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<\/p>\nThe writer William Gibson famously said, \u201cthe future is already here\u2014it\u2019s just not very evenly distributed.\u201d<\/p>\n
That statement certainly rings true when it comes to the way we work today. Software and the web have changed and created a lot of jobs. But too often, you have to be in a big city to take advantage of the opportunities.<\/p>\n
Technology and policies that separate jobs from location\u2014allowing people to work Anywhere\u2014can help.<\/p>\n
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When people can live where they choose but still have access to a wide range of work, everyone benefits. It\u2019s good for companies, who have access to a larger talent pool. It\u2019s good for small town and rural residents, who get jobs.<\/p>\n
And, Anywhere work is good for the rural communities, because there\u2019s a multiplier effect. The workers who live in town but work for companies based elsewhere still spend much of their income locally. This supports their neighbors and area businesses.<\/p>\n
AnswerConnect clients operate in states from coast to coast. And our Anywhere model, which brings work to people instead of making people commute to work, means we have team members in a wide variety of places as well.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s meet a few of them!<\/p>\n
For most of our employees, working Anywhere means working from home. That helps them save on commuting costs and gives them back time to spend with friends and family. But Malinda actually has a small office of her own. Since her country home has no fast internet service, she commutes about 15 minutes to nearby Coquille, Oregon to work. \u201cMy commute is no cars,\u201d she says. \u201cJust deer and turkeys.\u201d<\/p>\n
When she first joined AnswerConnect, Malinda was a little uncertain. After all, she and her husband had owned and operated an RV park for years. \u201cI never thought I would be able to work for someone else,\u201d she says. \u201cI had been self-employed for so long. I was the boss. I hired and fired, and laid down the law. But I love it and the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Malinda is a mentor, helping our virtual receptionists to be their best. She coaches them on how to meet or exceed our QA metrics. To succeed in the role, especially when working outside a traditional office environment, \u201cyou have to take the responsibility and be self-motivated,\u201d Malinda says. \u201cI tell them to put signs around their screen saying, smile, please, thank you, verify\u2014so it flashes in their mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malinda\u2019s husband has retired, but she\u2019s not ready to give up her work just yet. \u201cI enjoy everything I do. I enjoy my time here. Couldn\u2019t ask for anything more.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Del Rio, Texas is a city of about 36,000 along the Rio Grande river in the southwest part of the Lone Star State. A Minnesota native, Michele and her fianc\u00e9 moved to Del Rio when he got a job as a game warden. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty outdoorsy,\u201d she says. \u201cI grew up dirt biking, snowmobiling, and jet-skiing. And of course hiking and camping.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their new home in Texas offers plenty of opportunity for Michele and her fianc\u00e9 to take \u201cprimitive camping\u201d trips\u2014they\u2019ll backpack a few miles to a spot, which of course has no electricity or running water. \u201cYou eat what you have and hope you don\u2019t run out,\u201d she says. \u201cYou feel more accomplished, but it\u2019s kind of scary too. We\u2019re out there with no phone reception.\u201d<\/p>\n
By comparison, working as a virtual receptionist from her home office isn\u2019t quite that isolated. \u201cI think a lot of businesses are going to be heading this way,\u201d Michele says of working Anywhere. \u201cIt saves a lot of resources. I really think it\u2019ll keep expanding and be part of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trick to being successful in an Anywhere job? Michele says it\u2019s just being an adult. \u201cWe should be able to take on the work, schedule ourselves, and take care of ourselves. We don\u2019t need someone to tell us when and where to work. It\u2019s a great opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Jobs in Crystal City, Texas, where Manuela lives and works, are hard to come by. \u201cIf you have a job here, you won\u2019t let it go,\u201d she says. The town of less than 8,000 is near the border with Mexico, about 100 miles south of San Antonio.<\/p>\n
Manuela was determined to stay in the area where she was born and raised, she says, even though it is sometimes economically difficult. \u201cI always say you have to give back to your community,\u201d she says. \u201cYou could move and make more money, but what are you giving back?\u201d<\/p>\n
For most of her career, Manuela worked in community-based nonprofits such as Head Start. \u201cI\u2019m a social worker at heart,\u201d she says. To pursue her passion, she enrolled in school online, completing her bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology this past November. She\u2019s now working on a master\u2019s degree in education, specializing in family and community.<\/p>\n
She says those skills come in handy when working in a customer experience position. \u201cYou can hear a person\u2019s tone of voice,\u201d she says. \u201cAs soon as they talk to you, you know what kind of call it\u2019s going to be. Social work has helped me get the best out of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ability to work Anywhere has helped Manuela stay in the place she calls home, raise her family, and pursue her education. \u201cI love it,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is a really great opportunity, and this is where the world is moving.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Laurie\u2019s home in Terrebonne, Oregon is right next to Smith Rock State Park, an international rock-climbing destination. Although the area is beautiful and has great schools, the economy is not always so attractive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I joined the company we were in the midst of a recession here in Central Oregon,\u201d Laurie says. \u201cIt was hard to find work\u2014even minimum wage work. To be given an opportunity to work from home really helped.\u201d<\/p>\n
The adjustment to working Anywhere wasn\u2019t too hard for Laurie. She had worked as a grant writer and had even been the executive director of a nonprofit, so she was used to spending time on the computer. Her family had a little more trouble getting used to her being home, but not available. \u201cI had to put a sign on the door,\u201d she says with a laugh. \u201cMy father-in-law still asks, do you get a check?\u201d<\/p>\n
One challenge Laurie\u2019s found with working from home is how to avoid sitting for too long. She decided to elevate her desk and get a tall chair, so she can alternate between sitting and standing, and she takes a few minutes throughout the day to stretch.<\/p>\n
Recently, as the company has begun to move to the agile framework Scrum, Laurie has become one of our first scrum masters. \u201cI keep the agile manifesto on my desk,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting how often I run into scrum masters or product owners even in our rural area. Almost everywhere I go, I hear someone talking about scrum. I go and introduce myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laurie says she appreciates the efficiency of scrum. \u201cIt\u2019s a more efficient model with less waste,\u201d she says, \u201cthat recognizes people are people, and not machines. I like that all voices are heard. I truly enjoy the transparency. That it itself leads to efficiency right off the bat.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Opening job opportunities in small town and rural America is just one reason to support Anywhere work. It helps us distribute the future a little more evenly.<\/p>\n
All our team members contribute to what we do\u2014whether they live in a city, suburb, small town, or out in the country. With the tools and techniques of Anywhere work, we can collaborate no matter where we are.<\/p>\n
Have you tried working outside a traditional office? From home? On the road? Let us know how you work Anywhere in the comments.<\/p>\n
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Photo by Nathan Anderson<\/span><\/a> on Unsplash<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The writer William Gibson famously said, \u201cthe future is already here\u2014it\u2019s just not very evenly distributed.\u201d That statement certainly rings true when it comes to the way we work today….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[273],"class_list":["post-7897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mission-values","wl_entity_type-article"],"yoast_head":"\n