(Editor's note: On February 1, I wrote my first blog post in this space about my personal "Art to Start" and what I encountered as I started Goff + Marketing. Here now, three months in, is Chapter Two of this journey, which focuses on my experience of working solo.)
A colleague of mine recently presented at South x Southwest to a packed room audience of 400 people. The topic? Working remotely.
He and I were catching up today and commiserated on what we are both encountering, he as a former agency executive who worked remotely and is now starting his own consultancy, and me as my own boss with the marketing consultant shingle hanging outside my home office now for the past three months. If attendance at his SxSW conference is an indicator, many others are also curious with what it means to be a remote worker.
What personally is ironic is that I started my professional career as a remote employee. I worked in Florida for a publishing company headquartered in Chicago and with a Kansas City office, which is where my management was located. I covered the Southeast and learned quickly that self-discipline was an absolute mandatory if one expected to succeed as a single worker operating out of a Florida apartment. I was on the road frequently in this job but it wasn't easy as a single male, with a beach about a mile away, to wake up those mornings when home and consider the work day versus the many options for fun in south Florida.
Fast forward to today. Remote working conditions are incredibly easy - technology that is location agnostic makes it simple to connect and produce from anywhere. What's lost, and thus a challenge, is the face-to-face human interaction.
I miss my office environment with the energy and creativity that was on display every day. I miss the actual experience of "going to work." I miss the camaraderie that comes with hallway conversations that lead to big ideas. Sure, the commute was no fun but I felt a part of something as I decompressed on the drive home every evening. Now, my commute is up 14 steps every morning to the home office.
What's it take to succeed working on your own? Here are a few suggestions based upon my experience to date:
Network, network, network. I've found that my regular (almost daily) coffee meetings with colleagues and prospects have served as my proxy for no longer having an office team that I'm around every day. Use the time networking to not only develop your business but to learn - make sure that you're connecting with a broad group that not only can provide business opportunities but learning opportunities as well.
Establish new rituals that provide energy and cleanse your mind. It's easy to become cocooned in the home office. Build in time in your day to get up, get outside, take a brisk 10-minute walk, and clear the head. (Just make sure that when you go outside that you don't suddenly get distracted by the flower bed that needs weeding!)
Own your office space. Limit distractions. Children, a spouse, a pet - all cause distractions for the worker who is trying to crunch on a project at home. Do the simple things to limit distractions - close your door, make sure you have a space that is truly yours versus working from the dining room table or the couch, and don't answer your door or home phone unless it's a necessity.
Find those that you can share success with...and failure too. You no longer have an office work team. So, create one. Maintain regular contact with a mentor or with a friend/colleague you can use for ideas, feedback, or to share a success or failure story. Working as an individual out of a home office doesn't mean that you have to cut off regular contact with the outside world.
Like - I mean really like - what you do. It's a challenge. And, given that challenge, you'd better well like what you're doing...and I mean really like what you're doing. That passion translates into the needed discipline to generate the ideas, to do the work, to get on the phone with clients...and to succeed! If you're going to embark on this journey, your first question to yourself should be "do I like what I'm doing well enough to take on this remote working challenge?"
That's it - my suggestions on how you make this remote work opportunity meaningful and successful.
Are there other ideas? Sure. In fact, email me (mgoff@goffmarketing.com) with your suggestions and I'll publish them here. I look forward to hearing from you!
No comments:
Post a Comment