WorkingVirtually

It is not something new….

When I first started my Continuous Improvement Consulting business two years ago, I never met my first two clients in person. Everything that I did with the clients, from sales, contracts, and project work, was done over Zoom, phone calls, emails, and Google drive. While this concept is new to many people when COVID-19 hit a year ago, it is something that I have done over the past 14 years in different capacities. After having a great conversation last week with a few people, I stopped to think how interesting and comfortable people are becoming with this new way of working.  I decided to go even deeper.  I know how to work remotely and sell. For 2021, I would like to grow up on my own experiences. As we move into 2021, things will still be evolving.

Working virtually in a corporate world

While working in the corporate world, I worked with my Project Teams and my organization virtually. The various reasons why we worked this way was: lack of funding for travel, multi-country involvement, and the urgency to get things done faster when waiting for fund approval, or not everyone could travel. Despite all of these reasons, I could be successful without traveling when the time arises.  Sometimes I could get the Team together for a few days and then finish the work remotely.  But regardless of the situation of doing everything remotely or in person, I successfully overcame the obstacles.  Before all the excellent virtual tools and videos we have today, I used to do the work without seeing people’s faces.  Through the past 14 years, I have learned what has worked for me.

We do have the tools to be successful in a virtual world

Sometimes we need to be reminded that we do have the tools to be successful despite what we may feel.  Many people in 2020 have learned that they can meet and reach more people than they thought possible.  The reality is that I think a lot of us like that we can do this.  We can accomplish more in a shorter amount of time when the need arises. I’m not saying that we should continue to stay remote forever, but we can be successful if we need to keep up this way for a while.  My experience is corporate, and my first two clients have taught me this. The work I did with both of these clients was 100% remote without ever meeting them in person.

Virtual world client experience 

My first client was an international client with a global reach. At the time, the client needed to move fast, and working remotely was our best option to move at a rapid pace.   I never met this client in person or met with them on video.  I completed two big successful projects with the client.   My second client was unique; they did not have a physical office.  The owners and employees were all located in different states.  I met with them on video and even recording some important meetings for the owners when they could not attend meetings. We completed a very successful project with this client as well.    With both of these clients, I was able to do all of the strategic planning, workshops, process mapping, coaching, change management, improvement implementation, and Continuous Improvement plans for the future virtually. 

Hybrid environment

In my work with my clients and the corporate world, I know we can be successful regardless of what is going on globally.  We can do sales meetings, contract negotiations, Team meetings, networking, consulting, and project work while never meeting in person. While I think that in-person does move things along faster and miss the in-person interaction, I think we can continue for virtual for now.  As things start to improve with COVID-19 as the year goes on, I genuinely believe that we will be moving back to doing things in-person, with a balance.  Instead of focusing truly on doing everything in-person, I think there is a place for virtual and in-person.  We need to decide what is best for the situation, but if you need to do something 100% virtually, know that it can be done successfully. Over this past year, we have seen that we should continue to evolve as we move forward.

What are your thoughts about working virtually?

Do you like it or hate it?

” I know we can be successful regardless of what is going on globally.”