In June 2010 ‘AnywhereWorker.com’ was launched. Ten years later, it’s more relevant than ever.
Back in 2010, I anticipated a slow and steady increase in the number of remote workers. Organizations recognized the benefits of remote work and our technical capabilities continually advance.
As an anywhere worker, I experienced the struggles first hand. And I wanted to help others on their journey. As part of Azione-Scopo LLC, I launched Anywhereworker.com.
Never did I think we would be thrown suddenly into working remotely by a worldwide pandemic.
Now 3 months into the tidal wave, many are grabbing hold of what they can to stabilize their lives and livelihoods and make remote work their new normal.
Regardless how you arrived in this moment, it’s important to me that you know – I stand by you in your transition to AnywhereWorking and Leading.
This isn’t an ideal situation. You’re experiencing isolation, frustration, overwhelm, miscommunication, and sometimes exhaustion as you strive to adapt. It’s not the same, but these are things the Anywhere Workers have been struggling with for more than a decade. And I believe you can benefit from that experience.
Start Now.
No matter where you are in the process, it’s not too late to take action toward your anywhereWorker success.
As anywhere workers and leaders we continually fight the forces of isolation, frustration, overwhelm, uncertainty in our efforts to be heard and understood and get our best work out into the world.
Though working remotely isn’t for everyone, the benefits for those who choose it are inspiring, and range from improved health, reduced expenses, and a life lived with purpose.
Is that a lot to expect from simply changing your work location? Maybe. But what I hope you will see is that AnywhereWork is more than a change of location – it’s a change in approach, in your mindset, in the way you live and work. I hope you’ll experience some of the benefits and see for yourself.
Anywhere Worker Benefits
Over the years I’ve interviewed several anywhere workers. Here are some of the benefits they’ve experienced:
- Reduced physical and emotional stress;
- More time with loved ones;
- More time to exercise;
- Reduced commute time (leading to the items above);
- Reduced transportation cost (sold the car; using car less; reduced public transportation costs; avoiding parking fees, etc.)
- Reduced food cost (eating more at home with family for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – one person saved $200 a month just on coffee!)
- More productive (not all were specific as to why, but some mentioned the next few items)
- Less distraction from ‘walk by’ or ’pop-in’ interruptions;
- Less distraction from conversations and other office noise;
- Fewer spontaneous invitations to meetings;
- A more comfortable and personalized environment (temperature, lighting, noise level, clothing choices, etc)
- Can more easily match personal productivity rhythm (morning or afternoon person?)
- Reduced sick time (not that I recommend working when sick, but if you have a cold and would normally take a sick day, you do have more flexibility when working from home. Plus, you aren’t exposed to others’ germs when you work from home!)
- Can take care of personal errands etc. more easily (dr. visit, etc)
- Potential to eat healthier (home made vs. fast food or snacks from break room)
- Reduced cost of ‘work’ clothes
The list goes on, but I think you get the idea. These are benefits to the remote employee, the freelancer, the creative entrepreneur – anyone choosing to work from home or if they prefer – the local coffee shop!
Employer Benefits
Benefits for employers depend upon the industry and the breadth of implementing remote work:
- Reduced sick leave
- Increased productivity
- Which leads to increased revenue
- Expanded talent pool (location is no longer a constraint)
- Employee retention
- Less office space required
- Possible lower salaries (if employee is in a less expensive market)
- More desirable employer (offering remote work options as a benefit)
- Can attract experienced experts who would otherwise not relocate
- Avoid relocation costs
The benefits of both employer and employee vary depending upon the type of business and the acceptance of anywhere worker approaches in the industry.
Beyond the skills you need for your profession, the AnywhereWorker succeeds when they focus on building two core strengths: Optimizing Resources and Maximizing Communications.
Optimize Resources
Whether you’re a company of one, part of a dispersed team, or working as a remote employee – the initial focus is usually one of productivity.
Will I be productive working from home? How do I make sure my employees or team are working and not sitting on the sofa gaming?
Optimizing resources is about getting results. Here are the dimensions we’ll look at when we work together:
- Know yourself: your strengths, weaknesses, preferences, etc.
- Use the knowledge from #1 to create an environment that enables your productivity.
- Identify & develop supportive habits while reducing distracting ones.
- Elevate your time manage strategies to include energy management.
- Focus commitment and measures on results, not effort.
- Capitalize on tools & processes to reduce waste and scale output.
- Build Utilize measures and feedback for continuous improvement.
Maximize Communications
It’s no secret, communication issues are common in most organizations and the source of most problems in business. The majority of my coaching clients list communication as the skill they want to improve.
Focusing on becoming a master communicator will change your world.
It’s not simply about have better conversations, writing better emails, or even creating better presentations. Be a master communicator is the perfect example of the whole being more than the sum of the parts. When you become a master communicator – you change the way the other person sees the world. You give them an experience – a shared experience – that is more than words exchanged. It’s action – with purpose.
If you’ve been with me for any length of time you may recognize this as The PresentationYOU approach.
- Understanding yourself;
- Understanding who you are speaking with (audience);
- Building empathy, opening your mind to other perspectives;
- Recognizing and adapting to the context of the conversation;
- Developing clarity in the message with the above 4 elements in mind;
- Design the experience, not the (presentation, workshop, email, etc);
- Sharing the experience beyond the event – creating relationships.
The One-Two Punch of Success
The past ten years of AnywhereWorker have shown me the complexity of working remotely as we strive to get our best work out into the world.
These two dimensions: optimized resources and maximized communications has provided the best one-two punch against the isolation, frustration, uncertainty and overwhelm.
This journey we are on, is only partly concerned with being an anywhere worker and working remotely, it’s mostly concerned with each of us investing effort in making the most of the important work we need to create and share with the world.
All of this is to help you share your brilliance with the world – from anywhere.
