I was jamming with a colleague, digital marketing expert Jeff Travilla from JCM Media Group, a while back about the pros and cons of working online, which inspired me to flesh out a list of six pronounced pros and six chaotic cons. I’ll share the pros in this post and the cons in an upcoming post.
Take a read and see which ones resonate with you. Are there any you’d add?
Six Pronounced Pros
1. Access
Accessing someone instantly who is thousands of kilometres away from you has become de rigueur, but when you stop to think about it, it’s pretty darn magical. Working online gives us instant access to pretty much anyone, anywhere, anytime. And all from the comfort of your home office (pajamas optional).
2. Focus
Working online allows you the potential (deliberately underlined as you have to grab that potential) to be super uber-focused. No constant interruptions, no chatter of nearby colleagues, no phones ringing from your colleagues’ desk one or two cubicles over, etc.
3. Digital tools and assets
When used strategically and appropriately, working online gives us a portal into untold riches of engaging, interesting, effective digital tools. Polls, virtual treasure hunts, annotating screens, micro-videos with tools like Loom, digital team building, etc., etc., etc. The list is endless.
4. Homing from home
It was either Alexandra Samuel, author of Remote Inc.: How to Thrive at Work . . . Wherever You Are, or her partner Rob Cottingham, who said that working remotely allows us to home from home. Need to pet your cat, walk the dog, and/or give your kid a squeeze? They’re likely only a hallway away. Working remotely opens up a host of opportunities.
5. Working from home
It may have been a while since you’ve thought about this because it’s become the norm, but folks, we’ve made working from a thing. A pretty darn successful thing. A pretty new and novel thing for many. Amen and high five to you for making it work … from home.
6. Time zones without travelling
Working remotely means you can navigate, sometimes with the help of a time converter app, multiple timezones. It means you can effortlessly wing your way through timezones, all without packing a suitcase and boarding a plane.
Working online, remotely from home definitely has its pros, increased access and focus, digital tools and assets, homing from home, and working from home, plus easily navigating timezones among them. There are also some chaotic cons, which I’ll cover next week.
Now go on and learn, laugh and lead
Laugh
- Our bloopers and bad bits can now not only be easily captured but just as easily shared, like this hilarious little girl ungraciously demanding positive feedback from her dad.
Lead
- Take advantage of working online with Virtual teamwork in the time of COVID – Turning you and your team right side up again (part one)
P.S. Don’t miss out on my free Learning and Development Roundtable workshop on “Getting the knack of negotiation with six skills for nuanced negotiating,” October 21st. Find out more here and RSVP here.
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