5 TED Talks That Will Make You Better at Remote Work

We’ve all had to make lots of jarring adjustments in the past few weeks. For many, suddenly working from home has been one of the hardest, at least on the professional front. But help is available. Over the years, plenty of remote-work veterans, as well as experts on the various challenges of leading a team from your living room, have shared their wisdom from the TED stage. Now is the perfect time to check out their advice. 

1. Why working from home is good for business.

For most leaders, the switch to a 100 percent remote-work setup was a shock. But not for Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg. His 900-plus employees have always been remote. How does he make it work? He reveals all the lessons he’s learned over the years in this quick TED Talk. 

2. 10 ways to have a better conversation.

Celeste Headlee has honed her remote communication skills interviewing thousands of people over the years as a journalist for public radio. It’s literally her job to have illuminating and engaging conversations with people at a distance. I’ve covered her tips for better conversations here on Inc.com before, but in this present crisis, where we’re all struggling to connect through Zoom and the like, this TEDx Talk is definitely worth revisiting. 

3. Inside the mind of a professional procrastinator.

Struggling with procrastination while working at home in the middle of a pandemic? First, you’re not alone (and should probably cut yourself some slack). Second, there are people out there who are even bigger procrastinators than you, and “Wait But Why” blogger Tim Urban is among them. In his hilarious talk he details his own world-class laziness and offers advice on how to get a handle on procrastination. 

4. How we’ll fight the next deadly virus. 

This talk from Harvard biologist Pardis Sabeti could hardly be more topical, but her tale of how her team raced to sequence the genome of Ebola also holds lessons for how remote teams in very different sectors can collaborate well even under intense pressure. Sabeti believes asynchronous collaboration and openness was key to halting the last outbreak. It might be the key to your business surviving this one. 

5. Confessions of a recovering micromanager. 

In this funny, honest talk, Boxed.com CEO and co-founder Chieh Huang tells the story of his early addiction to micromanaging, its ill effects on his team, and how he finally broke away from the need to be always looking over his employees’ shoulders.