Rebecca Jacobs and Cailey Gibson have never met in person. Yet they are co-founders of Anika Works, a platform that helps nonprofits connect with impact-focused businesses. This unique situation led them to prioritize digital wellness in their company - here's how they do it.
Love this. I work with a virtual accelerator and these tips are super applicable. I’ve shared it with the team and hope to apply much of these. Thanks for leading by example. Great podcast Remotely Inclined. Looking forward to more chats.
Hey! I am so happy that you found this edition helpful. The next interview is coming out Thursday, and it's a conversation about building genuine relationships digitally.
If you have any questions / things you'd like to see in future editions, let me know and I'll do my best to cover it! :)
Yes, actually I’d love if digital vs. online relationships could be compared and contrasted in a way where we know what’s specifically missing online and how can it be compensated for. For example, I know one of the good things of digital connection is that you’re less likely to physically judge someone (a natural human tendency) but how do you make up for missed body language and/or physical cues (crucially important in building genuine relationships and understanding)? Hope that makes sense and thanks for this opportunity 🙏🏼
I love this question so much. I totally get where you're coming from.
So I'll say Thursday's Chats episode will cover some of this. And then I have another guest in a few weeks (working on scheduling now! 🤞) that will have some amazing insight on this topic.
In the meantime, here's a concept I learned from a conversation with the co-founder of a company called Soapbox HQ. I'll be explaining it more in some future content, but want to share with you now (let me know if it makes sense!): The premise of visible versus invisible leadership.
When you're in person, you can lead a lot in very visible ways -- like you said, your body language counts for a LOT. If you sit down with earphones in and work, you're sending a signal to the team that it's quiet work time. If you're friendly, people vibe off that. If you're talking loudly vs quietly, people take cues from you. Etc etc etc.
That is 100% lost in remote -- all of your leadership traits that require body language are lost. In that way, remote leadership is "invisible" leadership.
Some people are naturally attuned to invisible leadership - think: the people who are hilarious on Twitter but ultra shy in person. The digital divide actually helps them open up more, which is awesome. But if you're used to working in an office and using body language / visible leadership, then it can be difficult to transition and you might feel that things aren't working, you can't foster the same depth of relationship, etc.
If you're the visible leadership type and want to thrive in remote settings, you have to think about ways to create visibility using digital structures. It's not the same as finding the "Remote equivalent" (like using zoom instead of meetings), though that's one element of it.
Specifically, it's things like:
- Transitioning as much of your communication to public channels as possible - so you aren't out of sight, out of mind
- Consciously spending time encouraging / congratulating / offering thoughts in digital conversations that have nothing to do with you or your work - you "show up" more, just as you would in random office chats
- In 1:1s, make sure the agenda is set ahead of time so your entire conversation can be, well, a conversation. Try to remove as much admin as possible so you can use those precious moments for relationship building.
I hope that helps / is a decent start. Like I said, Thursday goes a bit more in-depth on this and I have plans to go way more in depth on this topic in the future, just not sure 100% when :)
Very insightful... I love the way this is framed. I’ve been reflecting on the type of leader and teammate I am (this would apply for teammates too). Thanks for this. I’m familiar with Soapbox HQ. Looking forward to the next podcast.
Love this. I work with a virtual accelerator and these tips are super applicable. I’ve shared it with the team and hope to apply much of these. Thanks for leading by example. Great podcast Remotely Inclined. Looking forward to more chats.
Hey! I am so happy that you found this edition helpful. The next interview is coming out Thursday, and it's a conversation about building genuine relationships digitally.
If you have any questions / things you'd like to see in future editions, let me know and I'll do my best to cover it! :)
Yes, actually I’d love if digital vs. online relationships could be compared and contrasted in a way where we know what’s specifically missing online and how can it be compensated for. For example, I know one of the good things of digital connection is that you’re less likely to physically judge someone (a natural human tendency) but how do you make up for missed body language and/or physical cues (crucially important in building genuine relationships and understanding)? Hope that makes sense and thanks for this opportunity 🙏🏼
I love this question so much. I totally get where you're coming from.
So I'll say Thursday's Chats episode will cover some of this. And then I have another guest in a few weeks (working on scheduling now! 🤞) that will have some amazing insight on this topic.
In the meantime, here's a concept I learned from a conversation with the co-founder of a company called Soapbox HQ. I'll be explaining it more in some future content, but want to share with you now (let me know if it makes sense!): The premise of visible versus invisible leadership.
When you're in person, you can lead a lot in very visible ways -- like you said, your body language counts for a LOT. If you sit down with earphones in and work, you're sending a signal to the team that it's quiet work time. If you're friendly, people vibe off that. If you're talking loudly vs quietly, people take cues from you. Etc etc etc.
That is 100% lost in remote -- all of your leadership traits that require body language are lost. In that way, remote leadership is "invisible" leadership.
Some people are naturally attuned to invisible leadership - think: the people who are hilarious on Twitter but ultra shy in person. The digital divide actually helps them open up more, which is awesome. But if you're used to working in an office and using body language / visible leadership, then it can be difficult to transition and you might feel that things aren't working, you can't foster the same depth of relationship, etc.
If you're the visible leadership type and want to thrive in remote settings, you have to think about ways to create visibility using digital structures. It's not the same as finding the "Remote equivalent" (like using zoom instead of meetings), though that's one element of it.
Specifically, it's things like:
- Transitioning as much of your communication to public channels as possible - so you aren't out of sight, out of mind
- Consciously spending time encouraging / congratulating / offering thoughts in digital conversations that have nothing to do with you or your work - you "show up" more, just as you would in random office chats
- In 1:1s, make sure the agenda is set ahead of time so your entire conversation can be, well, a conversation. Try to remove as much admin as possible so you can use those precious moments for relationship building.
I hope that helps / is a decent start. Like I said, Thursday goes a bit more in-depth on this and I have plans to go way more in depth on this topic in the future, just not sure 100% when :)
Very insightful... I love the way this is framed. I’ve been reflecting on the type of leader and teammate I am (this would apply for teammates too). Thanks for this. I’m familiar with Soapbox HQ. Looking forward to the next podcast.