How to manage and use remote work efficiently and effectively in proposal strategy?

First I want to state this article is based on personal opinions and does not necessarily reflect those of the National Guard opportunities. To discuss those you can email me at my national guard address.

With the changes in the world since the pandemic of 2020, the world has changed greatly and seen a leap forward in technology. To those that were watching many of the things were set to happen at some point anyway. Before COVID-19 AI was already being developed, there were video conferences for regional offices and there were distributed workforces in many large industries. The pandemic brought this to small businesses and also made it more of a media tool for discussion. Telework has existed for decades so is a proven way to perform certain types of work. One thing I think COVID showed the world is leadership training needs improvement as remote work was a reaction and many leaders were not prepared and were not sure if the workforce could be trusted to get the job done without direct oversight, especially at the lower levels.

The shift to remote work has shown many societal advantages. It has allowed many of those who may have disabilities to find employment as is showcased by many firms in the non-profit industry Ability One program. It also allowed firms of all sizes to see the diversity of talent not just in their location but across the entire globe and integrate that talent into their workforce. Many of these integrations lead to increased innovation and a faster pace of work being completed; however, in some cases, management could not keep up as there was no training for management to understand this new world hence the attempt to slow it down by some but the genie is out of the bottle to say and those firms that know how to manage will see great advantages in their growth just as those that first movers have an advantage when creating technology those that are first movers in understanding and utilization also hold a strategic advantage.

All this being said so how does a company take this new paradigm of remote work and integrate it into their portfolio strategy and showcase how they operate and how it offers both them and the customer a strategic advantage in project completion? Yes, some projects and tasks require onsite personnel but with robotics, this is even changing look at the fast food industry and ghost kitchens and self-driving and 3D printing eventually we will have remote-controlled cranes building skyscrapers, we already have assisted aircraft and drones so commercial planes without or with remote pilots is a possibility. What I am getting at by this discussion is when proposing in the early stage talk about the value proposition when suggesting a distributed workforce remember to talk about how technology has advanced from what it once was. Talk about the safety of projects by humans in the loop but not necessarily on the ground, talk about the speed of completion when it matters, talk about cost saving by paying by location, and understand the cost of living is a key proponent in where someone chooses to live. Yes in this new environment, cities have to work harder to both attract businesses and people to live and that will be an interesting thing to watch especially what to do with the office space. Also, talk about how a distributed workforce with the advent of cloud technology can act as a security control as there is not a singular point of failure that adds to advantages. Yes, cyber education needs to improve in the new environment but just as when the internet was created cyber management is an ever-changing environment with both good and bad actors. So the first thing when looking at a requirement know why a remote workforce may offer a strategic advantage and educate the customer on how it can provide cost savings, increased skills, and successful operations. Also, educate the customer on how having the skills and tools to manage in a distributed environment can win you loyal employees, enhance knowledge, and allow for improved efficiency in projects by lowering the learning curves.

As shown above, the first thing is to convince the customer and get them to open up about it. Remote work may not be new but it is being done in a larger amount than before I believe most stats show remote work is currently at around 15% to 20% post-pandemic whereas before it was at 5% to 7%. This means more firms are realizing how to use it to compete and improve pricing and margins on projects. Yes, remote work is a change and it means managers have to trust their workers more which is scary. It also means talent pools have increased as you can hire people at a further distance and technology controls exist to monitor work generation. It also means you can better control your costs because of where you hire and provide advantages for the workforce to decrease turnover. Showing your company has the advantage of having a community at the same time as providing for work-life balance can be great to keep strong employees around. This means the open door policy of listening to employees still exists in a virtual environment and providing growth opportunities to remote workers is essential. Also, remember expanding your talent pool brings greater diversity to your business which is essential in having strategic advantages over competitors because you will discover new ways to do business that they are not considering. A great example I have seen of this in my field is hiring workers with disabilities which has increased every year since 2020 and while adding to the tax base it also allows for consistency of employment as many in that group tend to stick in an organization that supports them. This consistency of employment is also apparent in other groups as well when a worker is satisfied and that allows for strategic advantages to improve cost metrics with a stable workforce. Also, remember you can still have community through company gatherings without day-to-day office gossip so don't be afraid of change and know your potential workforce as well remote is not for everyone but can be great when used strategically.

With All this being said the key points to remember are to know your customers' challenges and talk about the strategic advantages your industry offers and why they matter when proposing throughout the process starting with the requirement writing to the final submission and cost dynamics when determining the best business strategy. Also, remember change is the only constant, and those who can keep up often hold the advantage.

As a side note for those of you hiring remote workers, I get friends and colleagues constantly asking about opportunities in all types of positions and am happy to hear of opportunities and will suggest to potential candidates so reach out if you would like candidates for any type of remote positions.