We have teams distributed across the country and our meetings have never been as useful as when they've been online. Bringing everyone together cost way too much, having everyone live in Ottawa disadvantaged the rest of the country, and old-style group videoconferences were exercises in agony where there was a central group that actually met and distributed groups that listened on mute and read their email. In Zoom or (less ideally) MS Teams, everyone is equal, everyone can contribute, and just like in real life, if you're not engaged it kinda shows. All this is by way of introducing this article by Lisa Nielsen, who argues for some other ways virtual work can be just as good (or better). Like having your own office at home (and avoiding the commute). Like working with collaborative whiteboards or co-authoring shared documents. Like 'dropping by' with a quick message on Slack. And - of course - good riddance to dirty washrooms and cafeteria equipment and sharing whatever disease your co-workers' kinds had this week. I won't miss that at all.
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