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Working Remotely Question
When you employ someone remotely, does it matter where they’re based?
Would you be just as happy employing someone hundreds of miles away as someone working remotely just 10 miles from your office?
Does being local still have value for occasional face-to-face meetings, understanding the local area and building stronger working relationships, or has technology made location almost irrelevant?
I’d also love to hear from remote workers.
Would you rather work for a company that’s close enough to visit occasionally, or does location make no difference to you?
Interested to hear people’s real experiences rather than theory.
Matthew Laakvand and Christina Relf7 Comments-
Good question, Simon. I work remotely, from my home/office, unless a client wants me to work from theirs. I think face-to-face meetings are important. I also think, when doing contract or fractional work, that it’s important to connect properly with your colleagues, so some in-person days and/or meetings are essential. However, depending on which of the services I offer are required, I can and do work entirely remotely for some clients and it makes no difference at all. I guess it’s ‘horses for courses’ really. You need to be able to ‘sense’ or simply ask whether clients would prefer to work with someone local, or at least with someone who is happy to meet with/work alongside them sometimes.
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@christinareal-word-com My own feeling is that, in almost every aspect of life and business, moderation and communication are usually the key to success. Remote working has brought huge benefits, but perhaps the best solutions aren’t found at either extreme.
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Interesting topic Simon
I often navigate toward people more locally, whether thats clients, business partners or companies I have worked for in the past .
I guess psychologically It has a better trust perception and that you can get on with them better because they are not that far from you, you can meet up and discuss things face to face if you need to or come to the office now and again etc.
Having said that, I have worked with people and have clients that are fairly local but have never ever met them face to face. Their location hasn’t been a benefit or a barrier really so I guess it is less important in reality.
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Hi Simon
I work from home and have clients all over the country and it seems to work fine although I do like to meet face to face with my local clients. I do make an effort to speak to fairly regularly to the remote clients. In the accountancy industry I definitely believe, depending on the type of work, there is something to be said for having a local accountant who you can meet with.
Technology helps with lots of things but I still believe people buy people at the end of the day and I work hard at building good relationships with my clients. -
I quite like the hybrid model , so I can mix both in person and remote workin. Have done for some years now.
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