Remote Q&A: June Bolneo of Grow Remote and Work Remote

This week, we hear from June Bolneo, Founder of Work Remote and Globalization Lead at Grow Remote.

Based in Lisboa, Portugal, June is a valued voice in the remote work advocacy community.

Let’s jump right in!

Q: From your experience, what does remote work look like at its healthiest? Unhealthiest?

I think remote work is at its healthiest when you have a clear and healthy routine in place (morning and night). Flexibility has its pros and cons and normally people don’t work well without a manager’s presence. You basically have to be your own manager and that means managing your time and making sure you get stuff done, regardless if anyone is looking or not.

Unhealthy remote work would look like working 70+ hours per week like I was when I started working remotely. I went through workaholism, got burnt out, and started suffering from anxiety attacks. When you are unable to manage yourself from work, you either fall toward the extreme end of the spectrum where you work too little or you work too much.

I have to create boundaries—not just for people, but more importantly for myself so I don’t overwork.

Q: What challenges do you see remote workers facing right now?

Accountability and isolation. But people nowadays are so lucky that they get so much help from the community. The remote work community now is so strong that there is no shortage of help and information, which is amazing. However, I think remote workers will still struggle with creating routines and good habits. Years of working in the office cannot be forgotten overnight.

The remote work community now is so strong that there is no shortage of help and information…

And then there’s the organizational structure and the technology part of the company itself. Consultants like us are important because it’s our job to evaluate the company whether they are ready to go remote or not. Most companies aren’t and they risk going remote and getting burnt. There are certain risks associated with going remote and companies need to make informed decisions about it.

Q: How can we solve those challenges and actually advocate for the remote community?

I think there’s still a lot of work to be done on the education side of things. Many people are trying to tackle remote work like its common sense — you just go home and work.

If you look at the bigger picture, before the public health crisis, everyone was hesitant to go remote because they are uneducated. They didn’t know much about it. I think if we resolve that problem, we’re halfway there.

Then we have the company side of things where managers are not used to leading remotely. In general, we have control issues when it comes to people who work for us. We want to see they are “doing” something to have that sense of productivity when in fact that’s not real.

We need to educate managers on how to measure productivity and success. Only then will they have enough confidence to go fully remote. At the moment there’s a lot of insecurities when it comes to management. You address the insecurities, you will address the remote problem.

At the moment there’s a lot of insecurities when it comes to management. You address the insecurities, you will address the remote problem.

Q: What are some of the benefits of making remote work local?

Making remote work local for us means building a community of people who are either already working remotely or are interested in working remotely. We bring them together to help each other since one party needs a community to reach out to avoid isolation and the other party needs guidance on how to start working remotely. Grow Remote is the key factor for this, Work Remote is the one that provides the training.

The small towns we visit would rarely get any kind of meet-up like ours much less learn about digitalization or remote work. What we do is important because if these people didn’t know remote work exists, they will not look for it. And even if they know about it, they might feel lost and confused because there’s so much information out there.

We grow communities for remote workers with Grow Remote

And we train and help them work remotely with Work Remote

Each has an important role to play.

About June

June Bolneo is Founder of Work Remote, a Portugal-based service partner for Grow Remote. Work Remote helps companies convert their office-based teams into remote-first or remote-friendly models. They also help guide companies in hiring, training and managing teams remotely.