RWL216 How to create a support system to avoid loneliness

Hey, it's Alex from Remote Work Life and the Remote Work Life podcast. I hope you're doing well, wherever you may be in the world, and today we're going to explore the importance of seeking support from your employer or from colleagues, from close friends, from your support system, essentially to address remote work challenges. Challenges, um, and this stems from my own personal experiences where working remote is concerned, and it's something that has has touched me in in my I don't know how many years now. I've been working on a remote basis for quite a number of years, since 2008, 2009 and, as I said, it stemmed from my own personal experience, but I've also spoken, as you probably imagine, to other remote workers about this, this particular issue, because it's something that, with any aspect of remote work, that requires deliberate attention and it requires, more often than not, it requires the individual to be deliberate about what they do. So, um, from my personal standpoint, it's been a journey. Remote work has definitely been a journey for me and, by nature, um, I'm well, I suppose, going back 2008, 2009, I I was naturally inclined to, uh, to try to tackle issues on my own, try and get work done on my own. I actually took pride in doing that because I felt that that was, that was the uh, the, the default method of doing work, and sometimes it worked, other times it didn't work, and the times that it didn't work, I was frustrated, I was tired, I was lonely and it was yeah, it was not a good time and it made me less, I guess, in many ways less productive, because the tasks that I couldn't necessarily deal with. I ended up going around in circles or I ended up taking longer than I should have taken, and all I really had to do was seek support from my colleagues, from people around me.

Speaker 1:
2:23

In your instance, if you're employed, um, then it may well be seeking support from your um, your employer, or people within your, your direct team, and it's, it's good when you've got, when there's a team that you can actually lean on for support. So, and if you do have that in place, don't you know, don't take that for granted. So you all know, as I said before that in many other episodes, that I'm an advocate for remote work and I've myself have experienced the effects that remote work, the positive effects that remote work can have on my life. But, as, as I said, you have to be quite deliberate about certain aspects in order to really experience the real benefits of remote work, in order to avoid that isolation, in order to avoid imposter syndrome in many cases. And there's just a few options that you can take, there's a few suggestions that I want to give to you in order to help you if you do need support, either from or for any aspect of your support system. So the first aspect, or the first point I want to share with you is have open communication. So, especially if you're a manager, if you want to create an environment where your team members feel comfortable to discuss the issues that they need support with If they don't necessarily do that out in a public forum or in a team forum, you need to create that safe space for them in order to check in with you, create that safe space for them in order to check in with you, to create that open dialogue with that where they don't feel as though they're being judged, where they don't feel as though, well, basically, you're, you're approachable, um, and it could be that person who that they lean on. And if, if that person is not you, then delegate somebody. Delegate, uh, somebody who has got experience of mentorships, experience of, of, of coaching within your team. And that leads me on to point number two, which is mentorship. So either you or somebody within your team offers that mentorship opportunity to learn, offers that mentorship opportunity to learn from somebody who's more experienced and is a bit further down the line than the individual that they're mentoring. Mentorship can help you or your team members gain valuable insights into the area of, or the sort of topic in which you or that particular person who needs it is interested in. So you know, seeking out mentorship or providing an opportunity for your team members to be mentored, or at least giving them the tools and know-how in terms of seeking mentorship, is something that is really important when it comes to developing a support system. As well as that, help your team and help yourself to continue your learning With remote work, especially learning it literally.

Speaker 1:
5:41

It never. The opportunities for learning are far and wide. You know you, there's so much that you can learn. You don't want to be overwhelmed with all the things that you can learn, so it's best to perhaps seek the um, seek guidance from somebody who has done that learning or knows where to access the best resources that are relevant to your needs or to the needs of the person within your team. Dedicate time to continuous learning, put time in your diary to learn what you need to do, do to learn and develop your skills to stay relevant, and because that relevance and that continuous learning is required for you to to stay relevant and competitive in your in your field um, online courses, webinars, attending networking events, industry-related content can all help you with that continuous learning. And, like I said, there's so much opportunity to learn these days.

Speaker 1:
6:44

Professional development isn't is number four on my list, so you can engage in ongoing professional development. It's a bit different to that continuous learning. Professional Professional development is where you're holding your employer accountable for providing continuous opportunities for growth and skill development, and that may require that you identify, alongside your employer, those areas where you want to upskill, alongside your employer, those areas where you want to upskill. Obviously, that requires you understanding where the gaps are in your skills first, and those gaps are usually evident when you review what you've done and understand the challenges that you're having in work. So you know something that may seem quite negative. It could be an opportunity for you to enhance your professional development.

Speaker 1:
7:43

What I would say is number five is delegate people who you can add to your, to support, to your support network. So it may be immediate colleagues at work. It might be people who you've worked for in the past. It might be trusted friends. You might even delegate a coach outside of work. It might be family members. So that support network, it should pull from different types of people, but they should all be people who you, you can talk to, you can you know who are willing and able to support you, who have some form of knowledge in the area that you're seeking to to gain that knowledge, and you have to again be proactive and deliberate about building your support system.

Speaker 1:
8:38

So so that's it for today. I mean, I'm sure there are other areas that I've missed. If there are, please, you know, reach out, connect with me on LinkedIn and share how you've gone about seeking support, not just from your employer or your colleagues. It may be in your capacity as a freelancer or a business owner. Let me know how you've sought your support, how you've grown your support network, and you know it's always good to hear from other people and I always appreciate the feedback. So, if this episode has helped, please consider sharing it amongst your your own support system or your own network and, as I said, connect with me on linkedin and reach out if you've got any queries or any feedback or suggestions for future episodes, and I look forward to seeing you or speaking to you in the next episode.