Hello, World! Do you have 8 arms or 8 legs?

🎉 This is the inaugural issue of our weekly newsletter.

Author

Remote Octopus
September 14, 2023

Hello, World!

Effective remote, cross-functional collaboration often feels like it takes 8 arms. Or 8 legs. Or 6 arms and 2 legs – depending on who you ask!

Whether you're building 0-1 or focused on continuous improvement, Remote Octopus is the go-to resource for best practices in remote collaboration. We build tools and processes to help you supercharge the impact of your team.

🎉 This is the inaugural issue of our awesome, weekly newsletter.

Every newsletter will highlight:

⚡ Supercharge of the Week

🚀 Remote Octopus Resource of the Week

🐙 Jobs That Might Require a Remote Octopus

The weekly goal of this newsletter is to supercharge your remote, cross-functional collaboration. Let’s dive in!

⚡ Supercharge of the Week

Ever wrap up a conversation and think – wait, what was I supposed to do again? Figuring out and documenting action items are important steps in any conversation. An action item is exactly as it sounds: an item that needs action. An action item might be big [like writing a project plan] or small [like sending someone a Slack]. Your conversation might have one action item – or many.

A successful action item includes: who is responsible, by when, and the specific details of the task. It is succinct and clear.

Example in Action ➡️ Felix: By EOW, share draft project plan with Engineering via Slack.

4️⃣ Strategies to Figure Out Your Action Items:

  • LISTEN for someone discussing something that they – or someone else – will complete. This might also sound like someone asking for something specific to be completed.

    • If you hear: “I need to email Carrie with the draft agenda later this week.”

    • Then that might become ➡️ Claire: By EOW, email Carrie draft agenda.

  • SYNTHESIZE a discussion or update. In this case, you’re actively listening to a speaker or conversation between multiple speakers then pausing to synthesize the discussion and get clarity on action items.

    • You might say: “This conversation is really resonating. Rishi, it sounds like we should coordinate with Legal, what might our next steps be?”

  • CLARIFY what you are hearing and gather additional details. People might be discussing a task or action item – but they might not be mentioning a timeline or who on the team is responsible. Information is missing.

    • You might say: “It sounds like we need to finalize the budget soon. I’m wondering if we have a target date or know who might be responsible?”

  • ASK a question about what the action item might be. Saving the easiest for last!

    • You might say: “What’s our action item from this discussion?”

🚀 Remote Octopus Resource of the Week

You spend a lot of time every week in meetings – whether it’s 18 hours or 32.9 hours, it feels like too much.

So many of these meetings feel unnecessary or unproductive.

Maybe you’ve even tried canceling recurring meetings or standing the entire time, but your conversations are still feeling unproductive.

Try supercharging your cross-functional conversations with a quick agenda template.

Want to explore additional Remote Octopus resources? Check them out here. 💰 To celebrate our first newsletter, all resources are $1 for today only!

🐙 Jobs That Might Require a Remote Octopus

Note: These jobs are not sponsored and are all currently listed as US remote. If you’d like a job featured [for free!] in a future Remote Octopus newsletter, email: [email protected]

📬 Can’t get enough Remote Octopus? Read our future newsletters here.

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📚️ Read the Remote Octopus Disclaimer.