,Contents
Introduction
Part 1 You as a Remote Teammate
Chapter 1 The 3P Model for Remote-Work Success
Chapter 2 Getting Your Mindset Right
Chapter 3 Getting and Staying Motivated When You Work Alone
Chapter 4 Getting (the Right) Stuff Done
Chapter 5 The Power of Establishing Routines
Part 2 Skills to Help You Succeed
Chapter 6 Getting Clear Expectations for Your Work
Chapter 7 Creating Great Remote Communication
Chapter 8 Creating Ethical Visibility
Chapter 9 Building and Maintaining Relationships
Chapter 10 Building and Maintaining Trust
Chapter 11 Giving and Receiving Feedback
Chapter 12 How to Work with Others Remotely
Chapter 13 Participating in Meetings
Part 3 You and Your Future
Chapter 14 Taking Care of Yourself
Chapter 15 Planning Your Career Path
Chapter 16 Managing Your Learning and Growth
Part 4 If You Lead Others
Chapter 17 Leading Great Remote Teammates
, Final Thoughts
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Authors
About Our Services
More Than Leading at a Distance
Introduction
The trend toward remote work is undeniable and is happening in more and more types of jobs.
Whether you are new to remote work, or are an old hand, odds are you’ve picked up this book for
one of these reasons:
■You plan to start or are thinking about working remotely and want to succeed.
■You work remotely and want to be as successful as you can be (and perhaps know you have room
for improvement).
■Your organization is moving your role to work from home or away from the office.
■You are a contract or gig worker but want to be more valuable—and get more contracts and gigs.
■You lead (or will be leading) remote team members and as a part of the team want to help them
succeed (you are a part of that team—and probably another remote team too).
Whichever of these groups you find yourself in, you’re in the right place. In writing this book,
we have been thinking about each of you and plan to give you practical, principle-based solutions
to the challenges you face, or will face, as a part of a long-distance, virtual, or remote team.
The World Has Changed
This book was conceived and mostly written before anyone had heard of coronavirus or could
fathom what would happen to the workplace and the way we work in the blink of an eye. The trend
toward more remote work had been building for years, but in a moment, nearly anyone who might
, be able to work from home was doing it. The experiences the world has faced prove many of our
points and make them more real and important.
A key idea for this book is now real for most of us—there is a big difference between working
from home and feeling like and being an effective member of a remote team. This isn’t a book
about working from home. It is a book about being a great teammate while working at a distance
from those you must collaborate with.
Even after the initial COVID-19 response, you’re likely facing new ways of working. Even if
you return to the office, it may be only part time, or the person at the next desk who has been there
for ages may not be there some or most of the time. Being a teammate will look very different than
it did not too long ago and will continue to evolve. If everyone on the team isn’t face-to-face every
day, this book is for all of you.
About Us—Your Guides on This Journey
We come to the table with real-life experience. Wayne has worked as part of a remote team, and
often from home, for most of his business career. Originally, he was in an office far from his
teammates. Now he works for The Kevin Eikenberry Group primarily from a home office,
thousands of miles, and a couple of time zones, from his geographically nearest teammate. Kevin
has been helping leaders grow and change and adapt to the needs of their organizations and teams
for nearly thirty years—most of those as the leader of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He too is a
member of a remote team and leads this team every day. Together we formed the Remote
Leadership Institute and wrote the book you might consider the precursor to this one—The Long-
Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership.
We live what we write about. We approach this book as thought leaders, because we have
thought deeply about the challenges and opportunities in this book. Also consider us results
leaders—pointing you to practical ways to be more successful and get better results every day.
While we and our team are far from perfect, we’ve learned what works and we are doing
everything we can to achieve what we believe you can achieve too.
Who This Book Is For
The ideas that follow will do more than relieve the stress and frustrations that come from remote
working arrangements and help you and your team succeed at levels you haven’t perhaps
considered or thought possible.
Working remotely isn’t just a new normal—something we must learn to live with—it is an
opportunity to work in ways that provide great operational and productivity results for the
organization, as well as provide individual teammates with the opportunity to be a part of great
results while finding great meaning for themselves too.
Being a Long-Distance Teammate covers a variety of situations. It could mean being part of a
team that will never meet face-to-face, or of a team that sees each other a few times a year. It
includes what we call the hybrid team, where some work in the same location, and others work
Introduction
Part 1 You as a Remote Teammate
Chapter 1 The 3P Model for Remote-Work Success
Chapter 2 Getting Your Mindset Right
Chapter 3 Getting and Staying Motivated When You Work Alone
Chapter 4 Getting (the Right) Stuff Done
Chapter 5 The Power of Establishing Routines
Part 2 Skills to Help You Succeed
Chapter 6 Getting Clear Expectations for Your Work
Chapter 7 Creating Great Remote Communication
Chapter 8 Creating Ethical Visibility
Chapter 9 Building and Maintaining Relationships
Chapter 10 Building and Maintaining Trust
Chapter 11 Giving and Receiving Feedback
Chapter 12 How to Work with Others Remotely
Chapter 13 Participating in Meetings
Part 3 You and Your Future
Chapter 14 Taking Care of Yourself
Chapter 15 Planning Your Career Path
Chapter 16 Managing Your Learning and Growth
Part 4 If You Lead Others
Chapter 17 Leading Great Remote Teammates
, Final Thoughts
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Authors
About Our Services
More Than Leading at a Distance
Introduction
The trend toward remote work is undeniable and is happening in more and more types of jobs.
Whether you are new to remote work, or are an old hand, odds are you’ve picked up this book for
one of these reasons:
■You plan to start or are thinking about working remotely and want to succeed.
■You work remotely and want to be as successful as you can be (and perhaps know you have room
for improvement).
■Your organization is moving your role to work from home or away from the office.
■You are a contract or gig worker but want to be more valuable—and get more contracts and gigs.
■You lead (or will be leading) remote team members and as a part of the team want to help them
succeed (you are a part of that team—and probably another remote team too).
Whichever of these groups you find yourself in, you’re in the right place. In writing this book,
we have been thinking about each of you and plan to give you practical, principle-based solutions
to the challenges you face, or will face, as a part of a long-distance, virtual, or remote team.
The World Has Changed
This book was conceived and mostly written before anyone had heard of coronavirus or could
fathom what would happen to the workplace and the way we work in the blink of an eye. The trend
toward more remote work had been building for years, but in a moment, nearly anyone who might
, be able to work from home was doing it. The experiences the world has faced prove many of our
points and make them more real and important.
A key idea for this book is now real for most of us—there is a big difference between working
from home and feeling like and being an effective member of a remote team. This isn’t a book
about working from home. It is a book about being a great teammate while working at a distance
from those you must collaborate with.
Even after the initial COVID-19 response, you’re likely facing new ways of working. Even if
you return to the office, it may be only part time, or the person at the next desk who has been there
for ages may not be there some or most of the time. Being a teammate will look very different than
it did not too long ago and will continue to evolve. If everyone on the team isn’t face-to-face every
day, this book is for all of you.
About Us—Your Guides on This Journey
We come to the table with real-life experience. Wayne has worked as part of a remote team, and
often from home, for most of his business career. Originally, he was in an office far from his
teammates. Now he works for The Kevin Eikenberry Group primarily from a home office,
thousands of miles, and a couple of time zones, from his geographically nearest teammate. Kevin
has been helping leaders grow and change and adapt to the needs of their organizations and teams
for nearly thirty years—most of those as the leader of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He too is a
member of a remote team and leads this team every day. Together we formed the Remote
Leadership Institute and wrote the book you might consider the precursor to this one—The Long-
Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership.
We live what we write about. We approach this book as thought leaders, because we have
thought deeply about the challenges and opportunities in this book. Also consider us results
leaders—pointing you to practical ways to be more successful and get better results every day.
While we and our team are far from perfect, we’ve learned what works and we are doing
everything we can to achieve what we believe you can achieve too.
Who This Book Is For
The ideas that follow will do more than relieve the stress and frustrations that come from remote
working arrangements and help you and your team succeed at levels you haven’t perhaps
considered or thought possible.
Working remotely isn’t just a new normal—something we must learn to live with—it is an
opportunity to work in ways that provide great operational and productivity results for the
organization, as well as provide individual teammates with the opportunity to be a part of great
results while finding great meaning for themselves too.
Being a Long-Distance Teammate covers a variety of situations. It could mean being part of a
team that will never meet face-to-face, or of a team that sees each other a few times a year. It
includes what we call the hybrid team, where some work in the same location, and others work
