Remote work isn’t all about iced lattes and expensive Instagram-worthy salads in hip cafes. It's not only for the lovely digital nomads working under palm trees. Remote work is also about making life easier in your home circle, enabling you to be present to the most important people of your life. It's about not having to compromise the quality of your work nor the quality of your life.
When I was kid I looked up to mom a lot. My mom worked as a Supply Chain Distribution Process Manager for Nokia when I was around 13 years old. I remember wanting to be like her - suits, work trips abroad and especially - working remotely. It felt astonishing that you could work from home! At least back then, there was no way you could go to school remotely.
There was something intriguing to the idea of working from home, despite the fact that my sisters and I had to be very quiet during those exciting-sounding conference calls. Little did I know how big of an impact remote working options would have later in my life.
Fast forward 15 years - I’m 28 and a single mother of two wonderful girls of 7 and 5 years’ age. Now, I truly understand why my mother valued the possibility to work remotely and why I can’t even consider working without that option anymore.
As any parent knows, there’s quite a palette to run in addition to being able to work efficiently. When you have kids, there’s suddenly a whole new level of deadlines and things to remember throughout the week. What time does the daycare close? What about the time it takes to commute? How much time do you need between the end of your last meeting and picking up your kiddo? And oh, those Thursday evenings, when one kid has science class and the other plays the violin - in opposite ends of the city of course.
"Oh, those Thursday evenings, when one kid has science class and the other plays the violin - in opposite ends of the city of course."
This is where remote work opportunities play a crucial role. With the option to work remotely, you can seamlessly implement your working life to your personal life. It’s 21st century after all; we shouldn’t need to choose between having a career and having a family – or just having a life in general.
Remote work brings a whole new level of flexibility to day-to-day life. Take my typical day for example: I’m an early bird, so it comes naturally for me to start working around 5:30 AM. I do prospecting, planning and strategy work in the morning hours - it’s my quiet time and I enjoy it with my morning coffee.
My girls wake up around 6:30 AM and we leave to daycare 45 minutes later. I go through all my social channels, work social channels, messages and emails during the commute. Some days I hit the gym between daycare and going to office. I’m available via Slack all that time, but quite rarely does anyone actually hit me up with a message before 9 AM.
I work at the office most of my days. Some days meetings take up most of my calendar and it’s just more convenient to stay in the very heart and core of Helsinki, close to meetings. I can usually plan my days so that I leave the office early enough to pick up my girls from daycare and school, give them a snack at home and then continue to work efficiently from home for a couple hours longer. If the work can wait until the girls have gone to bed, I’ll let it wait, enjoy our time together and continue after the girls are asleep.
"Sometimes the way to bring out the best in people is by allowing them to work from where they choose."
At Sangre, working remotely is completely fine by default. We have the digital tools to communicate efficiently with each other, we have the physical tools to execute our work basically from anywhere and perhaps the most important thing; we have the right culture. We are enablers, enjoyers and hard workers – and it shows. We want to execute to the best of our abilities at all times and we want to enable the whole team to do so. Sometimes the way to bring out the best in people is by allowing them to work from where they choose instead of dragging them to the office.
We at Sangre share the same values; soft but strong. And that’s why I feel like home even when I’m at work – wherever work may physically be.
The writer is Sangre's Business Development Manager who describes herself as a digitally marinated, nerdy marketing goal-getter and brings sparkle into our life like a walking disco ball.
Photo: Jemmi Laaninen
