08/28/2018

Embracing Virtual Work: The Time Is Right

Often, the smartest minds available are thousands of miles away

There was a whiff of irony in the air at last week’s ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Chicago. For a conference set in one of the country’s association hubs, with a focus (as usual) on bringing people together, there was a lot of discussion about working apart.

I couldn’t possibly have hit every session about virtual work, remote work and the freelance economy, but two that I did attend touched on some astute points about managing an association in 2018: Often, the smartest minds available are thousands of miles away; they can offer significant value at a time when the job market is notoriously tight; and their best role might not even be as full-time employees.

One Monday session, “Productively Manage a Virtual Work Environment,” covered technology tools like Slack and Dropbox, which enable close interaction among remote and onsite teams. But a huge portion of its focus was on the cultural aspects: how organizations need to set clear expectations for remote workers—such as requiring them to have a productive home work environment and establishing when they’re on the clock—and what steps can be taken to make people who work remotely feel like they’re part of the team.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.