The future of work: Harnessing the benefits of the remote workplace

Technology is enabling remote work, and technologists are benefiting from it

The world of work has fundamentally changed over the past two years. Before COVID-19 inspired lockdowns, there were some companies that had embraced a remote-first strategy, but they were the exception rather than the rule.

Today, we’ve seen an 180-degree change in the attitudes of some of the largest companies in the world, embracing remote work as a default model for delivering services.

But what is a remote-first company? Does it mean that they have no offices?

The answer is that remote-first companies are building their systems and processes to enable their people to work from anywhere they have an internet connection. So you could be in Stockholm, Argentina, Nigeria or even Budapest and your work experience would be no different from your co-worker sitting at their office desk in London.

Some remote-first companies still have large offices, but others don’t have any official locations, existing only as a dedicated team of innovators bringing their collective intelligence together to drive the organization’s goals.

Putting people at the center

The truth is that remote-first companies understand that being remote-first isn’t about accommodating those people who want to work from anywhere. They’ve seen that there are massive benefits from tapping into the skills and capabilities of a global workforce. They find the right person for the job, not just the best person in a specific location. They’ve also seen benefits in savings on real estate and, more importantly, found that people are more productive when you let them work where they’re most comfortable.

The Andela Technology Network has been built with this reality in mind, allowing people to connect to the right skills, wherever the company or the skills may be.

Previously we would see that companies would only look at remote workers as temporary workforce augmentation, filling a gap in their existing skills base in the short term. However, this focus has changed, and organizations are looking for long-term team members, allowing these technologists to form an integral part of larger IT teams.

When we’ve spoken to members of the Andela Technology Network we get the same feedback – remote working enables a better work-life balance, allows people to focus on work, and to be creative. Beyond team members save money on commuting and have a level of control over their working environment that they never had before.

Beyond that, remote-first companies have a fundamentally different view on how people collaborate and communicate. When teams are physically located in the same place, face to face meetings take precedence. However, when you adopt a remote-first strategy, meetings are optimized to maximize the participation of distributed team members.

Change how you communicate

For companies with truly distributed workforces, communication moves to an asynchronous mode. This means that you no longer expect people to be available at a specific time, but rather teams can pass information between stakeholders without the need for this to happen at a specific time or place. This represents a fundamental shift in how many companies operate, but the benefits can’t be understated.

The other massive change is how the knowledge is shared and retained within an organization. Traditionally training and knowledge transfer was done in-person, but we expect that written and digital mediums will come to the fore with training happening when people have time, rather than having to interrupt work to attend training sessions.

The heart of Andela

This philosophy is at the heart of Andela. From the outset, we’ve made it our goal to link technologists from across the world to companies looking for top skills. As a remote-first company ourselves, we don’t believe that where you live should stop you from working for the world’s largest companies. It’s this mission that has seen companies like Softbank invest in our vision of the future of work.

By linking technologists across the world and ensuring that they can securely and consistently collaborate with their colleagues we’re able to help companies build remote-first companies. Something that enables them to access the best skills, irrespective of where they are.

If you found this blog useful, check out our other blog posts for more essential insights!

Are you a developer interested in growing your software engineering career? Apply to join the Andela Talent Network today.