Phygital Offices

Since 2017 I've worked most of the time from 'home'. It has allowed me to experience a better work-life balance, respect my productive time and intensify my achievements (this is the only thing that matters when nobody can see what you do the whole day). 

These are pictures of me in two different remote work moments:

- Heading to Komodo, a remote island in Indonesia, to see the Dragons, while delivering the monthly reputation analysis to a public hospital in Kuwait (header).

- At Sumbawa, another remote island in Indonesia, to search for waves, while providing a CRA (customer relationship analysis) to a food chain.

The remote freedom supported me to live in Bali for one year, while still adding value to my clients.

But do you know what I missed most? The office dynamics. Although sometimes we feel that the obligation to show up drains our energy, we all might now realize the importance of physical, social interaction. For companies who are thinking about how to proceed, my advice would be to reduce the office space and implement a hybrid phygital solution (physical + digital).

I used to visit my clients every two months, set virtual meetings once/twice a week (1h) and use a social app for daily group communication. For full-time employees, two months is way too much to wait to see each other. Having an office where they can interact twice a week half day + 1 cross-function meeting would work well.

This model also breaks country limitations. I was able to manage team members in Brazil, Kuwait, India, UK and Indonesia at the same time while sailing towards the next paradise destination.

If you educate your team to work based on achievements, you don't need to micromanage them or feel anxious if they will be capable of delivering the tasks they were hired for.

With time, tools, training and results, the trust will rise.