Jul 27, 22 | 8 min read
remote work success tips
Reading time: 6 minutes
The father of American literature was a little wrong when he said the following:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, intolerance, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people urgently need it for these reasons. Broad, healthy, and charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in a small corner of the earth all the time.”
-Mark Twain
While the sentiment of the quote is progressive toward cultural understanding, Twain sadly missed the era of remote work.
Today, mid- to large-sized companies spanning physical and virtual boundaries are opting for a remote work policy. Not only do they increase the opportunity for a more diverse workforce, but also for cross-cultural learning.
Don't get me wrong, first-hand personal christmas island email list experiences will almost always trump in terms of cultural learning. But the daily correspondence and relationships you build with coworkers living abroad come in second, and that's no small feat.
As an employee of Rock Content , a global, remote-first company, I wanted to share my perspective on how I’ve traveled the world with my company without having to leave my desk here in the United States. Without having to leave my desk. But first, let’s dive into other companies’ experiences to see how they’ve adapted.
Follow us on the Rock Content LinkedIn page
Remote diversity: an ocean of talent
Relocating, taking an extra-long commute, or turning down a job.
Those are the three options you have when you're offered an office-only position outside of your typical travel range.
Unless you're ready for a change of scenery, neither option seems ideal. If only there was a way to land your dream job without having to move across the country (or the world)...
Leaders around the world are beginning to recognize that their small talent pool can quickly become a vast ocean of talent through remote control. Let’s see what leaders from Cotopaxi and Airbnb have to say about this.
In a letter to Airbnb employees, CEO Brian Chesky wrote:
“If we limited our talent pool to a commuting radius around our offices, we would be at a significant disadvantage. The best people live everywhere, not concentrated in one area. And by hiring from a diverse set of communities, we will become a more diverse company.”
Chesky gets two integral elements of a WFH policy right. The first is that if you tie your job candidates to a physical location, you put yourself at a disadvantage when it comes to talent potential.
The second piece is that expanding into a larger geographic area, or even a global network, can provide a whole new level of diversity in the company.
While it looks great for a company, diversity and inclusion hiring isn't a box to check, or a marketing tactic: it's about providing equal opportunities to everyone, because it's the right thing to do.
But is it that easy to go global with your hiring?
In an interview , Davis Smith, Cotopaxi's CEO, said:
“It’s a lot easier to hire a diverse team when you’re not limited to a specific geography… I’ve asked myself a lot of times: At what point does this catch up with us? Because a lot of people are new and maybe they don’t understand the culture that deeply. But our culture has changed and all those rituals and traditions, we had to clean them up and start over and we’ve created new ones that work for this new environment.”
While acknowledging that the diversity aspect is no longer limited, Smith raises an important question for those looking to make the change.
Who should adapt? Should new employees adopt the culture their employer has already established? Should the employer start over to adapt to everyone's cultural values?
The short answer to all of the above: Everyone must adapt *
*with a change of mentality
Intercultural mindset = Transcultural learning: checklist for adoption
Remote culture can have its challenges... (obviously). Not being bound by physical borders doesn't mean not being bound by virtual borders, aka time zones. If you're in the Eastern United States and your coworker is in Eastern Brazil, no problem, just 1 measly hour ahead.
But if you work in England and your coworker is in Australia, you'll likely have a full day of work ahead of you, or at least you'll have to log on at times that aren't convenient.
In addition to time zones, there are language barriers, cultural holiday schedules, digital communication issues, and the list goes on. But through the struggle, comes the opportunity to grow.
To mitigate these challenges, ASU offers these six practices to develop your global mindset in this new era of remote work:
1. Self-awareness
According to the ancient Greek proverb, “Above all, know thyself,” the first thing you should do is check your own culture and prejudices.
It can be uncomfortable and challenging to look at yourself through an honest lens, acknowledging that your own culture may have fostered prejudices. But this is a crucial step on the path to working with people from other countries and “cleaning up” your cultural identity, being open to new insights.
2. Curiosity
Employers generally like employees who ask a lot of questions about a position. It shows that they are eager to learn as much as possible, so they can develop their skills faster and generally get better at the job. The more questions, the better understanding.
