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Remote Work & Culture

Please Remember Your Employees Are People Too

There hasn’t been much time for pause. Much time to reflect. I know this is not a private experience and collectively, there is a scent of pandemic life burnout in the air. I hear it in daily conversations. I see it in faces on Zoom calls. I feel it in my heart and soul.

A recent read on “surge capacity” gave me the framework I was seeking to understand more deeply. As a founder and leader of 130+ remote working, military-connected professionals, I know I have to be empowered to empower. (Also, as an Enneagram 5, I tend to overseek context and information to best problem solve daily. In times of crisis, I feel that pressure exponentially.)

In all reality, I am pretty powerless to truly control ANYTHING right now. But what I can do – shine a light. My team isn’t just surviving, there is thriving happening. The grit, hustle, muscle, and enduring resiliency and spirit that’s been a golden thread for my internal team over the past 6 months inspires me daily. At about 20 strong…..9, yes, NINE have experienced additional major life events amidst working FT remotely and pandemic challenges. No lapse in productivity, no balls dropped – and yes, we even offer Unlimited permissive PTO. How is that possible? 3 ingredients: 1 part the culture we work to maintain and instill daily. 1 part the very DNA that courses through military spouses and veterans. 1 part mission-centric passion for the business model we’re growing and scaling.

My reason for sharing? Incredible human beings who are more than “employees” or “a part of a team”. And in the days of pending “all exhausted resources”, I just want to encourage everyone to take time, breathe, and recognize the amazing accomplishments of those around you and also for yourself. Beware, that might look a little bit different than what personal and company-wide – KPI driven 2020 Goals set out looking like in Jan. But success is success and we can’t, I repeat, we CAN NOT, lose opportunities to celebrate right now.

Quick coverage of all the other things experienced by these shining 9 since May: New homes. International relocations. House fires. House floods. Mold demolition orders. Sudden homelessness. Temporary housing. Severe medical scares. ER Room visits. Family loss. Military retirements. Babies. Team transitions. Schooling from home. Quarantine.….the list could go on.

And yet – we are still in business, growing rapidly, and learning even faster. We have new programs launching this Fall that are going to be game-changers. (Stay tuned!!!) We’ve stood up entirely new departments in the last 4 months alone. And have an entire team of department leaders that didn’t exist 12 months ago.

Thank your team. You’ve got time. It might just make all the world of difference.

Are you ready to start building your dream team? Contact Instant Teams to learn how you can start growing your customer support, marketing, tech, or administrative team today!

 

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Written by Instant Teams’ founder and COO, Erica McMannes.

Instant Teams proudly serves mid-market and enterprise level customers with functional remote team solutions through proprietary remote team software (Arti) fueled by a remote workforce of 10,000+ military spouses.