Happy Valentine’s Day! Talking about work isn’t particularly romantic but hey, this weekly writing train needs to keep chugging along and work was on my mind today.
When I’m leading a remote team, my favorite design tool to keep everyone on the same page isn’t a design tool at all - it’s recorded video apps like Loom.
That’s because the best design work comes from the best insights and you can’t really have that without a certain inneffable human touch of collaboration, but the trick is to do that without resorting to a meeting-heavy culture that drowns out periods of productive focus.
Like a lot of creative work, the best design work comes from bouncing between two very different modes:
- An extremely solitary focus on craftsmanship.
- Feedback from colleagues and users.
(Meastro - the difference between being a composer and conductor. Introvert vs Extravert modes…)
On paper, designing on a remote team has some huge inherent advantages compared to being in a traditional office. You can get your work setup dialed in exactly how you like it, almost like a writer’s cabin or artist’s getaway. All it takes to unplug from all of the chatter is to close some apps and boom, you’ve teleported into your own personal cabin in the woods. Forget the Vision Pro’s immersive mode - for years now it’s been noise-canceling headphones that have been the real godsend for creating your own personal cone of silence.
Leafblowers, garbage trucks, barking dogs… all gone.
At it’s best, that’s exactly how it feels.
The reality for many people is that their work day consists of endless Zoom calls to discuss the work rather than focused periods of actually doing the work. Add in the always-on nature of Slack notifications on a mobile device and it’s a one-way ticket to FrazzleTown.
Something about the Australian “right to unplug” law.
My home office is dialed in just how I like it - the right temp for me, comfy dog beds for my napping little guys - every
You can bounce between the extremes of solitary focus and group collaboration. Need to drown everyone out
unplug from all of the chatter,
Don’t just rely on the usual tools! We want to hear the human touch behind the work.
Recorded video strikes a nice balance. Live video calls get across the nuance but can be a time sink for everyone, whereas text communication fits into the schedule better but takes time to write up while also losing the nuance.
Some tips:
- Keep it under 1-2 minutes.
- Get across just a few bullet points.
- Be clear about what you need. Is it to show progress and explain what’s left? Are you stuck and need fresh ideas? State it up front and again at the end as a bookend.
Most importantly, keep it casual and be comfortable shooting just 1 or 2 takes. Don’t take hours - it’s not a formal presentation.