The standardized workplace is changing. An 8-5 office space is becoming less and less desirable and much more costly. As a person who works from a home office, I can personally attest that a remote workplace limits distractions and allows you to be much more productive.
Recently, BELAY Solutions Co-Founder and CEO Shannon Miles was interviewed by Forbes as part of the promotion of her new book The Third Option: Why a Woman Doesn’t Have to Choose between a Career and Family, but Can Actually Have Both and Succeed, She addresses many of these issues. You can read the full article HERE.
Also, make sure you pick up Shannon’s new book by clicking HERE or on the image provided. I highly recommend it.
As I read Shannon’s comments, I gleaned the following 13 Facts About The Changing Workplace And How People Do Their Jobs:
- Your Customers Want Consistency, Predictability, And High-Quality – “We knew we could create a consistent, predictable and high-quality experience for our clients.”
- Your Success As An Organization Is Largely Determined By Who You Hire – “Hiring is difficult and time-consuming for our clients, so we focused our efforts on finding the absolute best people to serve them.”
- Delegation Is Not An Innate Leadership Trait – “And we doubled down on relationship management, knowing that sometimes a client has to be taught how to delegate. It’s not a leadership trait that is innate to everyone.”
- Great Leaders Are Willing To Take Great Risk – “So, we cashed in our 401k’s and gave notice to our employers on the same day, October 1, 2010. It took us a couple of months to wrap things up with our jobs because we wanted to end well.”
- Smart Leaders Build Relationships Rather Than Burn Bridges – “We figured if BELAY didn’t work, we might need to come crawling back to our employers.”
- “Job flexibility is a game changer.”
- Your Direction Determines Your Destination – “When we are directing our time toward what we want, what’s most beneficial for ourselves overall, our mental, emotional and even physical well-being is improved.”
- Desperation Is A Leader’s Friend – “I love this quote, ‘Once your desperation exceeds your embarrassment, you’ll make a change.”’
- It Can Be Difficult Turning Work Off When Working From Home – “There is a misconception that if you want to work from home, you’re lazy. I’ve found that the opposite is actually true. It is difficult to turn work off when you work from home – it’s always there.”
- “Burnout is a real possibility. The irony is that we choose remote work so we can have flexibility and freedom, yet we end up working more that before.”
- Boundaries Prevent Burnout – “So, boundaries are key to making it work long-term.”
- Every Person Must Define Success For Themselves – “I’m a firm believer that you really can have it all, you just have to define what ‘all’ is for you.” For more on this topic, read 30 Keys To A Leader’s Success/
- Leaders Must Properly Evaluate Reality – “If it’s a six-figure salary working from home in your PJ’s, that’s probably not realistic.”
Shannon provides the additional 7 questions to determine if a change is needed in your professional life”
- What would you trade for a better quality of life?
- Have you noticed your job negatively affecting your personality?
- Do you feel drained of energy after work?
- Has your excitement for your job waned?
- Do you complain a lot about your job?
- Are your personal obligations slipping because of your job?
- Do you miss working and using your professional skills?
She also created a decision tree that can help you know if you are ready for a change. This is an amazing FREE downloadable resource.
Establishing and maintaining a robust workplace culture isn’t easy. But, there are many things that leaders can do (and not do) to help make the process easier. As more and more people begin to work in remote, virtual, and mixed settings, the more leaders will need to understand the unique complexities of virtual culture.
Shannon and my friends at BELAY Solutions have produced the incredible FREE resource The Culture Cure: The What, Why, And How Of Making Your Remote Company’s Culture Work Better. Click HERE or on the image provided to receive your complimentary copy.