Telecommuting Part 1: How Remote Working is Embedded in Our Company Culture

Whether you call it telecommuting, remote working, or simply working from home, most of us are doing it these days and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. As people and businesses come to terms with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are all facing a new reality and many companies have been forced to adapt new working practices overnight. Like TWi, most employers’ first instinct was to ensure that their staff are supported should they unfortunately fall ill. This was followed quickly by wondering, “how do we adapt to our new reality?”.

Since 2011, when TWi was founded, remote working has been ingrained in our culture. Over half of our team work remotely full-time and are distributed everywhere from Kerry to Krakow. Although we have an office in Carrigaline, Co. Cork, the vast majority of our team take advantage of various flexible working options.

While our team enjoys the flexibility and benefits of remote working, it also works very well for our clients. Thanks to our remote working culture, we serve some of the largest technology and life sciences companies across the US, Europe, and Asia. The current pandemic is disastrous on many levels, but we are very thankful that our systems, culture, and team can continue serving our clients without any major disruption. Although our in-person technical writing training courses are on hold for the foreseeable future, we have designed our delivery to suit a virtual environment that allows participants to learn in a fun, engaging, and practical way.

Over the past while, I’ve seen many, many posts on “how to work from home”, “remote working top tips”, and similar topics. The old saying “all you need is an internet connection” is true to a certain extent, but we believe that a productive remote working environment needs to be cultivated company-wide to ensure it supports team members, efficiently achieves company goals, and, of course, delivers a high-quality service to clients. Remote working has been part of our culture since the foundation of the company and we believe it has contributed to TWi’s success.

Do you find yourself unexpectedly at a new starting point, trying to get systems established to enable your staff to work effectively from home? Do you consider this to be an opportunity to build a remote working culture that will positively and permanently change your business? If so, we would like to share our learnings and best practices in a series of mini-blogs. You can expect tips and insights into how our team handles:

• Policies, procedures, and technical infrastructure
• Ensuring ergonomics for safety in a telecommuting context
• Onboarding new team members
• Learning and upskilling
• Balancing working from home with the demands of parenting
• Managing remote teams and projects
• Keeping lines of communication open

While these blogs outline some of the best practices and approaches we take to successfully achieve a remote working culture, I must emphasise that this would not be possible without a trusting give-and-take approach with all team members. The policies, procedures, and other insights provide a strong framework, but it’s the people who give TWi its heart.

I hope these bite-size blogs provide some useful insights into how we have achieved a remote working culture. If you would like any further information to support you in your journey, please feel free to get in touch. Keep well everyone.

Images Used

• Image by Chris Montgomery, licensed by Unsplash
• Image by Social.cut, licensed by Unsplash