What do you do with younger leaders who want to work remotely or from home? Is the office culture a dying culture?
Bryan Miles is founder and CEO of BELAY Solutions a rapidly growing virtual company, voted by Entrepreneur Magazine as the #1 workplace culture in American in 2017. Bryan talks about how to create a great office culture, how to handle the hybrid of virtual and physical team members and much more.
Welcome to Episode 175 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Guest Links
Bryan on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | BELAY | Virtual Culture: The Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore
Links Mentioned
Rethink Leadership in Atlanta Georgia, April 25-27th 2018
The Canadian Church Leaders Conference, Barrie Ontario, June 14-16th 2018
TrainedUp Use coupon code CAREY for 10% off for life!
They’re Talking Behind My Back: Remote Workers Feel Unsupported
Learn the 4 Principles That Helped This Virtual Company Become One of the Best Cultures in America
Small-Sized Companies: The Best Company Cultures in 2017
3 Insights from This Episode
1. Virtual workers can often produce more results than office staff in less time
Work culture is changing. There’s a growing number of people who prefer to leave an office environment and work from home. Why? Flexible hours and no commute are big perks, but even more than that is the idea that you can actually be MORE productive when you aren’t working in a traditional office setting.
Sound odd? Think about it. So many distractions can come in a typical 8 hour work day. Knocks on the door, longer lunch breaks, water cooler sessions, unnecessary meetings – all those things chip away at real-time work. In many cases, a 35 hour work week can easily be accomplished in 15 or 20.
Research finds that often working from home creates a more well-rounded, happy employee who produces greater results for the organization. And with much less overhead, a virtual employee can be a big win for both sides of the paycheck.
2. Set clear expectations for a virtual role
People who work from home aren’t lazy or anti-social. They’re actually efficient, results-oriented people wanting to maximize both their work and personal lives. But employers should have reasonable accountability measures in place.
Make sure to create a set of expectations that equal the results you desire. If you don’t see evidence of those results within a reasonable amount of time, have a clarifying conversation to better define the role.
3. Work culture is still relevant in a virtual workplace
Work culture holds an organization together. When people feel like they are connected it creates a healthy momentum to strive forward. There are ways to connect even in a virtual workplace. Bryan offers some great advice that’s definitely working well for his 65 virtual employees.
- Leaders have to practice what they preach. When a leader enacts a policy, it has to be something he is willing to do, too. The more employees see that, the better and stronger the culture.
- Find a regular way to casually touch base. As a way to relate and connect with each other, Bryan’s team shares their weekly hi’s and low’s every Friday.
- Being together face to face still matters. You don’t want people to feel isolated. Hold weekly video conferences to touch base and meet quarterly face to face. Bryan’s team also gathers a few times a year for summits and causal family days to remind everyone of the vision and mission of the business – and have some fun. Check out highlights from BELAY’s Winter Summit, Summer Summit, and Family Day
- Stop using phones and don’t only rely on email. Webcams offer the most authentic connection, but refrain from muting or hiding video feed whenever possible.
- Have a zero tolerance gossip policy. Take your work problems to somebody who can help you with it instead of someone who can do nothing to improve the situation.
Quotes from This Episode
CNLP 175: Bryan Miles on the Rise of Virtual Work and Virtual Workers and Why the Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore Click To Tweet CNLP 175: Bryan Miles on the Rise of Virtual Work and Virtual Workers and Why the Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore Click To Tweet CNLP 175: Bryan Miles on the Rise of Virtual Work and Virtual Workers and Why the Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore Click To Tweet CNLP 175: Bryan Miles on the Rise of Virtual Work and Virtual Workers and Why the Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore Click To TweetThe podcast releases every Tuesday morning
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Next Episode: Margaret Spicer
Families are a huge part of every church, yet often church leaders behave like that isn’t the case. Margaret Spicer leads the Next Gen ministry from Crossway Church in Melbourne, Australia—Australia’s largest Baptist church. She talks about how she got kids, parents and students to become a church wide priority in a way senior leaders love.
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