Remote Work Resources You Can Trust: Pre-Covid Game Changers

Two years ago I wrote an article, Where are all the remote jobs people are talking about? for remote job seekers after receiving numerous inquiries from individuals who were not able to find legitimate remote work.

The tide has changed and now it’s companies seeking to find legitimate remote work resources they can trust.

As a remote work consultant, you would think I would take every client who contacts me. I don’t and it’s by design.

It has nothing to do with the number of daily inquiries I receive and everything to do with the services I offer. Being a remote work consultant doesn’t mean I consult on all areas pertaining to remote work. Beware of anyone who says they do.

In fact, beware of the majority of consultants who have suddenly popped as experts in remote work because they worked at a distributed company or were allowed to work remotely on a regular basis. That’s simply not enough.

To be consulting companies on what works, what doesn’t, what questions you need to be asking, identifying blind spots, as well as opportunities, and, most importantly how all this will impact your employees you need to have more than a singular experience and perspective.

There’s a difference between working remotely and making remote work actually work for your people and company.

Many of you know exactly what I mean when you read that statement. Sure, you’ve been remote but the duct tape is finally falling off. The hacks have come to a halt. Your employees can no longer keep fanning the flames and they are burned out.

What do you do now? You seek out the right remote work resources you can trust. People who will be the game changers in your company.

What are my motives for sharing my favorite remote work company resources? After numerous inquiries for my services as a remote work consultant, it became clear to me that this article is way overdue. Instead of sending out individual emails, I can now point people back to this article. (Yay!) My motive is to save myself time.

Here are the people and companies I have been referring inquiries to for years. These are resources you can trust and they were around and changing the game of traditional work pre-Covid. It’s important you understand that this is significant in terms of the experience and value they all bring to the clients and companies they work for.

Here are my go-to resources: (You’re welcome).

Problem — Company Culture, Leadership, Virtual Meetings

Solution — Chris Dyer — Tired of having another meeting about meetings? Of course, you are! Chris is the best in the business when it comes to virtual meetings. He regularly hosts free webinars on remote work leadership, management, and culture that you will certainly find helpful. He’s also very active on LinkedIn. When it comes to company culture he literally wrote the book, The Power of Company Culture. Chris consults CEOs and HR departments regularly.

Problem — Remote Employee Experience, Onboarding, Inclusion and Diversity, Internal Communications and Employee Engagement

Solution — Blend Me, Inc. helps startups and small businesses improve The Remote Employee Experience (TREE). Since 2013, they have provided fractional and interim people operations services to culture-driven organizations with an interest in either fully distributed / all-remote, Hybrid-remote, or telecommute work environments.

As active thought leaders, Blend Me’s leadership prioritizes opportunities to educate others. They have participated in speaking engagements for the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI), and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). Their team has been featured in Harvard Business Review and named one of the top 15 Remote Work Advocates and Leaders by All-American Speakers Bureau.

Problem — Operations, Policies, Workforce Training, Creating Infrastructure, Data-Driven Strategy & Analysis

Solution — Distribute Consulting was founded by Laurel Farrer who is an international expert in remote working with 15 years of expertise. When it comes to fully distributed or hybrid teams Distribute has the experience you’re looking for. Working with Distribute your company will strengthen its virtual communications, streamline digital processes, and develop long-distance management strategies.

Problem — Ineffective Remote or Hybrid Team Practices

Solution — Workplaceless offers a variety of training and certification options to develop effective and sustainable remote work policies and processes. Whether it be foundational skills for optimal remote work or training successful leaders for virtual and hybrid teams, there are options available for you and your business. Additionally, Workplaceless hosts free monthly networking webinars to serve as continuing education, this is a great option for professional development. Even as a seasoned remote work leader, I enjoy the monthly events as they allow me to keep a very close eye on the current state of the remote workforce.

Problem — Your Company Needs A Complete Overhaul

Solution — Remote-how is the world’s leading platform for remote professionals powered by and for the community of 25,000+ people from 128 countries. They are strengthening the health and performance of remote and hybrid companies, with ready to implement consulting solutions, delivered by experienced leaders from remote-first companies like GitLab, Doist, or Buffer.

Remote-how is on a mission to help everyone achieve freedom of choice where and when they work. Think of it as an online campus, where your employees can upskill through one of their certification programs. You can connect with remote professionals from all around the world in their virtual coworking space. Have access to consultants from around the world, training for your HR department, an audit of your needs, and even enterprise solutions. Whether you need to solve issues with your remote company culture, or the CEO needs a coach, Remote-how has you covered.

Problem — Your Virtual Events Suck (there’s just no other way to put it)

Solution — Robbie Samuels is a Virtual Event Design Consultant and makes Zoom better than you ever imagined it could be. Don’t believe it’s possible? How’s this, he hosts a Friday evening #NoMoreBadZoom Virtual Happy Hour every week, and even at the end of a long work week 60+ people show up and have a great time! With Robbie, there is no such thing as Zoom fatigue.

Want to host your own Virtual Happy Hour? Read Robbie’s article in The Harvard Business Review for tips.

Now Robbie wasn’t always focused on virtual events but it’s like he was born for this. As a networking expert, conference planner, event host, and professional speaker, he knew how to work a room and taught participants how to leverage networking opportunities at conferences. He believes events are about content AND connection. Now that virtual events are synonymous with events he’s on a mission to rid the world of poorly designed and badly executed virtual events. He helps national and statewide advocacy organizations strategically bring their events online with less stress and greater participant engagement. He also helps presenters get confident with Zoom, online facilitation, and virtual event design so they host more engaging online experiences. Robbie saw the writing on the wall early and he’s a success story of 2020!

So what problem do I solve if I recommend my trusted remote work resources for all these problems?

I solve the remote hiring process for companies with 20 employees or less. I create a strategy to ensure the company is attracting the right employees, deterring the wrong applicants from applying, and fill the gaps in the entire hiring cycle to ensure not only a start date but a finished cycle date with no loose ends. Additionally, I serve as the master interviewer to ensure that potential candidates don’t remain in purgatory while the company scrambles to find time to interview.

If you have a problem I didn’t mention I would actually really love to hear what it could possibly be. I’m sure I know someone who would be great for you!

Melissa Smith has been working remotely since 2013. In 2017, she became location-independent. During that time she traveled to 16 countries in 12 months while running her business.

Now Melissa teaches and consults others on how to effectively hire remotely and is an author and mentor for the first global, online education remote individual certification program with Remote-how Academy.

She has since gained international recognition and has been featured in ABC News, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.