Working remotely, the real meaning

Working remotely. It can inspire you to build new ways of working or it can isolate and depress you.  

COVID-19 has forced us all to work remotely and to quickly adapt to new or upgraded technology to collaborate and communicate. If the role you have now is a far-removed form of your former role pre-COVID, you’re not alone. This change of circumstance will either give you cause to celebrate that you now have a role that works for you or it will be playing havoc with the boundaries (or lack of) in your life and you’ll be feeling utterly miserable. 

Here at Better Business Basics, we build our teams in Australia by employing people that are able to hybrid-work – sometimes on-site, sometimes offsite. Roles are created with our Team and Client needs front and centre. It has allowed us to disconnect the supply and demand dynamic so we can match the best person for the job based on hard and soft skills, not always by location. 

Client is in Mount Gambier but Finance Consultant in Melbourne? Not an issue. Someone needed with great cashflow forecasting nous quickly for a client in Sydney? How about matching them with a guru on our Team in Adelaide? Done.  Cloud and a disciplined, high-comms way of working has made this possible.  

As a society, we have focussed so much on the disruption that tech brings, and it can be devastating for those displaced in its wake. It also creates different ways of working that moves us forward. It requires people working without direct reports sitting on their shoulder. It needs strong, honest and transparent communication, clear role definition and open discussions around expectations on both sides to be successful. It’s about trust. 

Some people have worked this way all their careers; my children will look at the way we used to work pre-COVID and scratch their heads. It’s true that this way of working doesn’t suit everybody. If you struggle with time management, over committing, people-pleasing traits, the last six months will have truly tested how you feel about your working place in this world. Some like the idea but in reality, it doesn’t work for them. Working from home can be great in theory but the reality can be nothing like you expected. 

So for me, the following are the cornerstones to this working for everyone:  

In essence, showing up and being treated as a grown-up. 

I think we’re on to something if we can master trusting each other enough to work in a hybrid model. It gives people flexibility, which means you have more people to choose from in the available pool of potential employees. It gives people a framework to be effective and it’s empowering. It gives people more choice when choosing who to work for. If people value flexibility as a characteristic of their employment, you create a culture where loyalty and commitment thrive. A culture like this makes working, managing and leading a joy. It makes everyone a better version of themselves. I know for sure that I’ve been closer to the parent I want to be in the last six months and so I’m happier as a person. It’s a different equation for everyone. 

That’s not to say that it always works. In the early days of building our national team, we were too vague with our expectations and we chose unwisely. The flexibility and trust that was given was sometimes taken advantage of. It was a new way of working without much in the way of role models to lead the way.  

For all its occasional frustrations, I wouldn’t change a thing about how we attract, retain and engage our Teams.  The wonderful thing about committing to the whole hybrid way of working at a cultural level is that the more you commit to it, the better and easier it gets. The temptation is to try it, get burnt by it in the early days, and then throw in the towel, dismissing it as a management fad that can’t possibly be sustained. It took a pandemic to really test the theory. The rewards for everyone, both financial and non-financial, are enormous. 

I have no doubt that the quality of our Team – the people that they are to their core – is directly linked to the fact that the values listed above really mean something to them. That makes them people who are more likely to be agile and resilient, good role models in their spheres of influence and highly sought after in the employment market. Aren’t these traits we want in everyone we work with? 

As restrictions start to lift, I for one, hope that this becomes a way of working that sticks. 

Find out more about us and how Australian businesses are embracing working remotely.

WANT TO JOIN OUR REMOTE TEAM? CHECK OUT OUR JOB VACANCIES