There have been many so-called revolutions in the business and career-culture space (we all know that one person who wears a fitness tracker religiously but never actually does any exercise), and many have landed in the dust after a few months within office walls. There is one, however, that has stood the test of time and has even migrated into education and learning, and that is the rise of the remote office.
Businesses, universities and other institutions are having their traditional learning methods disrupted through the growing trend of employees and students choosing to do their learning from outside of the workplace. While this may be a shock for those groups late to the party, there are three key considerations every business (education provider) need to take out of this rising trend.
People are mixing work and play now, and there’s a very specific way you should feel about it
Recent research suggests what most of us have been thinking: your workplace and social life are closely intertwined. In many ways, remote offices allow this harmony while still giving people the ability to own their work – provided you know how to create an online work environment that allows multiple, simultaneous editors and can be inserted easily into an external team’s processes (i.e. how will clients or tutors read your work?), then you can rest assured that remote offices can work within your team.
Innovation doesn’t have to completely overhaul your ideals – just a few redundant ones
If you’ve got fears of going online sending your ROI into a free-fall, you’re taking an unhealthy approach to tackling internet migration. Eating an elephant happens one bite at a time, and in the same way you should only look at traditional processes that could genuinely be made better by being hosted on the web. When creditcardfinder.com.au’s comparison services began as a single-page blog, core strategic and editorial processes existed on Google Docs – but only those that were genuinely more efficient on these platforms. Be selective when reviewing what to take online, because ‘all in’ is probably not the best idea just yet, and creating a remote office certainly doesn’t mean giving every team player access to every document being exchanged.
So you’re scared to innovate – there’s good news about that too
If you’re still not sold, guess what – that’s completely fine too. The rise of remote offices, working solely online and managing digital teams encompasses some significant hurdles that you’ll have to adapt to while sticking true to your core business model. The good news is that if you try for innovation and promoting of these services for your employees, they’ll forgive genuine oversights. You’re a business or institute growing in a digital space, and mistakes are allowed to be made, provided you show that they’re genuine mistakes and you’re only pursuing the best for the team. Take onboard only the digital processes that improve company process or culture after a few spot tests, and run with what you’ve got. The other bonus is that remote offices are a huge employee perk, and one that attracts excellence toward your team – having a good culture draws great talent, as well admiration from a public standpoint.
Your team can work online with remote offices, you just have to take the plunge!
Fred Schebesta
Fred on Linkedin | Fred on G+ | @schebesta
Fred Schebesta is the Co-founder and Director of finder.com.au, a website that helps Australians compare credit cards,savings accounts, home loans, personal loans, travel insurance, life insurance, shopping deals and more.
- Work Efficiency
