The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world and organizations have had to embrace new ideas of what productivity looks like as the landscape of business evolved radically. Specific work environments that were previously underutilized have now become mainstream as the world adapted to its new reality. One new trend that has taken the world by storm is to have a remote, asynchronous work environment, and it has become a commonplace strategy for all sorts of ventures because of the autonomy it allows.
This remote environment ensures that employees can be at their productive best, and can work at their leisure, whenever and wherever they want. An employee may be anywhere in the world, but an internet connection is all they need to fulfill their work commitments, and the asynchronous component means an employee has the liberty to work at their convenience. They can work any time they’re feeling most inspired and put their nose to the grindstone.
This dynamic philosophy may be part of the new wave of work environments that have been adopted recently, but it’s been an integral component of life here since the foundation of the company.
Remote From the Beginning
thinkbridge was established in 2014 and inherently had an international presence with the majority of our employees based in India. However, several team members were already residents of the United States, so we had to find a process that enabled all facets of the company to run smoothly. The solution to this problem was to create a remote, asynchronous work environment that emphasized autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
In any case, the work had to be done online given the varied locations of the team members, so it only made sense to prioritize a work flow that allowed for harmonious problem solving along with autonomy.
“Because the nature of our work is problem solving, and the problems are only solved by focused effort, it’s the natural state of things to be asynchronous and remote.”
Sai Ganesh, Managing Partner.
The remote part of this equation means team members may live and work wherever they see fit. There’s no office space or specific location restricting employees to specific timeframes or any sort of tedious boundaries. Instead, the freedom of this liberalizing setup allows for life to pull think’ers in any direction and then pursue those possibilities. These are the opportunities that wouldn’t have been available in a traditional office setting, but now become more accessible because of the revolutionary all remote work environment.
Our think’ers know they can work wherever, and being nomadic can lead to fostering new and meaningful relationships in different cultural settings.
“On weekdays I just carried my laptop along to work from the shop itself as the owner of the restaurant became a good friend. When I explained to him what I do for a living, he was fascinated by the fact that I can work from anywhere.” - Akhilesh Arunachalam, Usability Engineer
Benefits of a remote, asynchronous work environment:
Our functional capabilities as an international company should put to rest any worries other executives might have when it comes to an asynchronous, remote work. We have expertise in this industry and we firmly believe that the transition to this sort of setup can be done at any time by any company. As long as the infrastructure is in place, the benefits of this work environment far outweigh the drawbacks. think’ers know what is expected of them, and their own personal drive to improve is what helps think’ers stay ahead of the curve when it comes to solving the world’s tech problems.
Bridging The Gap
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen some companies shift from a traditional office setting into a more hybrid environment wherein their employees split time and oscillate between their offices and homes. There are innumerable perks for both the employer and employee in an entirely remote working environment, but there are some drawbacks and certain elements that can’t be truly replicated when all interactions are done via the virtual space.
Some employees enjoy working in the professional office space and the routines that go along with it. Formal business attire, morning commutes, and in-person interactions with coworkers are just some of the customs that don’t truly exist when a company goes fully remote.
We understand the inherent draw of a traditional setting and we have been working on a way to balance the needs of entirely remote employees and their desire to return to the office.
Our new philosophy, thinkremote, is hoping to reintegrate office time into willing think’ers routines. The idea, which is still in its infancy, is that every four months or so team members would have the opportunity to meet at a central location with their coworkers and work communally for 7-10 days.
Teams change and team dynamics change, so by allowing for a meet-up every quarter, employees would be able to become well acquainted with new members and work together on specific projects. thinkremote would allow employees to keep up with the dynamics of their coworkers, team, and problems they’re working on.
Understanding what employees want is the foundation of our overarching philosophy. We not only hire the right people and create the right work culture, but we strive to fulfill all aspirations of our team by creating a congenial and completely remote work environment. This helps employees in their holistic growth, whilst letting them work at their leisure. However, we also have the distinct and exceptionally wonderful thinkremote program to connect all those employees who are missing that corporate work culture, which is inherently a part of an office work environment.
“Now that I’m part of thinkbridge’s ‘work from anywhere’ type of environment, I’m ready to embrace this lifestyle because I’ve become fairly comfortable and confident being in this situation. I still can’t decide which I like more, the actual office or remote working, but remote work gave me the chance to discover myself and I think that’s the most beautiful part.”
Neha Batra, Delivery Ops.
This, however, wouldn’t undermine the ability of employees who would rather be efficient remotely.
Always Innovating, Always Adapting
As the world changes and new technologies emerge, companies must be able to adapt and create optimal conditions for efficiency. Just a few years ago working remotely seemed like a foreign concept to many, but the upheaval caused by the pandemic meant novel concepts of work had to be adopted.
There’s no reason that a company’s expectations of a proper work environment shouldn’t evolve just as everything else does. We focus on solving problems efficiently, so solving the problem of proper work conditions for an international company was just another obstacle to overcome.
The current set up lets everything run smoothly, but that doesn’t mean it’s the final form. New systems and strategies will be adapted from whatever the current situation demands.
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