Introduction to Remote Work
We know that COVID-19 has resulted in a decrease in face-to-face encounters and the need to adapt to new ways of working. But as a company that finds its human value in people from all around the world, remote work is a reality that has been with us for a long time and we work every day to get the best out of it.
In this article, we tell you how to keep your team united and motivated while taking into practice some of what we consider the best practices for working remotely.
Accelerating the future of work
The pandemic was an opportunity for many companies to reinvent themselves, to value remote work and the importance of communication when working while apart.
At Tero by Nearsure we were prepared to face the pandemic not only because we had the necessary systems in place to operate remotely, but also because remote work was already part of our organizational culture. The idea of a home office was not new to us and has been part of our flexibility policy since the beginning. We have always been committed to focusing on enhancing these remote work strategies.
Communication is the key
When building a remote work culture, one of the great challenges we face is how to best prioritize communication among teams. All of our meetings and hallway chats must be held in a digital environment. That is why staying connected and giving visibility to our work is one of the main priorities when working on virtual teams.
Our work methodologies help us to have meaningful conversations daily, but it is also important to create opportunities, like quarterly meetings, for the entire team, where we highlight the company's objectives, project progress, and any relevant information. Transparency promotes a sense of belonging and allows us to align our priorities and goals.
It is also important to use internal communication tools and create informal communication channels so that team members can share conversation beyond work. Our colleagues are the people with whom we share a large part of our day, and it is essential to be able to take time to socialize. Communication channels like Microsoft Teams and different game platforms, play a significant role in this dynamic, as they enable us to have more informal conversations.
Good communication requires active listening. Faced with the changing situation, it is important for us to slow down and listen to our teams, find out how they feel, and give them the space to express their expectations and interests.
At Tero by Nearsure, when people join our team, from the People Care area we carry out weekly meetings. These informal check-ins help us understand how new employees are adjusting to our work environment and their clients, as well as provide a time to discuss any feedback they have regarding their overall experience.
We also like to run our One to One instances. These are monthly talks with each of our collaborators that allow us to monitor their activities and stay up to date on their feelings about the project as well as any shifting priorities that have come out of our recent work together.
Maintain clear and results-oriented goals
Work towards objectives and set them clearly. It helps to assign specific objectives and deadlines for both parties. Results orientation is an important skill for this type of work and requires investing energy into establishing deadlines and maintaining our standards of quality and excellence in order to achieve our goals.
Personalize work
At Tero by Nearsure, remote work is already an established practice. More than half of our professionals work remotely from different countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador). We also have professionals from Uruguay who left Montevideo to return to their home city to work. We even have scenarios in which our teammates travel for extended periods of time and work 100% remotely.
This type of work has always been part of our identity because we work with clients all over the world. The pandemic helped us strengthen our commitment to building a diverse team, regardless of geographic location, allowing us to hire people abroad, and encouraging our collaborators to take a similar approach.
Our geocultural diversity became one of our pillars most valued by our collaborators. Working with new cultures and countries enriches our routine and our communication with each other.
In Uruguay, we are committed to a hybrid work model. We redesigned our offices to help them feel like a meeting point, aplace to go and socialize with coworkers, rather than a traditional workplace. We devised an Open Space layout to strengthen the bond between the companies that make up the Digital Wire Group.
Before the pandemic began, many companies used remote work as a flexibility benefit within the framework of policies that seek to promote work-life balance. Today, remote work is no longer an exception but a reality. The key lies in how we achieve that work-life balance when individuals must rest, take care of their children, and work in the same place.
Many studies have shown that one of the primary risks of remote working is the lack of separation between work and family life and the difficulty disconnecting from work at the end of the day. This is yet another challenge we face with remote work and finding ways to balance work, family, and personal needs.
Conclusion
Today we continue to work on our face-to-face and digital communication so that we can implement practices that allow us to integrate as a region and a team. We’ve taken into account the lessons learned these recent months and will continue to adapt both to this ever-changing world and within an industry in constant movement.
The strategies and cultures of organizations have undergone great change. We are part of a dynamic industry that constantly needs to reinvent its strategies and structures. Through remote work we have been able to expand all over LATAM, we strengthened our relationships with clients from other countries and changed our approach and methodologies to maintain a happy and productive workplace.
So, what would we say is the key to success in this global remote reality? To reinvent yourself around a human approach.
