The other day, I was out for my evening dog walk when I ran into a neighbor. We started discussing something from the past, and I said, “I’m not sure, but it was before the COVID-19 shutdowns, so I know it was before March 2020.”
It’s remarkable how much of a delineating line runs through March 2020.
At the time, I was working for another organization. I moved my “office” into the basement next to the furnace. My kids did remote learning in their bedrooms, and my wife worked from the kitchen table.
As our small team tried to figure out how to work in this remote environment, we slogged through the first few weeks before realizing that Microsoft Teams was included in our Microsoft Suite. Once we discovered it, remote work became much easier.
Fast forward to today. I use Zoom, Gchat, and a VoIP phone system to work with my teammates every day.
It has its challenges, but I want to start with some positives about remote work:
1. It gives you various perspectives.
Our team is distributed from Atlanta to Houston, Kansas City, and Albany, NY. With our team living in different areas, we experience different cultures. That diversity helps us make better decisions.
2. It helps with work-life balance.
My dad had his own business growing up. The business enabled him to be at sporting events that other parents missed.
Working remotely has allowed me that same freedom.
There are times I take a few hours in the afternoon to get something done for my family. I then sit down and work from 8 to 10 p.m.
Your job should serve a cause and your life. Remote work makes that more possible.
3. It allows creativity to flourish.
Every week, our content manager asks me for my blog. I often have writer’s block, so I take my dog for a walk without my phone and think about what I want to write.
Walking, being outside, and petting my dog were harder when I worked in a traditional office.
I would grind out work instead of being inspired to work.
It’s incredible how much more productive I can be after doing something I enjoy for fifteen minutes.
4. It expands the talent pool.
I used to have conversations with phrases like, “Do you know who would be great at this job? Jim. But I don’t think Jim would move to Albany because his family is in Columbus.”
In the remote work world, those conversations are few and far between.
Remote work allows you to pursue the right person for the right job without restricting yourself to geography.
Conclusion
Remote work presents many challenges, but as a recovering pessimist, it is important to invest time in considering the positives.
At Leadercast, we want to unleash a leader’s potential so they (and their coworkers) thrive at work and in life.
An excellent way to do that is to start by honoring that leader as a human being with hopes, dreams, challenges, and personal responsibilities. Remote work allows this.
And if you hire the right people, they will reciprocate that honor and work diligently at their jobs.
