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Sometimes a look back can inspire the way forward. In the 1950s, international travel became accessible to the public for the first time. It was the golden age of travel and tourism, with alluring air hostesses and gourmet meals. Guidebooks were an essential tool for tourists navigating the mysterious nuances, languages and customs of a foreign community.
Today, jet-setting across the continents is more common than ever. Global travel has enabled anthropologists to discover and observe most of the cultures throughout the world. While it may be hard to imagine there are still cultures and communities tucked away and undiscovered in our world, some may be surprised to find members of a new and elusive community in their own backyard or neighborhood.
It’s a business culture—one that job seekers, governments and corporate leadership are all clamoring to connect with, though few are able to navigate through the uncharted territory in which they reside: This is the foreign and elusive community of remote workers.
Calling virtual business circles as “elusive” may seem extreme or even silly, but the cultural gap between on-site and off-site work habits is no joke. The difference in language, priorities and customs is stark and is causing discord in hybrid teams, and contributes to global supply-and-demand concerns over virtual jobs. If you're looking for a remote job or want to outsource tasks to a freelancer or collaborate with any off-site colleagues, you would be wise to invest in some cross-cultural training to smooth the transition between onsite and offsite dynamics. Here is a guidebook of tips that may be helpful as you navigate the quirks and nuances of the virtual business culture:
Remote Guidebook, Chapter 1: Punctuality
Without the delays of traffic jams, hallway meetings, or slow coffee lines, remote workers have few excuses for being late. It’s completely standard for a meeting to start right on time. Seriously: right on time. To the minute. If you join a 9:00 a.m. video call at 9:02 a.m., you’ve probably already missed some key context-setting information. This is a drastic adjustment for many office workers for whom a 20-30 minute delayed start is common.
To blend in with the Native Remoters: Start the day with a casual stand-up or audio check to test your equipment. This can help reduce those “can you hear me now?” delays. Then, watch the clock and confirm your reminder notifications are on. Start prepping for virtual calls about five minutes before they start: get a drink, close out of your inactive browser tabs and end that prior meeting a minute or two early (everyone loves getting a few minutes back). Next, join the call right on time. If a delay pops up and you’re not going to be able to arrive on time, send a warning that you’re going to be late or a request to reschedule at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time.
Remote Guidebook, Chapter 2: Over-Communication
With limited collaboration time and communication channels, virtual professionals have refined the art of making every word count. They don’t like to waste time with suggestions, innuendos, or secrets. If there’s something important to say, they’re going to say it. If you send an email with a few questions, expect a prompt response with answers, and probably some additional suggestions, clarifying questions, and links to relevant resources. This level of transparency and accessibility sometimes takes “on-siters” off guard, but you have to admit it is helpful.
To blend in with the Native Remoters: Be thorough by ensuring that your audience understands the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your message. For example, simply expand your feedback on a project from “Great job,” to “Great job on this marketing report, Ben! Loved the new format of graphs. They were really helpful for interpreting the conversion rates. Can we make those a regular feature?” Next, try extending the duration of your communication by confirming appointments a day early with a rough agenda proposal, and then following up with a summary and list of action items.
Remote Guidebook, Chapter 3: Efficiency
Remember from Remote Guidebook Chapter 1 that every minute counts in the virtual business world. Remoters are watching the clock in all of their processes, not just meetings. Telecommuting was born from realizing that driving back and forth between home computers and office computers was wasting a bunch of time. The remote workers’ tradition for trimming the fat from their schedules is even stronger today.
To blend in with the Native Remoters: Evaluate your tasks and workflows to search for and eliminate time drains. If a meeting only has a few items on the agenda, shorten the time slot from 60 minutes to 30. Don’t drive an hour for an in-person meeting if the conversation can be conducted over a phone or video call. The increased productivity that remote work offers isn’t inherent, it’s earned.
Remote Guidebook, Chapter 4: Casual Seriousness
First-timers at a remote work conference are undoubtedly surprised when a CEO walks on stage in a t-shirt and shorts. For remote workers, most of their time is spent in a house or on an airplane, so comfort is an inevitable part of their lifestyle and it shows in their attire. If you can stop looking at their clothes long enough to listen to their words or review the quarterly reports of their businesses, you’ll find that virtual leaders are no less knowledgeable, dedicated, or educated than their in-office counterparts. Remoters are intensely serious about work, less so their wardrobes.
To blend in with the Native Remoters: Want to wear exercise pants to work? Go for it—but be prepared to display your professionalism and credibility in other ways, like your networking, topic expertise, or innovative ideas. It’s easy for natives to spot an outsider that views the remote culture as a lazy escape from a demanding work ethic, and they don’t like that at all. True remoters appreciate the lifestyle because it allows them to do their work better, not elude it. Remember, fellow virtual workers may not care if you’re wearing a hoodie or not, but your clients, vendors, or on-site team members will. So always take your colleagues into consideration and dress accordingly.
Remote Guidebook, Chapter 5: A Note For Remote Work Natives
Fellow Natives, we are an unconventional people. Have empathy and patience for tourists and newcomers in our community. Office and virtual work are drastically juxtaposed and those transitioning must make significant adjustments. Help bridge the gap with clients, new-hires, and colleagues by forgiving easily, translating our language, or sharing a personal user guide. Doing so extends the olive branch and ensures a peaceful co-existence between our cultures.
Has this exercise in drafting a guidebook been helpful? Are you ready to pack up your laptop and earbuds to embark on a location-independent workstyle—or open the option up to members of your team? What tools, insights and advice will you find to be essential when joining or collaborating with the newly discovered and actively growing community of remote workers?
Send a virtual postcard with your updates, will you? Let everyone know how you’re faring: #RemoteWork is a popular collector for keeping in touch and it’s cheaper than postage. Bon Voyage!
