive performance thereby inviting teams to reach their full potential. As a speaker, Clare mic-drops “thought balms” in keynotes and workshops, whether virtual or in-person. She invites connection through her online community committed to designing sustainable and inclusive performance, the Happy Space Pod. Why? Because everyone deserves a Happy Space.
Believing that productivity is personal, the podcast is produced in a variety of formats so you can enjoy it in the medium you prefer:
Listen to the audio right here or on your fave podcast platform.
If you prefer to watch video, check out the episode on YouTube. And look for the Shorts playlist for clips.
If you prefer to read, please see the transcript below.
Ready to learn more, or want to find out more about coaching with Clare or hiring her for your next engaging event? Contact Clare here.
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If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a heartfelt review as this will help other listeners discover the podcast. Please invite your colleagues, friends, and family to listen as well. Together we can design a more inclusive world where everyone can make their richest contribution.
Want to learn more about Clare and/or her guests? Follow Clare on Instagram and Twitter.
And don't forget, everyone (including YOU) deserves a Happy Space. 😊
CREDITS
Audio and Video Editing: Jaclyn Enchin
Production Assistant: Rafael Dona
Song Credit: Cali by Wataboi / wataboi
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0Music promoted by FDL Music • Cali - Wataboi · [Copyright-free Music]