7 common remote work challenges and how TAMLO overcomes them

Post-pandemic, remote work has revolutionised the traditional work landscape, breaking down geographical barriers. Employees get to work from anywhere and with people they’d never normally work with. Businesses enjoy lower overheads and access to a broader talent pool. And beyond individual convenience, embracing remote work means promoting a modern, adaptable, and resilient work culture.

As a remote digital business, TAMLO understands this well. ‘Of course people have different preferences,’ says James, TAMLO’s consultant, ‘some people prefer to meet more often and come into an office, others don’t. But ultimately remote working allows more time for other commitments in your life. And so, because we're remote, our employees can do that, which is great!’

However, we know that remote work remains a hot topic of debate among business leaders. While some have reported higher revenue growth, others are backtracking on their work-from-home policies. This is perhaps because, as with anything new, there are hurdles to overcome. 

TAMLO began as a remote business long before the pandemic. With only two employees and office space not a financially viable option, a remote model was the only way. We’re proud to have gradually built a collaborative, remote team across Tokyo and London. But, of course, like any other remote business, we’ve experienced our fair share of challenges — here’s how we’ve dealt with them.

The challenges of remote work, and TAMLO’s solutions

1. Isolation and the digital divide

‘We're very conscious of people feeling isolated or lonely, particularly when we bring on juniors,’ says James. ‘I know when I was 21 I wanted to be around other people.’

With a team straddling Tokyo and London and no fixed office in either city (although we do have designated co-working spaces in both), seeing each other in the flesh isn’t easy, but we do what we can.

‘The expectation is that both the Tokyo and the London team meet once a week respectively,’ says Nanako.

What’s important to TAMLO though is maintaining flexibility. ‘We don’t have a strict schedule,’ Nanako continues, ‘it’s always dependent on everyone’s availability and it’s not mandatory. However, we all try to make it work because we all recognise the positive effects of meeting and working together in person in the same room.’

2. Time Zones

As an international organisation, TAMLO contends with time zone barriers (as well as challenges with language and culture). We talked extensively about this in our article How TAMLO bridges the language, culture and time zone gap, but suffice to say, rules around timings to emails, shared calendars and agreed working hours help with the time differences.

3. Lack of spontaneity and natural human interaction

It’s those impromptu conversations and casual water cooler moments that create a vibrant work environment. Remote work, with its scheduled online meetings and instant messaging platforms, tends to abolish these small yet important moments of camaraderie. 

The solution, TAMLO found, lies in harnessing the right virtual tools that reintroduce spontaneity.

‘We lean on technology as much as we can,’ explains James. ‘We use a platform called oVice, which is a virtual office space.’

OVice allows members’ avatars to appear in a virtual office space when they’re ‘at work’. They can move theirs around, take it into a meeting room or show that they’re on a call or busy. They can even, as James puts it, ‘tap someone on the back and ask to chat to them about something. It sparks spontaneous conversations.’

‘OVice is also great for visibility,’ adds Nanako. ‘We’ve found that newcomers especially are hesitant to message colleagues on Slack because they don’t know whether or not they’re busy. But we want to encourage questions as much as possible.’

‘We also use Miro [a whiteboarding tool] which helps with creative visioning’, says James. ‘It allows us to present, share and discuss ideas for a creative campaign while together on a call.’

4. Unexpected tech challenges

Sometimes tech saves the day only to present a new, unexpected challenge. 

‘We were communicating almost entirely via Slack’, says Nanako ‘but we found that, because it’s so text based, especially in the Japanese language, tone could be misinterpreted and there was too much room for miscommunication. So we all agreed that for certain conversations, particularly when giving feedback, we would speak directly to the other person.’

5. Security

With remote work unfortunately comes the increased risk of cyber threats and data breaches. It's not that employees are being negligent, but inadvertent use of unsecured networks and untrusted devices means sensitive company data is vulnerable.

As such, TAMLO implements robust security measures and strict rules for staff. 

‘We’re not allowed to use public Wi-Fi, even in hotels,’ explains Nanako. ‘And staff must take a security survey every year reminding us of things like this.’

6. Trust in employees and the productivity debate

In the new hybrid work landscape, mistrust is still prevalent. 65% of business decision makers in Europe said they did not trust their staff to work as hard away from the office, and some organisations use surveillance software. 

However, having been fully remote since our inception, this isn’t an aspect of remote work that concerns TAMLO.

‘To be honest, we’re not worried about people not working because we’re so busy!’ laughs Nanako. 

James agrees, and adds: ‘If I’m handing out work and people are doing it within the allotted time frame, then that’s enough for me.’

‘But trust is an issue in various aspects’, explains Nanako. ‘With new hires especially, it’s important to build trust in the beginning, not just for us but for the new employee. We want everyone to learn about each other, our quirks, how to work best with each person and to trust one another. For us, it’s important to build that rapport straight away. In Japan, I try to meet new hires at least twice a week, face to face.’

7. Cultivating a supportive environment

In any organisation, supportive leadership contributes significantly to employees’ well-being, job satisfaction and overall productivity. In the realm of remote business, the need for a supportive environment is, arguably, even more important. It goes beyond professional aspects, too — managers need to recognise and address the personal challenges that can arise in a remote setting.

‘TAMLO is still young and learning,’ admits Nanako. ‘In the beginning we didn’t provide enough support or training to new hires, nor did we have realistic expectations. But we’ve created methodologies off the back of early mistakes.’

‘Being supportive is now our most important value’, says James, ‘and Nanako, Yuichi and I try to personify that as much as we can.

‘We’ve found that with new members, it's best to start with the human stuff, like culture: who we are and what our values are. As soon as new starters have some semblance of that, it becomes the backdrop to any decisions they have to make — i.e. they’ll have more confidence in asking a question even if they think someone’s busy, because they know that we value being supportive.’

. . .

Ultimately, any new way of working throws up new challenges, but adaptability is key. Moreover, it’s about how you adapt. Do you change, begrudgingly, because you have to? Or do you embrace change because you want to encourage innovation?