On Saturday, October 19, 2024, the online event “Remote Work: Transforming the Future with WordPress took place.” An initiative of Luis Miguel Climent, WordPress Open Source contributor and organizer of the WordPress MeetUp in Denia. I had the opportunity to participate as an organizer along with Nilo Vélez, Gustavo Galati, and Raúl Muñoz. His idea was very clear from the beginning; he wanted an event that was easy to organize, had little economic cost, and was sponsored by people instead of big companies. In addition, he emphasized a particular request for the speakers: “more theater and less PowerPoint.” By this, he meant adopting a more innovative approach to the talks, avoiding basing the entire speech on slides. Most of the speakers managed to bring out their creative side.
It was organized in the format of the so-called “next generation WordPress events” and designed to be innovative and move away from the typical WordCamps and MeetUps events. The event was financed with the participation of twenty micro-sponsors who donated five euros. The 100 euros raised were used to pay for the ZOOM system to complete the online meetup. The rest of the tickets were free of charge. The agenda was developed in Spanish time (GMT+2) but facilitated the participation of the Latin American community.
The chosen topic is very topical because remote work is a reality. Its advantages are obvious. It offers greater flexibility for professionals, cost savings and a positive environmental impact. However, it also brings significant challenges for individuals and organizations. During the COVID pandemic, it began to grow visibly. It is going through a slowdown and is reserved for some verticals and companies, sometimes combined with a partial onsite regime. Fortunately, many WordPress professionals continue to telecommute.
The talks were organized into three categories of influence in the life of a teleworker: tools, spaces, and people.
The category of Tools started with Mariano Perez Caro’s talk, who showed how to organize the workflow within the WordPress website itself by adding plugins like WPcal.io, a calendar manager for meetings, WPProjectManager for projects, GatherPress also for meetings, similar to the MeetUp plugin according to Mariano. Finally, he showed a management panel from which several plugins adapted to the project’s needs are centralized.
With the talk “Six remote communication mistakes that I do not recommend (and one that I do),” Juan Hernando complemented the previous tips. He talked about how to improve remote communication. When communicating by text, non-verbal communication is lost, making it more difficult to understand, thus creating anxieties and tensions. His intervention began theatrically, representing how it could be the beginning of the day of a teleworker who arrived in front of his computer half asleep and forgetting the first meeting with his colleagues. Here are the seven mistakes he does not recommend and one that he does (he mentions seven mistakes, although, in the title, he says six):
Mistake #1. “Not using the tools in the same way. Define whether the communication will be synchronous or asynchronous and communicate it with your interlocutors”. In other words, clarify whether you will respond immediately when they write to you.
Mistake #2. “Not making your availability clear. When will you be available? Explain when they will be able to contact you.
Mistake #3. “Assuming that people heard your message the first time you said it and not repeating important messages.”
Mistake #4. “The context of the communication cannot be only in your head.” The receiver may be living in a complicated situation.
Mistake #5. “If everything is URGENT, then nothing is urgent. Manage the fires calmly”.
Mistake #6. “Don’t react to other people’s messages. Don’t let them know they’ve been read – or thank them!” This is a classic.
Mistake #7. “Being a robot when writing, being perfect, not showing emotions, being only efficient.”
And finally, the recommended mistake: “BE YOURSELF.” This works best – he says – when people have met beforehand. Many remote-run companies organize face-to-face meetings to promote bonding between colleagues. “Personal connections are fundamental,” comments Juan Hernando.
This category ended with Rocío Valdivia also talking about communication. Specifically, she spoke about how to improve remote meetings and the importance of making them efficient. Her talk began by identifying three negative tendencies in their development: deviating from the main topic, focusing on irrelevant details and little participation. However, they are an important part of the work process; the key lies in defining their purpose and post-meeting actions. Moreover, they promote camaraderie in an environment where communication is primarily text-based. From his vast experience, he recommends following these steps to conduct our meetings:
-Assessing the need for the meeting
-Planning the meeting
-Defining the objectives
-Convening and logistics
-Opening the meeting
-Facilitation
-Closing the meeting
-Follow-up
-Review of objectives
-Planning and avoiding unnecessary meetings
The following category was “Spaces,” where the speakers talked about the physical space from where they telework.
Diana Martín told us about her day-to-day life as a visual artist in Mexico with the talk “Balance between Ink and Blocks: Balancing Professional and Personal Life from a Small Apartment. She enjoys her freelance life, which she shares with her partner. For Diana, once you embrace this lifestyle, abandoning it is difficult, and that mindset stays with you forever.
Next, José Ramón Bernabéu, with the talk “Working remotely allows me to cook for my family daily.” He recommends working from home because it saves you time and money, especially if you live far from the city; in his case, he is located in the interior of Galicia. He mentioned some difficulties of teleworking: loneliness, isolation, and a lot of time at home. He pointed out that his biggest challenge is to make those around him understand that, despite being present, he is not available.
This session closed with Ohia, a digital nomad who works anywhere in the world. Her backpack is her companion object. Her video was emotional, and she left nice words for the WordPress community in Spain when she said: “I fell in love once again, but this time with a Community.”
Two surveys were launched in connection with the Spaces to learn more about the event’s audience.
Survey 1: What is your favorite place to work? At Home 62%, Co-working 10%, Away from Home 10% and Traveling 18%. In the comments, they mentioned how much they liked to combine all the options to enjoy the freedom of telecommuting.
Survey 2: What clothes do you wear when you work from home? Pajamas 13%, As if going to the office 13%, Waist up (camera) 10% and Comfortable clothes 65%. In the comments, someone mentioned working “very lightly dressed,” depending on the weather.
The last category was “People,” a session of testimonials and recommendations.
It began with the video by Sofía Ruiz and Álvaro Torres entitled, “Tips from a ‘despistáo’ and an ‘organizá’ in their day to day”. It is a funny video based on real events, where an “organized person” deals with a “disorganized person” during the workday. Completely silent, in black and white, and with only text to tell the story. Explore what working remotely can feel like: silence, texts, and sometimes disorganization.
Next, WordPress and Remote Adventures: I make the coffee; you make the magic! by Lua Salazar and Alex Cuadra. In a very positive and constructive tone, they gave us tips for organizing work while working as a couple.
The last talk was, “Health and happiness when working remotely” with Sammy Arburola, Lidia Arroyo, and Giancarlos Villalobos, who made a complete tour of the advantages and disadvantages of teleworking and how to cope with them.
Another highlight of the day was the question and answer session with the speakers at the end of each category, during which the topics addressed were discussed in depth and debated.
Also noteworthy was the networking, held in ZOOM’s break-out rooms. Participants were randomly distributed in different virtual rooms where they had five minutes to introduce themselves, like speed dating, and then they changed rooms. The result was dynamic and fun, facilitating exchange and cohesion among participants.
“Remote Work: Transforming the Future with WordPress” fulfilled its goal of creating an event without relying on large resources, highlighting the collaboration between people and simplicity as the main axes. One of the biggest challenges was the promotion since not having the WordCamp brand was more complex in attracting participants. In this case, 170 tickets were distributed, and the flow of permanent live attendees was about 50 people. Of course, there was the typical family photo where everyone smiled to save the souvenir for the future.
In conclusion, it was an informative, entertaining, sometimes emotional, and socializing day. Thanks to all the organizers, micro sponsors, speakers, volunteers, and attendees for making it possible. I look forward to the next meeting, where we will continue talking about remote work, perhaps in person, because this topic gives a lot.
Fuente: Juan Hernando. Seis errores de comunicación remota que no recomiendo (y uno que sí) https://wordpress.tv/2024/10/20/seis-errores-en-la-comunicacion-remota-que-no-recomiendo-y-uno-que-si/
Talks at wordresstv.com
