It’s a bit strange, I suppose, to write a post about a book you co-authored. On the other hand, I bring a different perspective than others might. Let me tell you about The Long-Distance Team and how we believe it can help your organization succeed at higher levels.
The Problems We Address
In case you haven’t noticed, the world of work, how people view work, and where, when, and how work is done is changing drastically. When we are living through a change, it is hard to determine what we need to adjust and what is and isn’t important to hold onto from the past. This book addresses some key issues we must deal with in this changing world of work, including these questions:
- How do we design our teams to succeed as the contexts, situations, and perhaps locations of our team members change?
- What can we do to create the culture that will help us thrive in the future?
- How do we engage team members so they choose to stay and do great work in our organizations?
- What is the role of leaders and team members in answering these (and related) questions?
Are you thinking about any of these challenges? When you read the list above, did you get a knot in your stomach or a lump in your throat? If so, the ideas and approaches in this book will help.
The Perspective We Bring
One of the best questions to ask when deciding to read any book is: What is the perspective of the authors, and what makes this book different? Here are some of our starting points:
- We don’t believe in prescribing answers. Instead, we prefer to provide you with tools and processes to find your own answers. Questions like, “Where and when should people work?” “What should our culture be?” “How should our teams be designed?” are all great questions. We want to help you find the answers that work for you – because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer.
- We live and succeed in a Long-Distance Worklife. I’ve led a remote/hybrid team for over a decade. But we don’t believe it is the only way work can or should be done.
- We believe that underlying principles of leadership, human behavior, and team dynamics haven’t changed. But as the world changes, there are nuances that must be considered if we want to get great results.
- We believe that leaders aren’t the only ones who have valuable perspectives and answers. In fact, top-down approaches often fail. This book encourages participation and input from everyone – and gives you ways to incorporate those ideas into your teams, cultures, and more.
The Results You Can Expect
Buying and reading a book by itself won’t get you any results. But if, after buying and reading, you apply the ideas in this book across your team or organization, you will build more engagement and accountability. You will start a useful and long-lasting conversation about what you want, look for, and expect in terms of communication, collaboration, and cohesion (the 3C’s around which much of the book is structured) in both your teams and culture.
Ultimately, this book will help you create teams and cultures that will get great results and build a team that wants to do that important work.
The Series – Not Just One Book
The Long-Distance Team is the third in a series of books in The Long-Distance Worklife series. The full series includes:
The books are connected in philosophy and approach, but stand on their own, too. It is our hope that you read and apply the ideas from whichever of them best helps you and your team reach your goals.
If you like what you have read, I hope you will buy copies for you and others on your team.