Recommended Reading

REMOTE LEADERSHIP AND WORK

In addition to my book The Quick Guide to Interaction Styles and Working Remotely here are several other very good resources on the topic of remote work.

COMMUNICATING ACROSS CULTURES

by Don W. Prince and Michael H. Hoppe
Center for Creative Leadership, 2000

This book focuses on the challenges of working with people of different cultures.

Key topics include:

  • When Being Yourself Isn't Enough
  • Anticipate and Adapt to Cultural Differences
  • Listen and Watch for Cultural Differences
  • Speaking and Writing Across Cultures
  • What's in a Name
  • Using Humor Appropriately
  • Communicate Respect for Other Cultures
  • Expanding Horizons

 

DEVELOPING CULTURAL ADAPTABILITY

by Jennifer J. Deal and Don W. Prince
Center for Creative Leadership, 2003

This book focuses on the challenges of working with people of different cultures.

Key topics include:

  • What is Cultural Adaptability?
  • Why is Cultural Adaptability Important?
  • Developing Your Cultural Adaptability
  • Cultural Adaptability at Work

 

LEADING DISPERSED TEAMS

by Michael E. Kossler and Sonya Prestridge
Center for Creative Leadership, 2004

This book focuses on the challenges of leading teams who aren't co-located.

Key topics include:

  • What is a Dispersed Team?
  • Act Global, Think Local
  • Launching a Dispersed Team
  • Leading a Dispersed Team
  • Dispersed Teams: Leadership Challenges for an Interconnected World

 

THE WORK AT HOME BALANCING ACT

by Sandy Anderson
Quill, 1998

This book focuses on the challenges of working at home.
Key topics include:

  • Is home-based work right for me? (Sizing up yourself and your situation)
  • Managing children and the household load
  • Establishing rules, boundaries and schedules
  • Dealing with isolation, motivation and stress
  • Organizing your time and work space
  • Making the transition to a work-at-home lifestyle

 

MASTERING VIRTUAL TEAMS

by Deborah L. Duarte and Nancy Tennant Snyder
Jossey-Bass, 2001

The focus of this book is virtual teams.
Key topics include:

  • Understanding virtual teams
  • Creating virtual teams
  • Mastering virtual teams

A CD with useful checklists is included.

 

THE DISTANCE MANAGER

by Kimball Fisher and Mareen Duncan Fisher
McGraw Hill, 2001

This book focuses on the challenges of managing people who work in another location. Key topics include:

  • Inspiring and motivating individuals and teams from afar
  • Coaching for peak performance via e-mail, the telephone, and teleconferencing
  • Building a cohesive team comprised of workers in different locations
  • Managing projects from a distance
  • Using the Web to set up effective shared workplaces and files
  • Leading people who don't report to you
  • Keeping work on track and on time

 

WORK NAKED

by Cynthia Froggatt
Jossey-Bass, 2001

This book is particularly useful if you are thinking about having remote workers and/or want to know how to implement a remote worker plan.

The author discusses eight key principles:

  1. Initiative
  2. Trust
  3. Joy
  4. Individuality
  5. Equality
  6. Dialogue
  7. Connectivity
  8. Workplace Options

Multiple references to other resources and web sites are included.

 

WORKING VIRTUALLY

by Trina Hoefling
Stylus Publishing, 2001

This book explains what is needed in a virtual work environment. It answers questions such as:

  • What makes working virtually work?
  • How do we start?
  • How do you develop new leaders in a virtual environment?
  • What skills do virtual managers and team members need?
  • How do you determine how ready they are?
  • Which technologies are most appropriate for your purposes?
  • What's the impact on existing systems and structures?

 

VIRTUAL LEADERSHIP

by Jaclyn Kostner, Ph.D.
Warner Books, 1994

Written as a fable, this book will help you learn how to:

  • identify and overcome your three worst enemies -- geography, isolation, and history
  • build your leadership power base by accessing the power each person already has
  • establish trust and unite people who don't share a common work space
  • leverage resources across distance
  • use technology as the bridge across your team's physical distances

 

© Copyright 2009, Gerke Consulting & Development L.L.C.