Today I surpassed one of my fears thanks to a 10 digit telephone number and a 6000 mile conversation.Eighteen months ago I was running a ‘traditional’ company….eight salaried staff, a monthly wage bill from hell and all the stresses and strains of staff sick days, balancing the books and keeping several balls in the air. Then we decided to work towards a remote, outsourcing model. What’s that? You shed staff and outsource your functions to associates and freelances and, in doing so, reduce overhead, staff problems and, hopefully, up the profit!
Well, we did that, and, now, a year and a half on from that momentus – and frightening – day, we have made the final leap from the diving board. Last thursday my colleague went to Argentina for three months to work remotely. It was a huge psychological step but, a few days later, I’m wondering what all the fuss was about.
We bought a special Skype phone number with a local STD code and, in the afternoons, we now transfer the office phone number to that number for the price of a local phone call. And, yes, it’s answered in Buenos Aires by my colleague and life goes on. Now that’s exciting because of the possibilities it creates. You can’t live the remote dream – greater freedom with a great salary – unless you are prepared to change your way of working. Right now I am typing this blog in Pret A Manager and feel far more chilled than being in the office!
What a great blog. I once worked remotely from Thailand for a couple of weeks and no-one realised that I was not back at my desk in Sheffield, UK. I use freelancers all the time one is based in the US…it’s a great way to work. I’ll be following the blogs with interest!
Congratulations on implementing what must have been quite a big decision not to mention the risks it presented. A word of warning though; The Remote Model isn’t always the best option available for all business situations and could result in additional cost and time.
I work for a large utility company and last year the project I was involved in procured an offshore company to manage the Unit and System test phase. The quality of the testing was poor due to their lack of system and process knowledge and the distance created communication issues. This decision extended the User Acceptance test phase by many more weeks and put the business accreditation at risk.
Good luck with remote working.