Remote work has existed for decades as an alternative to the traditional in-office work environment. When it first became a viable option—people have been working remotely since the dawn of email in 1971 and before via telephone—distributed work was often met with trepidation by companies and employees alike. In recent years, however, working remotely, “working from home,” and other similar terms have become commonplace.
One of the best parts of my job is how diverse my team is. As the Head of Revenue Marketing at Asana, the people I work with are spread across the globe and timezones. Even when everyone returns to the office, I’ll still have a distributed team with team members in the US, Asia, Europe, and Australia. Given the makeup of my team, I had a lot of experience managing a distributed team even before the world suddenly shifted to remote work.
The shift to remote work at the beginning of the pandemic took most of us by surprise. More than a year later, a return to office is finally in sight for many of us, but we know it won’t be as simple as unlocking the doors. For one thing, there will be a lot of doors. With offices in nine countries, the global Asana team will still be distributed even when we return to in-person collaboration.
With remote working as the present and the future, the workplace will never be the same again. And despite the challenges that come with managing a virtual team, the positive change it’s had with many teams and companies cannot be denied. One thing that seems to be both a challenge and an opportunity? Building trust in your virtual team. On the one hand, remote work can be an inherent sign of trust between employer and employee.
