Hi, my name is Michael Siino, and I am a member of the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute cohort 10 at Miami University.
In order to further understand the ways that our cohort will navigate the drastically evolving workplace by “Reimagining Collaboration,” I took the time to read “Office Optional: How to Build a Connected Culture with Virtual Teams” by Larry English.
English is the co-founder of Centric Consulting: a one hundred percent remote management consulting firm. With over 1200 employees across both the US and India, English has learned how to develop his firm’s culture in a workplace with minimal face to face interaction among employees, and shares these techniques in “Office Optional.” He describes the necessary components of a successful remote organization, with a large focus on the implementation of collaborative tools, and the building of trust between coworkers and leadership within an organization.
The first major topic covered in Office Optional is how to develop and display trust in employees who work remotely, as a foundation of trust is necessary when developing a company culture. A common misconception that English points out is the belief that remote employees are less productive than their physical, in office counterparts. However, the reality of the situation is that remote workers tend to work too much due to the challenge of separating work life and personal life when working in a remote setting. To address this, English explains how the structure of a work day for remote employees should not just mimic that of a traditional employee in an office setting. Within his own company, he instead minimizes any concrete rules for remote workers, and encourages employees to take breaks as needed, and gives them the autonomy to do so as they wish. This mentality shows a shift from a traditional workday setting to a culture that is designed for remote employees.
After establishing the importance of trust in a remote setting, English moves on to the methods necessary to then build a sense of community among employees who do not all work in the same setting and rarely see each other in person. English gives an example of this within Centric Consulting, where company culture began to dwindle as they scaled up in size. Due to this, it’s imperative that leadership takes the initiative to build a company culture as soon as possible, with examples of this being culture development programs for new employees. Additionally, the lack of a physical work space removes a majority of regular human interaction among coworkers, making the building of strong interpersonal relationships exceedingly difficult without any initiative from leadership. English emphasizes the value of these relationships, which have been proven to increase productivity even in remote environments, and recommends organizing meetings to have more time scheduled than necessary, so that the remaining time can be spent socializing among coworkers, providing an avenue for human interaction that is otherwise lost in remote environments.
Lastly, in order to facilitate the building of strong relationships among coworkers, English illustrates the importance of high quality collaborative tools. The lack of the necessary collaborative tools can make interpersonal interactions feel like a chore, killing company culture instead of building it; By providing your organization with a suite of collaborative tools, the social disparities between in person and remote work will be minimized, allowing for the creation of a remote company culture that is just as strong as a traditional workplace setting.
I am from Summit, New Jersey, a medium sized suburb about 45 minutes outside of New York City. My lifelong interests in math and science naturally made me wish to pursue engineering ever since middle school. I chose to major in mechanical engineering due to its hands on, team-based structure.
While the courses I take here at Miami are fantastic at developing technical and problem-solving skills, engineering is about more than just crunching numbers. It is also about generating new ideas, thinking outside the box, and knowing how to be a member of a team. This is why I joined the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute. Through the institute I get the opportunity to learn more about myself and others while also developing important professional skills to prepare me for the workforce.
Outside of the Leadership Institute I am also a member of Miami’s club ultimate frisbee team The Miami Boogiemen, where we regularly travel to compete in tournaments against other universities.