Introducing the Placeless Leader

Welcome to the Placeless Leader newsletter! In each issue, I explore how leaders of remote and hybrid teams can guide the success of location and schedule flexibility.?

In 2021, I wrote and talked a lot about asynchronous communication: how an imbalance of synchronous and asynchronous communication contributes to some of the most common problems in remote and hybrid work (e.g., overworking, isolation), plus how teams can get started with improving that communication balance. (I've listed some highlights at the bottom of this page.)

In 2022, as employers consider how they'll provide employees the flexibility they expect, I'll continue to focus on asynchronous communication and other ways that leaders can empower autonomous work. In this newsletter, I'll explore questions about how leaders can guide the success of location and schedule flexibility, including:

• What are some experiments leaders can try in their teams to begin the shift towards more async?
• How can you get team members on board with adopting more async practices?
• How much async is too much async?
• How can leaders help team members (and themselves) continue to develop and maintain social capital in an async-first environment?
• After spending the time and energy to develop team agreements, how do you make sure everyone on the team follows those agreements consistently?

I'll also be adding in my own reflections and lessons on virtual leadership that I've learned at Workplaceless.

Have a question about how to enable autonomous work in your team? Share in the comments!

Roundup of My 2021 Async Content

• Virtual Not Distant Podcast: The Challenges of Adopting Asynchronous Communication
• CAVO Podcast: Leaders Need Async: Why and How
• The Remote Show Podcast: Tammy Bjelland, founder and CEO of Workplaceless?
• InfoQ Podcast: Effective Remote and Asynchronous Work with Kaleem Clarkson & Tammy Bjelland
• The Rosie Report Article: How async communication unlocks the autonomous future of work
• Hybrid @ MURAL Webinar: Balancing Async and Sync Communication in Virtual Teams
• Almanac Panel Discussion: Capturing Creativity, Asynchronously: Best Practices for Cultivating Creativity in a Distributed Workforce
• LinkedIn Article: 5 Signs Leaders Are Contributing to Meeting Overload

Async Content from Workplaceless

• Quick Start Guide to Async Communication
• Anatomy of a Perfect Blended Meeting
• 5 Work Challenges Solved by Empowering Async
• Tips and Training for Async-First Slack