The term digital native refers to people who grew up with the presence of digital technology and who are therefore comfortable with and fluent in technology. If you’ve been following the advancements in AI over the last few months, and no longer feel comfortable and fluent – you are not alone. And to be honest, feeling uncomfortable IS an appropriate reaction. While AI holds immense promise to benefit society, it also can present huge, existential risks to us as a population. That is why we signed on to the open letter calling for a pause to the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.

But while the societal risks are of course of massive importance, in this post we want to focus on what we believe it means for the future of work, and specifically for remote and hybrid employees.

Let’s start with some bad news. If you work remotely, in some cases this may mean you are MORE vulnerable to being displaced by AI. Yes, we know that’s a controversial statement, but let’s look at why that is. It’s not your remote status per se, but rather it’s the type of job you might be doing as a remote worker, and how it’s measured. By definition, remote jobs typically involve you as a human interacting with technology, and many of these activities can now be automated easily. As an example, check out this video, one of thousands of use cases on YouTube today. Not only that, but as companies have adjusted to use more remote employees, many have realised that measuring effort no longer makes much sense, and instead are focused on measuring impact. Can you create MORE impact than an AI tool that never sleeps, never gets tired, and never goes out for drinks with friends? Even if you can today, will you be able to in 6 months’ time, as the models get more and more powerful.

But there is also some good news. Our research indicates that as a group, remote and hybrid employees are already more likely to have used AI technologies, at least in experimental ways, to help them get their job done (and if that doesn’t describe you, we strongly suggest you fix that state of affairs right now). That’s not surprising – remote employees are typically more digitally savvy, and more willing to experiment with working in non-traditional ways. This puts them in a position where they are more likely to use the upside of AI as a technology – to be the people in control of the machines rather than vice versa.

So, what does all this mean in terms of practical steps employees should take right now? We believe it boils down to three things.

• Gaining a deep understanding of the use cases for the technology
• Focusing deeply on further developing soft skills
• Changing your mindset about work

Let’s look at each of these in turn in a little more detail

Understand the Use Cases

Playing with GPT is a great starting point – after just 10 or twenty questions, you will start to get a deeper understanding of its current capabilities. But remember that these capabilities ARE just a starting point. Many more will be opened up as these technologies become more deeply integrated into other tech. So check out lists of some of the more impactful AI technologies (this is a good list at time of writing, but the landscape is moving so fast you might want to Google your own. Don’t just read about them, use them. Every single person we have spoken to about these technologies expressed that they were unable to fully comprehend what the tools could do until they saw them with their own eyes.

The point of this exercise is not to demoralize you but rather to get you thinking about how you would use these and future technology innovations to help you create MORE impact – AI with you at the center – more on that later.

Focus on Human Skills

Let’s make this clear. You are NOT going to win in the workplace medium term by doing the same things these AI models do. But you don’t have to. Think forward to a future where every organization has identical access to these tools. What will differentiate one from another? Well, the only thing that can make them unique, the human beings that work inside those organizations. And what differentiates you from other humans? Your soft skills, or perhaps what we might call your human skills. In the future of work, human is your superpower. If you are a remote or hybrid employee, this is particularly important, as it really is what makes you stand out from your human and computer generated competition.

Right now, you should be spending as much or more time honing your soft skills than you have ever spent developing job-specific skills. The future, successful you is someone with a deep understanding of their human gifts, who uses them in the work they do with other humans and with the AI systems that they orchestrate. If you are working with us already, you know BillionMinds helps you develop the most important soft skills you need as a remote or hybrid employee and allows you to prove them through certification. It’s never been a more important thing to do.

Change Your Mindset About Work

If you are like most employees, your historical view of work is centered around working hard, maintaining good relationships with colleagues, and doing what is asked of you. If you consistently do those things, you will likely keep your job. Well, the goalposts have moved somewhat, and it’s never been more important to “work smart”. Working smart in this context means thinking like the designer of a factory, constantly looking for optimizations using the tools available to you. Think of it in this way. If you are working 12 hours a day to get something done that COULD be done in two by some clever automations and sensible use of AI – what will you do when the next piece of work arrives? Work 14 hours instead? The most successful employees in the coming era will be those who put themselves at the center of the AI orchestra, effortlessly conducting it for amazing results, while using their human skills to form a great translation layer between other humans and technologies. That, with some work and some focus, can be you.

Conclusion

If you are not excited about AI, you should be. If you are not worried about AI you should be. If you are not using AI, you definitely should be. So, get started now, because there is not that much time. And while you are at it, focus deeply on developing the human soft skills you will need to stand out in a world where AI will rise, but humans will be the differentiator.

When given the opportunity to work from home, 87% of us choose that option – but what if you would like to be one of those people and your manager prefers people in-office? How should you approach the conversation?

Any conversation with a manager where you ask to change the status quo can be challenging, but this can also be a great opportunity to show your independence and responsibility as an employee. Here are some tips for how to approach the conversation with your boss:

Before the Meeting

Your goal here is to enter the discussion well-prepared to make a good business case. That involves research and a plan. As a minimum, do the following:

• Research existing policy: Some organizations have a formal position on remote work, and being aware of this can help frame the conversation with your manager.
• Talk to colleagues: If you have colleagues that currently work remotely, ask them about their experience and how they went about making the case to work remotely.
• Gather research that remote works well: If you cite reputable sources, you can provide your boss with a well-informed perspective on the potential benefits of remote work. Examples of well researched studies include – a study by the Harvard Business Review found that remote workers are often more productive and less likely to quit their jobs than on-site workers (Gajendran, Harrison, & Van Dyne, 2007). Other research has found that remote work can lead to increased satisfaction and work-life balance for employees (Beauregard, Henry, & Leverty, 2018).
• Gather evidence on how to make it work: BillionMinds has a report: How to Make Remote Work, Work. These resources can help managers think of remote work arrangements as a source of strategic advantage rather than a difficulty to be overcome.
• Prove YOU can do remote work: BillionMinds offers remote work certification packages for both employees and managers, and you can get a “Fundamentals of Remote Work” certificate within 2 weeks.
• Build a plan: Think about how you will make this arrangement work well for you, your colleagues, and your manager. This could include goals, timelines, expected working hours, and communication strategies.

During the Meeting

The preparation you have done puts you in an excellent position to have a clear dialogue. As you enter the discussion, be aware that your manager may have reasons that remote work is unfamiliar to them. For example, they may not have received enough training to understand how to manage remote or hybrid teams. So be prepared to compromise and understand that you may not come to an agreement in the meeting itself. Here are some specific tips on how to run the meeting that we’ve seen work:

• Be clear about your reasons: Be clear about your reasons for wanting to work remotely, and how it will benefit both you and the company. Perhaps you have a long commute, need more flexibility to balance personal obligations, or just find it more productive to work from home.
• Be realistic: Be realistic about your expectations and acknowledge the challenges that come with working remotely. Demonstrate how you plan to improve your skills, and how you will deal with issues.
• Demonstrate your readiness: If you have gained your Fundamentals of Remote Work certificate, show it to your manager, and explain how you are working toward the Remote Work Professional certification. (Note: you may tweak this based on your relationship with your manager. Some managers will see this as evidence of your seriousness – others would prefer you to discuss any professional development plans with them beforehand)
• Propose your plan: Come prepared with a detailed plan for how you would like to work remotely, including specific goals, timelines, and communication strategies. Be open to feedback and suggestions from your manager and be willing to compromise if needed.
• Emphasize your commitment: Make sure your manager knows that you are committed to the company and the success of your team, and that working remotely will not compromise your productivity or availability.
• Help the manager see the benefits to them: Remote and hybrid work environments are the future. This is an opportunity for your manager to develop the skills of managing remote and hybrid teams with a willing accomplice (you). If you are going through your remote work professional certification, make your manager aware that the Remote/Hybrid Manager certification is also available and is integrated with your own training.

By following these tips, you can increase your chances of successfully persuading your boss to allow you to work remotely. Remember, the key is to be proactive, communicate clearly, and demonstrate your reliability and responsibility as an employee.

How Can You Increase Your Chances?

If you are not working remotely already there may well be some resistance to it in your organization. Bear in mind that unless you report directly to the CEO the resistance may not just be from your manager. They may be operating in a climate that currently is opposed to remote work, or is looking to bring employees back the office. If you understand this, it will help you approach the negotiation more effectively.

If you are running into difficulty persuading your manager, here are three strategies that you can try:

• Prove your skills first: In this scenario, you START by gaining your Remote Work Professional Certification. After you have accomplished this, your manager lets you work remotely.
• Start slow: In this scenario, you start by working 1 or 2 days out of the office, then gradually increase over time as you show that it works
• Trial period: In this scenario, you work outside of the office for 1 month, and have weekly discussions with your manager to see what can be improved. After a month you discuss if or how the trial can be made permanent

You may find that by using one or even all of these strategies you can begin start your path towards working remotely. The path may not be straightforward, but the good news is that by going through this negotiation you will learn more about how to do great work outside the office, and how to make it work for you AND your organization. Good luck!

The visibility trap is a term used to describe the focus on being visible or seen as successful, rather than actually being successful. It is often seen in the business world, where people may prioritize public image and reputation over actually achieving their goals and objectives. Recently popularized by Mary McGill’s book of the same name, she uses the term as a study of sexism and online surveillance, but it has been applied to a much broader sense of the idea.

One of the main dangers of the visibility trap is that it can lead to a lack of focus on the things that truly matter. Instead of working towards tangible goals and results, individuals may become more concerned with how they are perceived by others and may engage in behaviors that are more about promoting their own image than about achieving real success.

Another issue with the visibility trap is that it can lead to a lack of authenticity. In an effort to maintain a certain image, individuals may present a false or idealized version of themselves to the world, rather than being genuine and authentic. This can be especially dangerous in leadership roles, where authenticity is often seen as an important quality. According to a study published in the Journal of Business Ethics, authentic leaders are more effective at building trust and inspiring others to follow their vision.

The visibility trap is a term that has gained increasing attention in recent years, as people have become more aware of the dangers of prioritizing image over substance. According to a report published in the Harvard Business Review, the visibility trap can be particularly common in companies, where people may feel pressure to present a successful image to the world in order to win clients and advance their careers.

Visibility and Remote Work

One of the more interesting shifts, as we move into hybrid and remote work scenarios, is that it changes your default state from “visible” to “invisible”. At BillionMinds, we’ve seen employees respond to this in two distinct ways. Some people enjoy the ability to just “get on with things”, make zero effort to make themselves known in the workplace, and effectively disappear. Others double down on their efforts to try and project themselves in the best possible light, exacerbating the challenge of the visibility trap. In reality, both of these approaches can be detrimental as you try to do great work outside of an office and manage your career.

How should I approach visibility in the remote or hybrid workplace?

So what is the balance between being visible enough, and NOT falling into the visibility trap? Well firstly, a well-run team environment should ensure that there is an opportunity for ALL employees to have some measure of visibility. If everyone is doing connected work, a daily standup meeting can be particularly useful, but alternatively, a daily check-in over a shared Slack channel can achieve much the same result – where you simply state what you did since the last checkin, what you are working on, and where you could use help. When these types of check-ins are first implemented they can seem like unnecessary work, but provided you make them efficient, they serve an important purpose.

With measures like this as a baseline if you think you may be prone to falling into the visibility trap, here are some concrete measures you can take:

• Set clear, measurable goals: By setting specific, achievable goals, you can stay focused on what truly matters and avoid becoming too caught up in the pursuit of visibility.
• Practice mindfulness: By being mindful and present in the moment, you can avoid getting caught up in the noise and distractions of the world and stay focused on your priorities.
• Seek feedback: Getting feedback from others can help you gain perspective on your actions and behavior, and can help you identify any areas where you may be prioritizing image over substance.
• Surround yourself with supportive individuals: Having a strong support network of colleagues, mentors, and friends can help keep you grounded and focused on what truly matters.
• Take breaks: Taking breaks and disconnecting from work and social media can help you refocus and recharge, and can help you avoid getting caught up in the pursuit of visibility.
• Practice gratitude: Focusing on the things that you are grateful for can help you stay grounded and motivated, and can help you avoid getting caught up in the pursuit of external validation.

Ultimately the way to portray yourself in the workplace to everyone’s benefit is to ensure that your visibility is an authentic portrayal of who you are, and is a result of the things you do, rather than a disconnected attempt at publicity. Ultimately, the visibility trap can be a hindrance to personal and professional success. It is important to focus on the things that truly matter, rather than becoming too caught up in the pursuit of visibility. By maintaining a clear focus on your goals and priorities, you can avoid falling into the visibility trap and achieve true success.

When we first started BillionMinds, we did a lot of teaching. It’s not surprising – we had a lot of information we wanted to share about how to excel at remote work, and teaching was a great way to get it out. But after a few months, something was troubling us. Was all of this great information we were sharing actually leading to any different behaviors? Were people actually doing ANYTHING materially different than before?

So we decided to find out, and frankly, the results were pretty disappointing. Sure, we found some people who had been really positively impacted by our teaching, but many people were pretty much unchanged from before. Some were actually LESS happy. They KNEW what they needed to change, but they felt unable to act on it in any meaningful way.

What were we doing wrong? After lots of interviews and additional research, we realized we were failing our students in a bunch of different ways including:

• By using 2-hour sessions, we loaded our users with FAR too much theoretical knowledge upfront, so they couldn’t even remember all of it, let alone figure out how to implement it.
• In an attempt to make the sessions practical, we would tell users how they should implement the concepts, with no respect for individual work styles
• By creating no space for students to actively practice the concept, we relied on them to figure out how to turn knowledge into behavior change

As we learned all this, we also figured out something even more profound. Almost every attempt to teach people soft skills in business today is fundamentally flawed. We started asking people about personal productivity books or personal development books they had read, offsites they had attended, and almost every time the same pattern emerged – some knowledge garnered, a few insights gained, but nothing fundamentally changing, except making the student more disappointed in themselves. Self-help basically doesn’t work, because as a species we aren’t particularly good at figuring out HOW to help ourselves.

But there is good news hidden among all this disappointment. For centuries we’ve known how to ACTUALLY move beyond book learning and into behavior change. Blacksmiths know, carpenters know, pianists know, and if you have ever driven a car or taken a golf lesson YOU instinctively know. What all of these have in common is how you embed the skills. It’s through practice, and with each practice session building on the last. You move from apprentice to master, and very little of how you get there is in a book. Building soft skills is almost exactly the same.

The Principles of Soft Skills Development

So, using these ideas as a starting point, we created some basic principles, that now form our approach to soft skills development – something we now follow resolutely in our Remote Work Skills Development platform. Here are the principles we use every day…

1. Combine Learning (Theoretical Knowledge) with Doing (Practical Application)
2. Ensure that the practical application reinforces how to make the concept real for them
3. Focus on evaluating the practical application of knowledge rather than a theoretical understanding of it
4. Make each combination short (<10 minutes), and focused on a single concept
5. Make everything self-paced so students can vary their pace based on how familiar or unfamiliar the concepts are
6. Ensure that each combination builds upon the previous one
7. Measure success by the application of the skill
8. Provide feedback to the students so they can feel the skill is being developed

None of these principles are rocket science, but it’s pretty staggering how much as individuals and organizations we spend on supposed solutions that ignore most or even all of them. Any personal productivity book you have ever bought probably tells you EXACTLY how you should implement its findings, ignoring that you are different from the author. Every offsite you have been to bombards you with knowledge only for you to forget 90% of what you have learned within a week. And beyond an opaque exam, almost no solutions provide you with any form of feedback that you are actually doing things better.

So before you beat yourself up over not being the better person the latest self-help book told you you could be – remember, the problem is almost certainly not the student, it’s the teacher.

FAQs on Remote Work Soft Skills Development

IS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO DEVELOP SOFT SKILLS FROM A BOOK OR THEORY COURSE?

No, but you need discipline. First, validate that the author’s approach can work for you (don’t just take their word for it). Once you have decided to continue, slow down your reading (often dramatically) to ensure that you are really absorbing the information. If the book has exercises, do them. If not, create your own exercises. Once you’ve completed the exercises reflect on what you have learned, and don’t move forward until you have done them. Reading and implementing the changes in one good book will be worth way more than reading 10 average ones.

CAN YOU USE THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE TO REFINE A PRACTICED BEHAVIOR?

Absolutely! Once the behavior is embedded then you can maximize the benefit it brings with more theoretical knowledge. Think of it like being a great piano player. Once the pianists master their craft, they can take any piece of sheet music and play it well with minimal practice. But it ONLY works in that order 

WHAT ARE THE SOFT SKILLS YOU NEED FOR REMOTE WORK?

At this point, we’ve discovered five that are common across all great remote workers. These are: Organization, Control, Motivation, Balance and Resilience. For more details see our article – 5 Skils for Remote Work and Work From Home.

WHAT IS THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE GOOD FOR IN A BUSINESS CONTEXT?

Many things. It allows us to make shortcuts because we know in advance what will work and what will not. And it allows us to perform rapid thought experiments before expensive trial and error. Knowledge is a beautiful thing, it’s just not the complete recipe for soft skills development.

Around a Billion of us work remotely at least one day a week. We’re not great judges of crowds at BillionMinds, but that sounds like a lot of people! Yet despite so many of us getting work done outside of a formal office setting, very few have given serious thought on how to do it really well. Over the past few years, the team at BillionMinds has been studying thousands of remote workers, talking to people who do it really well, people who just get by, and people who really struggle with it. In the process, we discovered a lot of things that surprised us – things we want to share with you today.

Most People Struggle With At Least SOME Aspects of Remote Work

When given the chance, 87% of people choose to work outside a formal office setting – that’s not surprising because of all the freedom it affords. But once you are actually doing it, there can be challenges. Sure, we are beyond the height of pandemic restrictions, where many of us had to find space for partners and kids to get things done, plus try to be a loved one, parent, and assistant teacher all in one go. But that doesn’t mean it’s all sunshine and roses. Our research shows that 90% of people who work remotely on a regular basis, struggle with at least one of the following: lack of enthusiasm, switching off from work, or connectedness with others.

Of course, none of that means that remote work is INHERENTLY bad for us, just that most people have not figured out how to do it well yet. We mentioned that 90% figure, but on the other side of the equation is a pretty remarkable 10% – people who, through a combination of experience and conscious skills development, have got this remote thing figured out. So, it’s doable – it just takes an understanding of what the issues are, and a commitment to developing habits that are compatible with GREAT remote work.

It REALLY IS a Skills Problem

There are some great tools you can get to help you do remote work more effectively, such as those recommended by B2BReviews. But there is some merit to the phrase “a bad workman blames his tools”. The fact is that the best tools in the world are no substitute for great remote work skills. In our research, we found that the top 10% of remote workers vary quite a bit in the tools they use – some rely on the same software you probably use. Others have developed a niche set of tools that works well for them, and still others are “MacGyvers” building out their own systems to perfectly optimize every day. But whatever these people do – they have all discovered, focused on, and embedded the same skills.

Skill One: Organization

Having SOME level of organization has always been important, and it’s no different in remote and hybrid work environments. But what may have changed is WHAT needs to be organized. If you work remotely you are probably working much more asynchronously, and you are working in systems that are designed to make it really easy to find things. Is it really worth making hundreds of decisions each day on where to file stuff, when anything you do need is just a quick search away? Whether it is or not is largely up to you, but the top remote workers have used going remote as an excuse to question and optimize their organizing habits, favoring systems and processes that ensure that what they need is always available and always easy to find. Often that means a less complex organizing structure and using cloud-based storage over local storage.

Skills Two: Control

Remote environments are typically more ambiguous and unstructured. That can lead many people to feel that they lose control over their day. This can be losing the ability to get everything done when you want to, losing control over your calendar as other people fill it up, or even losing the ability to focus as others interrupt you. Top remote workers know how to retain just enough control, but they also know how to balance that against the needs of others in their team.

Skill Three: Motivation

Are you always excited to start the day? Now, be honest about it. As work and the rest of life start to merge, almost all of us struggle with this. In our research, we’ve found that many people find it difficult to start the day effectively and it’s often because they never really finished it the day before. Great remote workers know how to create environments that improve their motivation, and are comfortable with riding the natural ebbs and flows of motivation that happen during the day, week, and even year.

Skills Four: Balance

Work/Life balance used to be a simple equation – less time at the office = more time doing everything else. But with everything merging together that doesn’t really work anymore. The remote workers who have really figured things out now understand that balance is really about doing great work in the context of life, and that for work to work, your life has to work. They put into place the right systems to ensure that they focus on ALL aspects of their lives, and in doing so, are sustainably effective at remote work.

Skill Five: Resilience

As we mentioned, remote work environments are typically less structured and more ambiguous. That means that new requirements can come out of the blue that force you to rip up the best-laid plans. Does that mean you shouldn’t bother planning at all? Well, that’s not what we’ve seen. Instead, people who excel at remote work DO make plans but do them to create a baseline of understanding on WHAT to change when the unexpected happens. They basically act like a sports team, knowing what they intend to do, but always prepared to adapt.

Final Thought: About Neurodiversity

You’ll notice that as we’ve explained these skills, we have not prescribed a specific HOW to work on each of these skills. That’s because there IS no specific how. You don’t have to get up at 5am to be great at remote work, nor do you have to turn every to-do item into a calendar invite. There is no ONE great trick that only the pros know. The techniques that work best for you are the ones that fit best with who you are. We’ve designed the BillionMinds program to help everybody discover THEIR best remote work techniques, and in doing so truly embed the five skills they need.

Quick FAQs on the 5 Essential Skills for Remote Work

IS REMOTE WORK A SOFT SKILL?

Not exactly. Most accurately, remote work skills are a set of soft skills (Organization, Control, Motivation, Balance, and Resilience) that have been honed to thrive in a remote or hybrid work environment. Working outside of an office IS fundamentally different, and until you have been doing it for a long time, you probably don’t fully realise how different. But by refining the five skills we’ve outlined here, you can thrive in a remote work environment.

HOW DO I SHOW MY REMOTE WORK SKILLS ON LINKEDIN OR A RESUME?

Well, the easiest way is to prove you have them through certification. All BillionMinds users can study for and pass our Remote Work Professional Certification – it’s included in their subscription. The certification can be posted on LinkedIn and included in a Resume.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD REMOTE EMPLOYEE?

Well, simply put, they have honed the skills discussed in this article, all in the context of remote work.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ME TO GET GREAT AT REMOTE WORK?

This is a bit of a bad news/good news story. Most of the people we studied who were great at remote work had been on a personal journey that took years. However, our program is designed to bring that down dramatically. You can gain a deep understanding of the changes you need to make within a few days, and start embedding new behaviors that will help you for the rest of your working life within a few weeks.

When we talk to employers about remote work, one of the main benefits they cite is a reduction in costs. The savings can indeed be impressive at first sight. You can stop maintaining the fancy office buildings and parking lots. You can save on heating, lighting, security, and if you are a tech company, the obligatory free Mountain Dew. In fact, the cost reductions are so significant for some employers that they’ve told us they would like to return to the office but just cannot justify the move financially.

But, once you consider all factors, is remote work REALLY cheaper? The short answer is probably yes, but if you implement remote work properly, the savings may not be as significant as you might expect. As you find out how to really make remote work work you will spend less on some things and more on others. Here’s how it breaks down:

Spend Less On: Dedicated Office Space

You can save significant money on maintaining buildings, alongside heating, lighting, and security. Where possible you can sell buildings or terminate leases. Many organizations are doing exactly that, which in some markets is creating a significant surplus of office space and corresponding downward pressure on the market overall.

And More On: CoWorking Space

WeWork may be a damaged brand, but co-working spaces are here to stay, and they aren’t just for individuals and startups. Businesses of any size can benefit from the flexibility of these environments, flexing up and down as business conditions change. Co-working spaces can provide many of the benefits of a regular office, with the added benefit of allowing your employees to dramatically reduce their commute times. Through co-working spaces, you are moving the office to your people.

Employees are becoming increasingly attracted to co-working spaces for a number of reasons. They can combat feelings of loneliness and disconnectedness. Co-working spaces are often seen as more vibrant than traditional office settings. And spontaneous interactions can happen not just within companies but between them. We’ve seen multiple examples of partnerships that have emerged from co-working environments.

If you are going to spend money on co-working spaces, consider creating an arrangement with a national network of them. Remote workers can be located anywhere, and remote workspaces are also hugely helpful when your employees are traveling.

Spend Less on: The In-Office Toolkit

The stationery room has way less in it than it used to. But with no people in your building, you don’t need them at all. The same applies to desks, chairs, monitors, phones – pretty much anything in the standard employee toolkit.

And More on: The Remote Workers Toolkit

But of course employees still need those things, and because they are not in a standardized workspace anymore precisely what they need will vary. Great remote-first employers typically provide a suggested remote work toolkit for employees, either offering it through an online store or reimbursing employees for it. B2BReviews offers key recommendations for what should be in a remote work toolkit here.

The toolkit will continue to evolve of course. Over the next few years, there will also be a dramatic improvement in capabilities offered through Video Conferencing, Virtual Assistants and the Metaverse. Collectively these will serve to create a much richer remote work experience that overcomes many of the challenges remote workers face today. To access these services your employees will need new hardware and software that is available to them wherever they are.

Spend Less on: External Business Travel

Until recently, face-to-face was really the only effective way to get a lot of business done. The pandemic forced that to change, and as we have exited those restrictions, many companies have continued to see a reduction in business travel. Going forward, video conferencing and metaverse investments will increase further the amount of business that you can do remotely.

And More on: Internal Business Travel

Gathering together is a natural human instinct and can lead to closer relationships and spontaneous interactions that are very difficult to replicate in the virtual world. Organizations that excel at remote work usually gather employees physically together regularly – often as commonly as once per quarter. These gatherings typically have three complementary goals – to strengthen ties between employees, to increase the connection between employee and employer, and to drive innovation through a different work style. They are ostensibly a reimagination of the company offsite – one that reflects the new needs of the remote workforce. As your workforce becomes increasingly distributed, most employees will need to travel to wherever you gather.

Your organization may devolve this to the team level, do it at the company level, or do a combination of the two, but spending money on this helps ensure that remote work does not make employees remote from each other and their company.

Spend Less on: Centralized Infrastructure

What is the point of a centralized data center when your employees are not located anywhere near it? The same applies to physical infrastructure – printers, physical meeting rooms – even cafeterias.

And More on: Distributed Infrastructure

As employees become distributed, it makes more sense for the infrastructure that supports them to also be distributed – largely on demand. Your adoption of cloud-based services will increase, and physical infrastructure will be accessed through arrangements with co-working spaces and providers such as FedEx. There will be an ever-increasing need for high bandwidth connections to wherever your employees are located.

Spend Less on: Localized Employee Support

For companies with one or a small number of offices, it often makes sense to provide employee assistance services locally, either physically in the office, or with specialists local to the office that understand the local conditions. However, once employees are distributed nationally or internationally, the benefit of this kind of service diminishes.

And More on: Distributed Employee Assistance Programs

Once your employees are everywhere, the challenges they face become more diverse, and reflect as much where they live as where they work. Not only that but as more employees work out of the office, the uptake of Employee Assistance Programs is increasing. Some of this appears to be related to the challenges of remote work itself, with employees finding it difficult to separate work from life and a corresponding deterioration of relationships.

If you do not have a formalized EAP, now is likely the time to consider one with national coverage that includes effective mental health support, relationship, and financial counseling.

Spend Less on: Professional Speakers and On-Site Training

Guest speakers can be awesome, and for all the dud one-day training sessions you’ve had, it’s likely you’ve been in one or two that have stayed with you. However, in a remote-first environment, the impact of these types of sessions is often severely diminished. Technology has not advanced sufficiently for trainers and speakers to create a meaningful immersive connection with their audience. So in general you will likely reduce the number of these, focusing on high-impact sessions that are delivered when your employees gather physically.

And More on: Self-Paced Learning and Development

Distance learning has advanced dramatically in the last decade, and with it, our understanding of how it can meet the needs of neurodiverse students and employees. As individuals, we learn best at different times of day, in different ways, and at different paces. Fortunately, well-structured self-paced learning environments can accommodate all of this, and lead to better results overall.

In addition to investing in self-paced learning and development generally, consider that your employees need SPECIFIC training on how to excel at working outside of a formal office. And this should not just be theory – it needs to translate to behaviors that create motivated, productive remote employees and a high trust relationship between employees, their colleagues, and their managers. BillionMinds offers exactly this – you can find out more here.

Spend Less on: Some Wages and Benefits

Once you are a remote-first organization, you can hire from anywhere. As your pool of available talent increases exponentially, you will be able to optimize some roles based on cost, for example by paying employees less if they live in certain areas. In other cases, roles that needed to be full-time will be able to transfer to hourly, which may reduce both salary and benefits costs to your organization.

And More on: Other Wages and Benefits

Employers will only be able to pay employees less from certain regions for so long. In fact, some employers are already paying people the same regardless of where they live, which is starting to create competitive pressures in the war for talent. Over time, technology will make it even easier for employees to find higher-paying employees, which will level the playing field further. As these shifts happen, employers may well pay MORE for top talent that aligns with their most strategic objectives, but do so in the confidence that they have been able to source talent that will yield the best business results.

Summing It All Up

Remote work environments will radically change how work is done, and create HUGE business opportunities for organizations ready to take advantage of it. There certainly are cost benefits to be had by switching to remote, but in the medium term, by far the greater benefits will come from the talents of a remote workforce armed with the skills, technology, and support they need to do their best work. Organizations that seize this opportunity now can position themselves with a major competitive advantage.