First and last is just fine when you're renting an apartment, but not when you are a company's first full-time workshifter. Someone has to be first, of course. You just don't want to mess things up so badly that you are also the company's last full-time remote employee.

I know the thrill of being first. It's exhilarating. It's liberating. It's what I'd been dreaming of for years. In the interest of full disclosure, I wasn't completely green at workshifting. I won't speak for all writers, but I've always had the ability to work (and sleep, incidentally) anywhere. I'd enjoyed project-based freelance writing gigs for years. Full-time workshifting was a first for me though. And a first for my company.

It just so happened that the year I relocated 2,000 miles across the country to embark on a new journey, the country was celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The parallels between the famous expedition and my own lesser known one were not lost on me. I felt like an explorer for my company--breaking out of the traditional office to see what was beyond the four walls I'd painted industrial green to encourage productivity.

Being first also made me nervous because I knew the task ahead of me was more than just doing my job remotely. I was setting out to prove that workshifting full-time could actually be done and that it could be beneficial for both me and my company. The journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition document important discoveries made along the way. Similarly, I knew that decision-makers at my company were documenting discoveries made during my workshifting journey. If I failed, it meant that colleagues would likely not be able to workshift full-time in the future. It was an enormous responsibility, and I took it very seriously.

Here are a few lessons that stood out for me during my transition to full-time workshifting:

Stay calm during emergencies. I lose composure and my grasp on reality when I encounter a technical problem. Out of necessity, I've learned a few basic troubleshooting tricks over the years. But that doesn't prevent the immediate rise in blood pressure, creative strings of profanity and general mayhem that ensues when a glitch arises. This was especially true in my first few months 2,000 miles away from IT. As a workshifter, I learned how to take a deep breath, communicate problems better and recognize that the world was not ending. The use of remote-support technology helped me to let go and let IT do what it does best.

Get out of the house. Occasional workshifters might think that full-time workshifters experience that I'm-not-in-my-office-and-yet-I'm-working euphoria every single day. The novelty wears off after a while. And that's perfectly fine. Full-time workshifting means that day in and day out, workshifters workshift. I set up shop in my home office and became freakishly uptight about noise volume inside the house and also on the street. On more than one occasion, I hissed in my sleep: "SHHHH! I'm WORKING!" And with no official end-of-day departure after work, the lines of time blurred. A day of not leaving the house turned into a string of three days inside the house. Upon realizing this, I promptly left the house with no destination in mind except out.

Play by the rules. Being my company's first full-time workshifter made me feel like the official steward for all things workshifting. I was devoted to ensuring the stage was set properly for future workshifters. Soon after I went remote full-time, a few other employees were granted similar privileges. One colleague in particular drew my ire because she showed a complete disregard for the critical relationship between workshifter and HQ. She was difficult to track down during business hours, missed remote meetings, turned projects in late and was, generally speaking, a complete flake. Her unprofessional behavior wasn't just affecting her reputation at the company--it threatened to reflect poorly on her small tribe of fellow workshifters.

Deal with the 24/7 expectation. Truth be told, I was available 24/7, but that's not the point. It's just the way I'm wired. Inspiration strikes writers at unpredictable times. I was used to scribbling ideas at 3:25 AM in a bedside notebook. I had no qualms about working on the weekend. I longed for work while on vacation. But workshifting full-time wasn't about me as much as it was about nurturing a balanced relationship between me and my company. Every healthy relationship has boundaries. I had to guard my personal time carefully. I made sure colleagues knew my hours of availability and every possible way to contact me. I promptly answered email, IM and phone calls. To offset a two-hour time difference, I adjusted my workday to cover HQ's business hours.

Grieve a little. Even though I was already comfortable working alone, I missed my coworkers who were now 2,000 miles away. I also pined for the seaweedy smell of the air and dangerously close mountain views back at HQ. At first, it was hard to be so far away from everything I was used to seeing on a daily basis. (And to be honest, I shed a few tears on the company's dime.) I worked with some truly talented, fun folks who were also my friends. Not bumping into them in the kitchen, grabbing a quick lunch or staring at them across a conference table made for a difficult transition. The upside is that I also no longer saw the one or two folks who I considered, ahem, a tad challenging. Sure, I still worked with them, but I no longer had to endure the awkward chitchat in the HQ hallway.

Create a new routine. Within a few weeks, I found my rhythm. I worked through the separation anxiety. I adapted to my new surroundings. But most important, I was patient with myself and also my colleagues back at the office. We all came to the table (figuratively, of course) with a unique set of experiences and expectations about the working life. I wasn't the only one learning new ways of working--everyone back at the office was exploring new ways of interacting, collaborating and working with me, a full-time workshifter.

These days, occasional workshifting is commonplace and full-time workshifting is gaining ground quickly. Fewer people stare blankly at me when I explain what it is that I do and how I do it. We've all seen the IDC predictions about the mobile workforce. In case you haven't, here it is: "The world's mobile worker population will pass the one billion mark this year and grow to nearly 1.2 billion people - more than a third of the world's workforce - by 2013." (IDC) That's a whole lot of workshifters workshifting. I'd like to think I had some influence over the numbers, thanks to my efforts in setting the stage as the first full-time workshifter at my company, but that's just silly. The way we work has shifted. And I, for one, couldn't be happier to take part.


Photo Credit: Bob Travis

Today's post is from Shabana Siyed, who is a part of the global marketing team at Citrix Online.  On a daily basis, she interacts with workshifters from all over the world with the mission to educate and inform others on the benefits of remote-access technology.

So a few weeks ago, I attended my first HDI conference in Florida representing Citrix Online's GoToAssist. Of course, that meant that I would have the opportunity to workshift and make a pit stop in Alabama...

Why Alabama? Well that is where my family lives, and what better way to break up the trip than to say hello to mom and dad. At least that is what I thought, but once Monday rolled around and the jet lag wore off, I found myself lost in a world of work, unaware of my family surroundings.  Sure I was physically in Alabama, but consciously I could have still been in California at my desk. That's the wonder of remote-access technology.

It didn't hit me, however, until my mom (who was just downstairs!) called my cell phone - she forgot I was there (or was trying to make a point)!  That was when I stepped away from my computer and checked my surroundings. There I was in Alabama and, impossible to believe, I was ignoring the sweet Indian spices of my mom's traditional home cooking: biryani, chicken curry, dosa, saag paneer... She was whipping up all my favorites and I had been crazily taking all this for granted, especially since I make it home maybe once a year and rarely cook Indian food, and when I do, it is definitely not like mom's. What was I thinking?

Initially, I thought I would save a few vacation days by working remotely, but in that moment I realized that vacation days are there for this reason - to spend time with those you love. So, I logged off GoToMyPC and requested a vacation day to spend time at the movies with my mom, cook food with my dad, and go shopping with my little sister from Auburn University (Go Tigers!).

My short Alabama break before the conference made me realize that we all live in a technology-driven world, and we are very lucky that we can work from anywhere in the world, but the downside is that we can sometimes forget that we need to log off and step outside the "cubical box."  In the end, the little moments that we sometimes take for granted are all that we need to make something memorable - like my mom's traditional Indian food in Alabama mixed with a little Bollywood action (random, I know!).

Photo Credit: Roboppy

Ah the holidays. Time for family, for food and giving and a few days off to relax, unwind and send people to your out-of-office auto replies. It's also a time when many people travel and have to adjust to a changing schedule for workshifting, fitness and eating.

My Christmas weekend was no different. Over in Daytona with my wife's family we enjoyed an amazing Florida holiday weekend filled with fun, family and food. Over the last two months I have been working hard to work out, fighting to get back into shape (that seems to have escaped me after those high school baseball days) so that I can stay healthy working long days on a laptop. With a new sleep pattern, a full house and some rain, it made working out a little more difficult. Luckily I had a built in personal trainer on site.

My brother in law, Barry Heyden, is the former strength coach for the NY Mets and came well prepared to keep me on my holiday schedule. During the 4 days I had the opportunity to learn to use things that are available and also time allotments to get the most of my workouts. No one wants to spend 45 minutes to an hour on vacation getting sweaty by themselves and no one wants to carry a portable gym on an airplane (plus I'm sure TSA wouldn't be too happy about that!). Barry had the solution that I am going to share with you today that really any traveler can use to get the most of their traveling adventures and still feel like they are in the hometown gym or running a few miles around the neighborhood.

It's All About The Core

The core as in the midsection where all the turkey, pasta and sweets have taken over (though it was so tasty to eat).

When putting together a quick holiday exercise plan the focus was on working the core and building heart rate quickly. We performed a slew of exercises from push-ups with some bicycle kicks in between each rep to leg lifts with the bike kicks. All with a high intensity and short rest time. This got the blood pressure to rise and the lungs to begin to strengthen.

Multitask

The next best suggestion from Barry was to work as many muscles with each exercise as possible. Remember that we are working in a short window of time. Maybe 20 minutes before breakfast, or a quick break in the action in the afternoon. The more you can accomplish with one group of exercises the better.

We started with a squat to shoulder press. No lie, but this was tough. We started with arms in the air with a broom stick. Then we went down to squat, bringing the bar down. Before we attempted to stand up, we raised the bar and then came back into the start position. Doing a set of 15 really whipped us into a quick sweat, working the legs, core and shoulders with one quick minute long exercise.

When you are creating your hotel workout, look for similar activities to work many areas of the body. There are plenty of add-on exercises and motions that can turn single muscle exercises into multiple with a little creativity and thought.

Hydrate With Water

Whether on the road workshifting or having fun on the holidays it is very easy to pick up a cola, beer or loaded fruit juice. Barry said this was a huge mistake that many of the Mets players also had. Keep replenishing yourself with water and your body will cool down and recover faster. Adding sugars will only slow the growth process. Also look for a quick healthy snack after going through a quick training. Carrot sticks or apple slices are easy ones and they can even be picked up at the hotel convenience store or local grocery store.

Above All Else, Shoot For High Intensity

I know as good as anyone how easy it is to relax, throw the feet up and say I'll get back to it when I get home.

Going hard for 20 minutes can be the best thing you do all day as it gets not only your body but your mind stimulated and ready for a rocking day. Whether that be meetings, presenting or giving superior attention to the family. The key here is to have a quick plan of action to keep yourself in a high intensity physical mind frame for 15-20 minutes. The number of reps or sets is irrelevant. Going quickly and with full focus from pushups to lunges to laptop curls will ensure that you keep yourself in a ready and mobile state. Above all else it will allow you to survive the equivalent of the freshman 15.

What are your holiday and hotel workshifting fitness tips? I'd love to hear what gets you going on the road (even if it's just to get away from the crazy in-laws for a few minutes!).

Photos by: ex.libris & Playtime Fitness

I don't spend my day thinking about sleep.  My mind is consumed with work, life, and everything in between.  However, I notice a material difference in my performance depending on the number of hours of sleep I get.
 
7 - 8:  Rock star
6 - 7:  Feeling good
5 - 6:  Is a cold coming on?
4 - 5:  I'm irritable and no amount of coffee can help
3 - 4:  New born sleep (for those that know what I'm talking about..it's bad)
 
I work so hard at being "on" and I need to work just as hard at being "off".  I find that if I'm active right up until I go to bed that I have a really hard time turning my brain off.  I'm in bed, and I can't fall asleep...it sucks!
 
If I take some time to read a few pages of a magazine or book, it really helps.  Also, if I'm worried about something I write it down.  There is something about writing things down that makes them seem not so overwhelming.  It also serves as a reminder to deal with it in the morning.
 
If all else fails, you pop a pill, but I find that to be a very short term fix.  It only solves the symptom and not the problem.  Figure out what's keeping you up, and solve it.  Easier said than done, but with a little effort, I find that I can get the "feeling good" sleep most of the time.
 
Both WebMD and Harvard have published articles with tips on how to sleep better, and I encourage you to read them, but I'm really curious about what your healthy sleeping tips are?

Photo by: just.Luc

Does the ability to connect with work anywhere and anytime actually improve our work-life balance? That's the question Kelly Services posed in a recent international workplace survey of 100,000 people in 34 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The study concluded that:

• 75% of respondents appreciate the opportunity provided by technology to stay in constant contact with work.
  
  
• This is despite the fact that 35% say that technology contributes to longer working hours.
  
  
• 85% say the ability to work anywhere, and at any time, is a motivating force and a better balance between work and personal life.
  

I am not overly surprised with these results. As Workshifters, we are able to take advantage of many benefits - the most obvious of which is the luxury of being able to use our laptops and smartphones to work (for the most part) wherever we want.

But despite this - or perhaps because of this - employers expect us to be available at all times, possibly even more so than our office warrior counterparts. As a result, there are very few of us who are ever more than an arm's length away from our Blackberries or iPhones.

In spite of this constant connectivity, my first year of workshifting hasn't result in a skewed work/life balance. While I haven't necessarily worked more hours than I did when I worked in an office setting, I have undoubtedly worked harder and A LOT more efficiently than I have ever done so before. There's just something about cutting out all the water cooler gossip and office shenanigans that makes the items on your to-do list get crossed off a lot quicker.
 
So, as personal communications technologies continue to evolve, how will this impact our work/life balance in the future? In his book Elsewhere, USA, sociologist Dalton Conley predicts the rise of the "intravidual." Here's how he explains it:

"Changes in three areas - the economy, the family and technology - have combined to alter the social world and give birth to this new type of American professional. This new breed - the intravidual - has multiple selves competing for attention within his/her own mind, just as, externally, she or he is bombarded by multiple stimuli simultaneously..."

Sound familiar? As professionals, our lives are dictated by multiple data streams and screens - our laptop screen, our TV screen, our smart phone screen, etc. To maintain our work/life balance, it's up to us to make sure that our "real" world doesn't get left behind.
 
What do you think? How has the evolution of personal communications technologies impacted your work/life balance?

Photo by: EngineeringDaily.net

Today Amber Naslund stops by to share her thoughts on developing family balance while being a workshifter.  Amber is the Director of Community at Radian6 which keeps her on the road a lot.  Amber also maintains a blog, Altitude Branding, and can be found hanging out on Twitter.

When you're a workshifter, there's often a perception that you have the ultimate freedom: work from anywhere, control your own schedule, travel to interesting places. Part of that is true, and I'm very grateful for the flexibility that my type of job affords me.

But as other workshifters can attest, it can be demanding, too. Travel isn't always glamorous, and the flexibility that comes with working remotely can also mean that boundaries are hard to set. One of the things that's hardest to balance is family: time with kids, time at home, time for the people that matter most to you.

I'm a single mom of a 2 1/2 year old, a daughter, sister, friend, and pet parent to two dogs and two cats. Finding time for all of that isn't easy, but I've learned a few things along the way.

Have Off Hours

There is no question whatsoever that there have to be times when you're just not on the clock. That also means cutting the remote tethers like the iPhone or the Blackberry that are distractions, even while they're conveniences.

When I'm home, I have hours in the morning and after work where I am not on the clock, because those are the times I have to spend with my daughter. It doesn't mean I can't take a phone call from a friend, but it does mean that my daughter is my first priority. She needs to know without question that she matters more to me than the computer or my phone.

Same goes for making time for family and friends. The weekends can be tempting, uninterrupted time to get loads of work done. But my family and friends live with my crazy schedule all the time, so when I have a weekend home, I make it a point to catch up with folks in person or on the phone, without work getting in the way.

When I travel, I keep "off hours" too, that I can spend recharging, resting, or visiting with people wherever I am. No matter where I am, the work will always be there when I get back to it.

Be Okay with Getting Help

A heavy workshifting schedule often means you can't do it alone, and that's okay. It's not a sign of weakness to ask for help. It means you're aware of your own limits.

For example, my family, my daughter's dad's family, and our regular daycare sitter are enormous and important sources of support that care for her when I can't be there. She's always loved, attended to, and has someone investing time with her (not just keeping half an eye on her). It's critical to me that she never, ever feel like she's an afterthought.

I also have an in-home pet sitter that visits my home and critters several times a day to make sure they're tended to. It's a *huge* relief to me while on the road to know they're cared for in the comfort of their own home. They're family, too. Is it cheap? No. But neither is my sanity.

Tap the people closest to you for support and reassurance, or seek out groups of other parents or professionals that can lend even moral support while you balance priorities. And above all, cut yourself some slack and realize that not everyone is a superhero.

Communicate Often

Little touch-bases really do matter when you don't have the time to connect fully with the people you love. A quick phone call to say hello, or even just a note to say "I'm not there right now, but I'm thinking of you" can go a long way to staying connected to those around you. Perhaps most important is to ASK your friends and family to tell you about what's new in their world. Listening is some of the best attention you can give.

I use phone, email, text message, and even Skype to keep in touch in little snippets. My daughter gets lots of phone calls from the road so she can hear Mommy's voice, and my friends and family get lots of little touch-base moments so they know they're on my mind (and that I'm eternally grateful for their support of my career lifestyle, demanding as it may be).

Demonstrate Your Priorities

How you respond to demands on your time demonstrates a lot to others.

Sometimes that means saying "No" to something that conflicts with other priorities, either professional or personal. Sometimes that means honesty about your bandwidth with the folks asking for your attention; giving them clear timelines about when you CAN respond (even if it's not immediate) can help a lot. Enforcing those off hours can show a great deal, nonverbally; people's feelings really do get hurt when they're sharing your attention with your Twitter DMs or text messages.

It's also important to be in sync with your employer about your family commitments and priorities, and communicating when you need to be off the grid. The key? If you always deliver on your promises, folks won't look sideways at the time you spend in personal places.

Nobody's Perfect

I sure don't always get this balance right. I feel guilt each and every time I get on another airplane, conscious of how fast time flies as my daughter grows up. I'm always seeking balance between my professional ambitions and the security I know I'm providing for my daughter's future, and the time I get to spend with her now - which is the time I can't ever get back.

I have a handful of really close friends that love me unconditionally, and plenty of people that get upset with me because I don't give them the attention they probably deserve. Conversely, I'm sure I frustrate people when it takes me days to respond to an email that's a lower priority to me but perhaps more important to them. I'm human and I have limitations, and I'm doing the best I can with what I've got. But I'll sure never apologize for putting my daughter first, and my family and close friends close behind.  They're what makes all this craziness worth it.

How do you balance family, friends and being a workshifter?

Photo by: doou

Workshifting is a benefit; that fact can't be denied. To be able to work when and where you want, or to get your job done on the road, is one of the best things to happen in the computer age, freeing us from the constraints of the cubicle.

There is a dark side to workshifting, though. People who, like me, have made a career out of working from a home office, or people new to telecommuting and workshifting in general know what that dark side is: bleeding time.

What can happen when you workshift is a tendency to be "always on". Because you take your office with you, it becomes difficult to separate time for you from time for your work. When you toss in the heavy amounts of travel time that come with speaking gigs and client on-site days, it's easy to see your free time dwindle.

If you don't get a handle on this time bleed quickly, it can consume your life. This can have adverse affects on your personal life, not to mention the quality of your work. For me, a sure sign that I need to reevaluate my work schedule and travel time is writer's block. The first time I can't think of something to write, I know it is time to take a day off, even if I think I can't squeeze one in. It's a signal that my workshifting life and my personal life have gotten out of whack, and my brain is letting me know.

Everyone has a different signal. Yours may not be writer's block - that's very particular to me, as I spend half of my time writing about technology and social media and the other half of my time helping companies learn to use it and speaking about it.  Figure out what your signals are. Ask your friends and family to let you know what they see happening when you spend too much time "on" without a little time for yourself.

Down time keeps you fresh. Don't be afraid to unplug once in a while. If you need help scheduling it in, don't be embarrassed - a lot of workshifters do. Consider hiring a secretary part time, or a Virtual Assistant. They can help you with the details like scheduling that can consume you, and keep you focused on the tasks at hand.  A little time for you keeps your mind fresh and agile and makes your work that much better.

Photo by: Dr. Hemmert

I'm a marketer and marketers love to make analogies. They love making analogies like

salespeople love getting paid. See what I mean? We just can't get enough of them!

So when we recently moved and I started web commuting from Massachusetts to my home base in California, I had to come up with a good analogy. After reaching deep within, I came to the conclusion that web commuting is like watching a new season of American Idol. Am I saying that because I just watched the season finale of American Idol and just am not that deep? Well, yes. But there are similarities.

For sure, both involve sitting on your butt staring at a screen for extended periods of time. Then there are a lot of those frustrating "Why do I have to deal with this?" moments before any real action starts happening. You're seeing new faces and everyone involved is trying to find their groove. Finally, there's the feeling that although things are the same, they're also entirely different ... and hopefully interesting.

With that said, here's what I've learned just after a month of web commuting. I don't know if any of these tips also apply to watching American Idol, but if they work for you, then you're welcome.

Make Sure Your Infrastructure Is Ready

You've got 4 walls, a roof, electricity and access to a toilet? Good, here comes the hard part. If you don't have high-speed Internet access set up, give yourself a good 2-3 weeks to get it hooked up.

Dealing with the local DSL provider, whom shall remain anonymous but whose name rhymes with Duh-rizon, has been awesome and amazing. Awesomely, amazingly inconsistent. Even though I called to have DSL set up before even arriving in Massachusetts, the order was successively delayed, canceled without notification and then delayed again. It took some special magic from a rep named Howie to get things right, so Howie from Massachusetts, if you ever read this, I owe you a case of Sam Adams Boston Lager for all of your help. And anonymous DSL provider, if you're reading this, you need to give Howie a big raise.

One word of caution about DSL and why you might consider cable -- although you can get fast download speeds, most providers cap what you can upload at 768 kbps. This has caused me to cut out of conversations sometimes when using Skype, which brings me to...

Use Skype With A Headset

If you're working from home and don't want to spring for an extra phone line for work and don't want to use your cell phone all day, Skype can be your best friend. So affordable, so functional, so high-quality, it's like a piece of IKEA furniture that's actually made from real wood. With prices as low as they are, you almost feel bad for the phone companies -- until they screw up your DSL order and you have to consciously make an effort to unclinch your fists while on the phone with them. I use Skype with a corded Plantronics headset, but I've got my eye on this cordless one. If you've got any opinions about it, I'd love to hear them.

Or, Use Skype With A Regular Phone

I haven't tested this out and it's gotten mixed reviews, but if you're old school and need to have the reassuring weight of a handset on your ear and your neck constantly tilted at a 45 degree angle, then you might want to check out this D-Link Skype USB Phone Adapter that will connect your regular handset to your PC.

Get Snagit

Why do I love Snagit? Because when you work remotely, a picture is worth a thousand emails. If I need to point out something quickly, all I need to do is hit the HotKey and I've got the screenshot -- there's no mistaking what I'm talking about. It's so functional I have nothing else to write about.

Buy The Keurig B60 Gourmet Single-Cup Home Brewing System

I have to admit I feel very bad for my coffee maker at home. It's capable of brewing a 12-cup carafe of piping hot coffee, yet every morning all I drip in is enough water for a piddly 8 ounce cup. This was never a problem back at the office where coffee was consumed in Big Gulp containers, but my poor coffee maker at home quietly endures the less than glamorous task I give to it each morning. Which is why I'm thinking of putting it out to pasture in exchange for this Keurig single-cup brewer. It sounds so good I'm surprised it's not made by Skype.

Install FoxClocks for Firefox

My coworker turned me on to a nifty Firefox add-on called FoxClocks for displaying different time zones. Not that useful for figuring out the 3 hour time zone difference between MA and CA, but definitely helpful when trying to schedule a morning conference call with someone in Sydney and you haven't had your 8 ounce cup of coffee yet.

I'll keep posting an any new tips and tricks I find that make me a more productive Web commuter, but would love to hear if anyone else has ideas.

Photo by: c1ssou

I web commute sometimes. I also work with remote employees, partners and clients. I'm always amazed at how easily we can overcome geography at work these days. But there is one thing that bugs me about not working with people in person. I like the personal exchanges. I like the water cooler talk and the jokes. That being said, I've learned some creative ways to keep it personal in an online meeting or Web conference.

Here are my 5 tips to help you keep it personal:

1)    Start every meeting with personal questions first -When meeting online we have a tendency to get right down to business. We forget that we're talking to actual people and not machines at the other end of the meeting. Make it a point to ask at least 2 non-work questions before diving into the material. You'll notice that your online meetings will be more productive and enjoyable.

2)    Put up a personal picture as your desktop wallpaper - I have 3 colleagues who have pictures of their kids as their desktop backgrounds. Why does this matter? Because every time they start to show me something on their screen I see their kids. This always inspires me to ask how they're doing and I remember that I'm talking to a human being. The pictures make it personal.

3)    Ask more specific questions - In larger online meetings people are often hesitant to answer your questions. When you ask something generic like, "Any questions?" you're likely going to hear crickets. So make your questions more specific. Try, "Mark, how do you think this will impact sales in Q4?" Online meetings require very specific questions to drive conversation.

4)    Do your research - Part of my job is working with industry "thought leaders" and external consultants. Before every kick-off meeting with a new partner I do research. All this really entails is a Google search with the person's name but it's amazing to me how few people actually do this. I'll start off meetings by saying "Jim, I loved the Webinar you did last week. We're facing the same challenges in our organization." Sites like LinkedIn, blogs and Twitter also make it easy to research your meeting attendees.

5)     Stand up - OK, so not every workspace makes this appropriate (I'm 6'5" so if I stand in my cubicle people tend to stare) but if you're working from home it should be fine. This is more of an online presentation tip but bear with me. When you present in person you stand. Standing gets your blood flowing and your hands moving. Most importantly, it comes through in your voice. Your meeting attendees will feel more of your enthusiasm and will respond to you as a person. Try it out. I stand up during all my Webinars.

Make your online meetings more personal. You'll find that the meetings become more enjoyable and more productive. Any other tips out there for keeping it personal at a distance?

Photo by: GaetanLee

Eric Bensley is a contributor to workshifting.com. He works in Product Marketing at Citrix Online and focuses on engaging new customers with content. This includes white papers, Webinar speaking engagements, podcasts, and eBooks. You can follow him at www.twitter.com/ericbensley