WEBVTT 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:13.339 Welcome to the Business Abundance Podcast, providing 00:00:13.339 --> 00:00:15.800 the tools and knowledge to help small business 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:19.140 owners succeed. For additional resources, visit 00:00:19.140 --> 00:00:25.179 www .businessabundance .online. Welcome back 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:28.879 to the Business Abundance Podcast. Today we have 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:31.820 Jake and Rowan and we're going to be chatting 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:35.780 about the nine till five workday and why it's 00:00:35.780 --> 00:00:39.710 maybe not as relevant as it used to be. Jake, 00:00:39.850 --> 00:00:41.590 do you want to just give yourself a bit of an 00:00:41.590 --> 00:00:44.429 introduction and tell everyone what you do here 00:00:44.429 --> 00:00:47.570 at Business Abundance? Yeah, hi everyone, thank 00:00:47.570 --> 00:00:50.689 you Sahara, Ron. So my name's Jake, I'm the Senior 00:00:50.689 --> 00:00:53.899 Marketing manager here at Business Abundance. 00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:56.979 So here that's a bit of a two -fold role, making 00:00:56.979 --> 00:00:59.179 sure that our clients are taken care of, that 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:01.759 we're accelerating all their marketing and helping 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:04.379 them achieve their targets, but as well as also 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:07.900 promoting Business Abundance and what we do and 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:11.439 clearly articulating our value proposition and 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.379 what exactly we offer. So I've been with Business 00:01:14.379 --> 00:01:16.420 Abundance a few months now, but I've been in 00:01:16.420 --> 00:01:19.359 marketing as a whole for around the 10 to 15 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:22.409 year mark, somewhere in between there. been in 00:01:22.409 --> 00:01:24.609 a number of roles. And I think as it relates 00:01:24.609 --> 00:01:28.569 more importantly to this discussion, I've been 00:01:28.569 --> 00:01:31.430 working pretty much with international teams, 00:01:32.590 --> 00:01:35.969 Flexi working for about the past six years. So 00:01:35.969 --> 00:01:37.730 yeah, it should be an interesting discussion. 00:01:38.670 --> 00:01:42.250 So today we're talking about the nine till five 00:01:42.250 --> 00:01:47.280 workday and why it might not necessarily. be 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:51.859 as relevant as it has been in the past. Now we've 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:54.379 had the COVID, which has obviously pushed everyone 00:01:54.379 --> 00:01:57.519 into remote work, working from home, those sort 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:03.579 of things. But now that COVID is sort of over 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:05.840 and people are heading back into the office, 00:02:06.540 --> 00:02:09.659 the nine till five, Monday to Friday in the office 00:02:09.659 --> 00:02:16.199 isn't as popular as it once was. Can we, I guess, 00:02:16.250 --> 00:02:20.949 talk about maybe why people are so stuck in the 00:02:20.949 --> 00:02:23.169 nine to five, Monday to Friday, traditional, 00:02:23.330 --> 00:02:25.469 let's just call it the traditional working setting. 00:02:27.909 --> 00:02:30.650 Yeah, it's, I mean, business have their different 00:02:30.650 --> 00:02:33.669 reasons. I think technology companies traditionally 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:36.710 are the ones who sort of spearheaded this movement 00:02:36.710 --> 00:02:40.750 around remote work, flexi work, you know, working. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:43.680 having a team operating around the clock and 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:46.379 that's come from the expansion of international 00:02:46.379 --> 00:02:51.379 teams as well. So I was in remote work before, 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:54.659 say the COVID came out before, there was just 00:02:54.659 --> 00:02:58.020 this big rush and surgence of companies coming 00:02:58.020 --> 00:03:00.319 through and having to do remote for survival 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:04.900 more than anything. In terms of being stuck in 00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:07.300 the nine to five, I think it's just about the 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:09.500 most important thing, first and foremost, is 00:03:09.500 --> 00:03:11.699 being on when your customers are on, being able 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:14.960 to service their needs. I think the world's changed 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:18.139 in general. You know, thinking back 20 years 00:03:18.139 --> 00:03:20.520 where it was very much nine to five, that's when 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:23.740 you conducted a lot of your business at more 00:03:23.740 --> 00:03:26.930 of a local, national level, whereas now... since 00:03:26.930 --> 00:03:29.750 online shopping has completely emerged and you 00:03:29.750 --> 00:03:31.610 can reach your customers from anywhere in the 00:03:31.610 --> 00:03:34.530 world. Obviously, it depends what industry that 00:03:34.530 --> 00:03:38.050 you're in. But that's created a need to create 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:40.909 a business that can support that demand 24 hours 00:03:40.909 --> 00:03:43.550 a day. And so there's only so much that you can 00:03:43.550 --> 00:03:46.750 do within your own country. I guess you could 00:03:46.750 --> 00:03:50.189 hire a support team as an example to be operating 00:03:50.189 --> 00:03:55.289 24 -7. As part of this online world, it's helped 00:03:55.289 --> 00:03:57.469 shape the way we think in terms of we don't need 00:03:57.469 --> 00:04:00.349 to hire nationally as well. We can hire internationally. 00:04:01.810 --> 00:04:04.770 And so that's created a more global world, which 00:04:04.770 --> 00:04:07.750 we know that we're now part of. There's the old 00:04:07.750 --> 00:04:09.289 saying, if you're not going global, you're getting 00:04:09.289 --> 00:04:12.370 left behind in many sense. So it applies more 00:04:12.370 --> 00:04:14.310 to some businesses than others. I mean, if you're 00:04:14.310 --> 00:04:18.509 a local business, working nine to five can still 00:04:18.509 --> 00:04:21.860 be relevant. But even then, you've got to really 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:23.759 understand the need of your customer. If your 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:26.740 customer's busy nine to five, how are you going 00:04:26.740 --> 00:04:29.300 to meet their needs? More when they get home 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:31.079 from work, when they're sitting at home on a 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.240 device after dinner, and just being able to service 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:36.639 that need. I think it's important to be able 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:40.350 to try and reply quickly, promptly. at a time 00:04:40.350 --> 00:04:43.329 that suits them. And customers have become far 00:04:43.329 --> 00:04:45.230 more demanding than what they ever have been 00:04:45.230 --> 00:04:48.750 in the past as well. So that's created this need 00:04:48.750 --> 00:04:52.310 to be more present and in a competitive environment 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:56.029 with business. It really is the ones who've got 00:04:56.029 --> 00:04:58.509 the best service structures in place to be able 00:04:58.509 --> 00:05:01.410 to meet those needs, those demands who are doing 00:05:01.410 --> 00:05:05.329 better than others. So to go back to your question, 00:05:05.949 --> 00:05:08.329 the world's just changed. It continues to change. 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:12.439 The biggest shift has been the expectations of 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:16.540 customers. I think sometimes you see places, 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:19.459 unless if it's like a post shop or something 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:21.220 like that, when you go down and you see that 00:05:21.220 --> 00:05:24.800 you can't contact the business after five, you're 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:27.540 a bit shocked really. We're so used to just being 00:05:27.540 --> 00:05:30.319 able to get the answers we need instantly. So 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.500 yeah, it's been the progression of technology 00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:35.560 and the online shopping. I think that's really 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:41.420 changed everything. The post office, they shut 00:05:41.420 --> 00:05:44.839 at three or four o 'clock in the afternoon. And 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:47.220 then who can actually go there if they're working 00:05:47.220 --> 00:05:50.740 their nine to five job? Jake was talking a bit 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:53.000 about the customer side, but then you've got 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:57.860 sort of the workforce side too. You've got, in 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:02.540 the past, the weekend was off. Sundays in a lot 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:05.019 of places, no business would open on a Sunday, 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:08.019 full stop. Sunday was off for everyone. If you 00:06:08.019 --> 00:06:11.399 go back 25, 30 years, when I was a little baby, 00:06:12.339 --> 00:06:15.379 but for my knowledge, sport and community activity 00:06:15.379 --> 00:06:18.139 was much higher because people had the time off 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:19.639 in the evenings and they had the time off on 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:23.040 the weekends, and not much else to do, as far 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:24.660 as they weren't connected to a phone all the 00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:28.899 time, so they got a little bit bored. they had 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:31.319 the ability to do that. Whereas now, the nine 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:33.300 to five for a lot of people doesn't exist. There's 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:36.139 shift work, there's overnight work, there's working 00:06:36.139 --> 00:06:38.220 the weekends to keep in touch with the consumers, 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.399 like Jake said. And then people have all these 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:44.819 hours all over the place. And then it's going, 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:47.779 okay, we've got a family and we've got hobbies 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:50.819 that we want to do. How do we still do those 00:06:50.819 --> 00:06:54.259 whilst having a job and making an income? and 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:55.680 that's probably where the world's definitely 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:58.000 changing really quickly is that you know people 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.040 want to go watch their kids um you know athletics 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:02.800 carnival or whatever that is and if they're working 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:04.579 nine to five they can't really get away because 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:06.279 they're paid to sit there at a desk or they're 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:09.959 paid to be on the tools so it's definitely an 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:12.819 area that's changing and and it's of quite interest 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:17.980 quite a big interest for us so you're in new 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:21.930 zealand jake and the rest of us are currently 00:07:21.930 --> 00:07:25.490 in Australia. Can you tell us what that's like 00:07:25.490 --> 00:07:31.089 for you? Much better situation. No, I'm kidding. 00:07:32.050 --> 00:07:36.129 It's not so grim here in the future. But as I 00:07:36.129 --> 00:07:38.629 say, I've been doing it for a number of years 00:07:38.629 --> 00:07:41.790 now, and it takes a bit of adjustment in the 00:07:41.790 --> 00:07:44.230 early stages to get up to speed with the right 00:07:44.230 --> 00:07:48.629 tools and understand that it's not. You don't 00:07:48.629 --> 00:07:51.170 walk into an office every day, say hello to people 00:07:51.170 --> 00:07:54.910 from the get -go. You're constantly communicating 00:07:54.910 --> 00:07:58.089 face -to -face with people. It's a bit of a shift 00:07:58.089 --> 00:08:01.050 and an adjustment to get used to that. But it 00:08:01.050 --> 00:08:03.329 is funny, and there has been studies done around 00:08:03.329 --> 00:08:06.310 what is more productive, working remote, working 00:08:06.310 --> 00:08:08.389 in an office. And some of the results, well, 00:08:08.589 --> 00:08:12.410 results vary. I'd say across the board, it doesn't 00:08:12.410 --> 00:08:15.329 change so much in terms of the production of 00:08:15.329 --> 00:08:19.939 the business. But it's all about being set up 00:08:19.939 --> 00:08:24.620 in the right way and being process driven and 00:08:24.620 --> 00:08:27.819 having the right leadership and the team to motivate 00:08:27.819 --> 00:08:31.420 staff and to make sure that you are connecting 00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:34.240 with your colleagues regularly, you know how 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:37.539 to connect with customers remotely. But, oh geez, 00:08:38.340 --> 00:08:41.500 I'd say... a huge shift in terms of technology 00:08:41.500 --> 00:08:46.460 is around just the collaboration tools for workplaces 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:49.080 to cater for situations like this. You think 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:51.600 of Slack for just staying in touch with your 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:53.860 colleagues and team across the board. You think 00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:58.299 of your Trello's, Jira, monday .com, which is 00:08:58.299 --> 00:09:01.120 organizing your tasks and working through campaign 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.000 boards together. And video calling, like we're 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.220 doing now. Just being able to do that has just 00:09:06.220 --> 00:09:10.559 become the norm for so many places. And it helps 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:15.299 new businesses as well. If you want to hire across 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:17.759 the country, you're not restricted to your local 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.399 area. If you want to save on overhead, such as 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.679 rent, having to have an office, which is a huge 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:26.919 expense, you're able to just work from your living 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:30.139 room, your bedroom, co -office workspaces. So 00:09:30.139 --> 00:09:33.860 for myself personally, I've gotten used to it. 00:09:34.340 --> 00:09:37.679 I'd still love to come to the office. Not that 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:40.379 we necessarily have an office, but I'd still 00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:43.139 love to be able to meet people face to face, 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:45.500 but we do things. We do things as part of business 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:48.500 abundance. We have our weekly gahoots. We just 00:09:48.500 --> 00:09:50.559 have general catch -ups because you don't want 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:54.600 to lose that human aspect behind it. But yeah, 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:59.080 I can see how it seems a bit foreign to many 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:01.399 people if you're not used to it and a bit of 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:03.659 an adjustment and having to get all that in place. 00:10:04.059 --> 00:10:06.500 But it's just getting used to it, having everything. 00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:09.059 getting the right tools for communication, for 00:10:09.059 --> 00:10:12.019 project management, for conferencing calls, whatever 00:10:12.019 --> 00:10:15.360 it might be. And the rest, it just falls into 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:19.000 place and becomes the norm eventually. Yeah. 00:10:19.179 --> 00:10:23.419 You raised a good point about productivity. There 00:10:23.419 --> 00:10:28.320 might be some owners that say, well, if I leave 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.259 my employees at home or allow them to work from 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:33.559 home, they're going to be really distracted by 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:35.960 everything at home. They're going to have their 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.580 games close by, the beds next door, like kitchens 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:45.460 close, like how can I trust that a work alternative 00:10:45.460 --> 00:10:50.580 to the office is actually that productive? Rowan, 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:54.870 do you have any answers for that? I was actually 00:10:54.870 --> 00:10:56.830 just laughing to myself because in the background 00:10:56.830 --> 00:11:00.570 I just muted my microphone because the one -year 00:11:00.570 --> 00:11:02.570 -old's come down the hall and started smashing 00:11:02.570 --> 00:11:07.029 on the door going, which definitely would have 00:11:07.029 --> 00:11:08.769 been heard for a moment through the microphone 00:11:08.769 --> 00:11:11.789 and then he's lost interest and he's heading 00:11:11.789 --> 00:11:13.889 back down. There's a lock on the door. It's all 00:11:13.889 --> 00:11:17.929 fine. But yeah, making sure people are doing 00:11:17.929 --> 00:11:22.669 things. Jake Minch has been process driven. We 00:11:22.669 --> 00:11:24.850 have a lot of people that work remotely for us 00:11:24.850 --> 00:11:26.789 and an awful lot more people that work remotely. 00:11:26.889 --> 00:11:28.870 It's something you do have to learn and learn 00:11:28.870 --> 00:11:30.850 how to do, which is unique to each individual 00:11:30.850 --> 00:11:35.070 as far as what sort of contact you need and what 00:11:35.070 --> 00:11:36.929 makes you feel good and what makes you feel bad 00:11:36.929 --> 00:11:38.690 and whether you want to be in the loop or you 00:11:38.690 --> 00:11:44.809 don't. But it's about going, what's the result 00:11:44.809 --> 00:11:46.470 we want? What's the outcome that we want for 00:11:46.470 --> 00:11:49.860 our customers? or for our business and making 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:53.299 sure that that's happening. So if you're thinking 00:11:53.299 --> 00:11:56.440 about are they working at this minute right now, 00:11:56.860 --> 00:11:59.460 that's probably not gonna be the right question. 00:11:59.899 --> 00:12:02.240 The right question would be have they done everything 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:05.730 they needed to do today? to make sure everything's 00:12:05.730 --> 00:12:08.289 ticking away, we're all happy. So yeah, it's 00:12:08.289 --> 00:12:10.629 just having the systems and procedures in place 00:12:10.629 --> 00:12:12.429 to make sure that you know that that's happening, 00:12:12.750 --> 00:12:15.029 or the support network and the management and 00:12:15.029 --> 00:12:18.990 training to help people do that. And then from 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:20.750 there on, it's really on the person. Some people 00:12:20.750 --> 00:12:24.889 can do it, some people can't. I think one of 00:12:24.889 --> 00:12:32.659 the biggest factors that will make someone Unsuccessful, 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:37.500 just can be mental health. If you don't have 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:40.779 people around you outside of work, or you don't 00:12:40.779 --> 00:12:44.179 have hobbies, social life, et cetera, and then 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:47.440 you go to workplace in your bedroom and you can't 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.620 see outside and you just churn work away all 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:52.509 day and then you're done. you got no one to talk 00:12:52.509 --> 00:12:54.049 to and you didn't really talk to anyone all day. 00:12:54.110 --> 00:12:56.789 It gets pretty lonely pretty quick. And as humans, 00:12:56.870 --> 00:13:00.009 we're not really designed for that. So it's like 00:13:00.009 --> 00:13:01.889 Jake said, it's a matter of making sure that 00:13:01.889 --> 00:13:04.009 you get in touch with people and there's this 00:13:04.009 --> 00:13:07.710 processes in place that is still a team environment. 00:13:09.110 --> 00:13:13.590 So just as much as it's the employee's responsibility 00:13:13.590 --> 00:13:15.730 to get some work done, it's also the management 00:13:15.730 --> 00:13:21.190 responsibility to facilitate the support. Is 00:13:21.190 --> 00:13:26.529 that what you're saying? Yeah, it's sort of like 00:13:26.529 --> 00:13:31.789 anything, it's a bit of teamwork. Jake, did you 00:13:31.789 --> 00:13:34.190 have something to add? Yeah, I was just going 00:13:34.190 --> 00:13:37.389 to say very often there's the right way of doing 00:13:37.389 --> 00:13:39.590 things and there's the wrong way. Well, maybe 00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:43.230 it's not that black and white, but there's ways 00:13:43.230 --> 00:13:46.210 that suit both parties a lot better than others. 00:13:46.649 --> 00:13:50.120 If I'm going to talk about some funny experiences 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:53.279 I've had in remote work, you know, I've worked 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:56.519 for a team that was strictly cameras off and 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:00.240 I'm meaning you I worked for a company for It 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:03.340 was only about four months, but I never saw anyone's 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:07.259 face not even not even the manager and that company 00:14:07.259 --> 00:14:12.399 that did that Like to film your laptop basically 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:14.759 take photos every 10 seconds of what you're doing 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:18.019 across all monitors, which could feed back and 00:14:18.019 --> 00:14:19.779 that they'll be able to just keep track of what 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:24.080 you're doing. So I'd say that's a good example 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.360 of the way not to do it as a way of it's more 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:29.840 like Big Brother watching you. I think we talked 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:33.259 about that in our team meeting today about having 00:14:33.259 --> 00:14:35.379 Big Brother watching you. No one wants to have 00:14:35.379 --> 00:14:39.110 that feeling, but there's more of it. There is 00:14:39.110 --> 00:14:43.490 a trust element to it, and it is about staying 00:14:43.490 --> 00:14:46.870 transparent. Transparency, I think, is very important. 00:14:47.529 --> 00:14:50.389 Making sure that you can see tasks across the 00:14:50.389 --> 00:14:52.789 team, that you can see communication, how it's 00:14:52.789 --> 00:14:55.929 going back and forth across the team. So there 00:14:55.929 --> 00:14:59.149 are ways to do it, but I think if you're lacking 00:14:59.149 --> 00:15:01.470 trust within your team, maybe you shouldn't be 00:15:01.470 --> 00:15:05.240 going remote. Yeah, there are cases where you 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:07.539 know remote is good and you don't necessarily 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:12.139 need to trust but it's it's it's It's a cog in 00:15:12.139 --> 00:15:14.360 the machine approach. Not really a team -building 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:16.960 kind of thing Like if there's XYZ job, you just 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.440 need done. It's grunt work. It's hard to find 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.519 people to do It's hard to keep doing that role 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:24.039 and you can do it offshore a million times cheaper 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:27.120 and no one locally wants to do it Then yeah, 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:29.139 you know, that's where a screen recording and 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:30.659 that sort of stuff does make a little bit of 00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:33.080 sense It's one make sure things have been followed 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:34.820 but to make sure that you're paying for what 00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:38.159 you get But yeah, definitely. It's a it's a weird 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:40.259 vibe. I couldn't imagine just going to a business 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:42.580 Did you ever show your face like do they know 00:15:42.580 --> 00:15:47.000 who you were? Oh, yeah, so you do the First time 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.340 you meet someone you dress up all nicely and 00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:52.879 then you put the camera on and you go Look at 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:56.940 me. Yeah, look at me, but look at you. Like where 00:15:56.940 --> 00:16:00.379 are you? It doesn't but that's normal for them 00:16:00.379 --> 00:16:02.929 and you know, then all the team gets into that 00:16:02.929 --> 00:16:04.990 habit of just cameras off, don't want to see 00:16:04.990 --> 00:16:09.350 anyone. And, you know, that's doing that and 00:16:09.350 --> 00:16:11.690 just having a clock that as soon as you click 00:16:11.690 --> 00:16:14.789 on, it's taking photos of your screen of how 00:16:14.789 --> 00:16:19.049 you're working every 10 minutes. It puts you 00:16:19.049 --> 00:16:21.269 on edge a bit. And I think the most important 00:16:21.269 --> 00:16:23.830 thing that you lose from that is the time to 00:16:23.830 --> 00:16:26.909 really connect with your team about non -work 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:28.690 matters, because that's very important to know 00:16:28.690 --> 00:16:31.450 what people are interested in, how their day 00:16:31.450 --> 00:16:33.649 going, just general questions like that, which 00:16:33.649 --> 00:16:36.289 we'd do if we were in an office together. But 00:16:36.289 --> 00:16:38.490 if you do it the wrong way and you don't create 00:16:38.490 --> 00:16:40.529 an environment where you can have those conversations, 00:16:40.950 --> 00:16:43.090 I think the team morale can go down quite quickly, 00:16:43.090 --> 00:16:45.789 which will decrease productivity. And overall, 00:16:45.929 --> 00:16:48.340 it won't be good for the business. Yeah, it's 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:51.460 an interesting point that you just touched on 00:16:51.460 --> 00:16:54.159 then, which is the team building. So people talk 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:57.879 about building a business. So the business that 00:16:57.879 --> 00:17:00.000 you were working in, they obviously saw people 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.360 as pretty replaceable. There's a process to follow. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:05.119 We just need people to follow the process, push 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:09.019 the buttons, which probably is not a... It's 00:17:09.019 --> 00:17:11.000 a fine business model, but if you're building 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:12.640 a business and you're trying to change something, 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:14.299 you're not really including anyone else in that 00:17:14.299 --> 00:17:18.079 or building a team. Something that I think is 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.380 really good is that if you've got employees, 00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:24.160 here's a story actually that's probably quite 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:27.359 relevant. This is probably seven or eight years 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.619 ago. There was a really good person working for 00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:33.319 a client of mine. She was good at her job, did 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:35.579 everything well. And she approached her employer 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:37.200 and said, I'd like to go to Europe for three 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:40.539 months. I've only got two weeks of leave. Can 00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:43.420 I please have two and a half months unpaid leave? 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.180 And they said, no, it's an inconvenience for 00:17:46.180 --> 00:17:51.539 us. You know, no. So they were largely set up 00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:53.519 at the time, actually, to be able to do that 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:55.559 position remotely would have been probably just 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:58.160 a tweet to her phone and whatnot. Maybe she wouldn't 00:17:58.160 --> 00:17:59.900 have done it or she might have done some hours 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:03.180 that could have worked. They said no. So she 00:18:03.180 --> 00:18:05.670 said, I don't care. I'm going to go to Europe," 00:18:05.670 --> 00:18:07.950 which was always going to be the answer. And 00:18:07.950 --> 00:18:09.490 then they lost that person from the business 00:18:09.490 --> 00:18:11.470 along with three years worth of training experience 00:18:11.470 --> 00:18:13.210 and customer relations and all that sort of stuff. 00:18:13.250 --> 00:18:16.029 And then came back after Europe and got a different 00:18:16.029 --> 00:18:18.849 job. So it worked out fine for both of them. 00:18:18.890 --> 00:18:20.650 She got another good job and they got another 00:18:20.650 --> 00:18:26.190 good employee. But when you're going, as a business, 00:18:26.329 --> 00:18:28.859 we want to... invest in our business, we want 00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:31.160 to invest in people, we want to have a team that 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:33.500 get along and help the business go forward and 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:36.519 help the clients then having the ability to not 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:38.859 necessarily always work remotely but be able 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:42.500 to, I'd like to go overseas, is that okay? Yes, 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:45.500 I've got some holidays or can I still do some 00:18:45.500 --> 00:18:48.319 work? Use your technology that's available now 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.180 to actually keep working, keeps them on board, 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:55.880 keeps the business going forward and makes everyone 00:18:55.880 --> 00:19:00.240 happier. Yeah, that's a really good point. I 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:02.779 mean because being able to offer that to your 00:19:02.779 --> 00:19:06.559 employees is such a big asset to the business. 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:10.059 You know having that as part of your perks that 00:19:10.059 --> 00:19:12.119 you can offer your employees to go traveling 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:15.839 for three months and work on the road is something 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.720 really good because one of the hardest things 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.789 in this day and age is to retain really good 00:19:21.789 --> 00:19:24.789 talented staff and I think that's what's starting 00:19:24.789 --> 00:19:27.029 to separate a few of the businesses that offer 00:19:27.029 --> 00:19:29.069 these flexible arrangements compared to ones 00:19:29.069 --> 00:19:31.809 that don't is that they're able to cater to the 00:19:31.809 --> 00:19:34.869 lifestyle of the employees which helps you retain 00:19:34.869 --> 00:19:37.589 really great talent and it is funny that you 00:19:37.589 --> 00:19:39.650 say that because I'm someone who's done quite 00:19:39.650 --> 00:19:41.769 a bit of travel and I remember through my travels 00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:44.930 going oh if only I could have a job that I could 00:19:44.930 --> 00:19:47.690 take and travel and do all this and have my work 00:19:47.690 --> 00:19:50.180 taken on the road the only problem is is that 00:19:50.180 --> 00:19:53.500 when I found it was pretty much the day where 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:55.680 I was just becoming a dad and now I'm all settled 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:57.920 down. I've got three kids, family, house, all 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:00.200 these kind of things. So I can no longer really 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:02.359 do it. But I think that's a really good thing 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:05.000 for, say, people who come out of university. 00:20:05.180 --> 00:20:08.279 They may work for three years. They're learning, 00:20:08.460 --> 00:20:10.539 always developing, keen for a career. And if 00:20:10.539 --> 00:20:14.099 you can really blend that in with the travel 00:20:14.099 --> 00:20:16.829 and just those things that people do at that 00:20:16.829 --> 00:20:19.549 age, I think it's a huge win for both the business 00:20:19.549 --> 00:20:22.910 and for the employee. You're spot on there, but 00:20:22.910 --> 00:20:25.190 I would argue your point about you can't do it 00:20:25.190 --> 00:20:27.509 anymore with the children because someone else 00:20:27.509 --> 00:20:30.470 in our business has a crew of eight driving around 00:20:30.470 --> 00:20:33.369 Australia for the last four months, working as 00:20:33.369 --> 00:20:37.529 well with the remote satellite internet. Happy 00:20:37.529 --> 00:20:41.230 days. I think that's a bit full on, but anything's 00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:44.579 possible really when you think about it. That's 00:20:44.579 --> 00:20:48.119 cool. There's remote work, but there's also other 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:51.720 adaptions that you can have to the nine till 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:55.380 five. So that might be split shifts or which 00:20:55.380 --> 00:21:00.220 we mentioned before the four day week and results 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:05.279 only work. What, how could a small business take 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:08.380 these on or what should they consider before 00:21:08.380 --> 00:21:11.880 they get started? Well, there's a few questions 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:15.119 there, but Yeah, just being flexible, I think. 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:16.960 If you've got the right person, you're getting 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.299 the right results. It's a matter of how does 00:21:19.299 --> 00:21:21.240 that person fit in the business and what are 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:23.660 their requirements. So, oh, they can't do Mondays, 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:25.799 or they want to spend more time with their families. 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:28.859 They've got a new hobby. Can I do my work in 00:21:28.859 --> 00:21:31.640 these hours rather than these ones? It's about 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:35.579 being flexible. And the other side of that is 00:21:35.579 --> 00:21:37.799 that you can ... You can agree certain things, 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:39.759 but you just want to make sure you stay in line 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.039 with workplace law as well, especially in Australia. 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:44.799 There's rules and regulations, so it's making 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:46.440 sure that there's a good agreement between the 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:48.759 two parties that everyone's happy with and it's 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:51.779 mutually agreed, not sort of coerced onto someone. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:57.279 So that means it's employee wants it, it's been 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.960 agreed, not. the business would like you to work 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:01.940 from six o 'clock at night till 10 o 'clock at 00:22:01.940 --> 00:22:03.579 night so are available for our customers when 00:22:03.579 --> 00:22:05.819 they get home from work and hit social media. 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:07.920 You don't want to do it whatsoever. We're going 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:09.339 to make you do that and then you've got to rock 00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:12.619 up four o 'clock in the morning as well. So you've 00:22:12.619 --> 00:22:15.700 got a bit of a fine line but I think there's 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:17.339 lots of different options. So there's results 00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:19.940 only work which is hey we'll pay you to do a 00:22:19.940 --> 00:22:23.099 certain task when that task is complete which 00:22:23.099 --> 00:22:25.680 with employment law that's a little bit tricky 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:27.819 unless you're playing paying well above award 00:22:27.819 --> 00:22:30.039 because you've got to guarantee certain pays 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:32.140 to people. So if they're not hitting their targets 00:22:32.140 --> 00:22:33.299 and they're not doing enough work, they're not 00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:35.059 getting paid enough and then you're basically 00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:38.460 underpaying them, which is a different problem. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:41.680 But split shifts, yeah, it's definitely just 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:43.720 fitting in the hours and what's the need of the 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:47.240 businesses. I think there's two, nothing really 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:52.440 new there. But I guess the remote work or the 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:54.559 four day week or those sort of things don't necessarily 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:56.660 mean that your employees have to be out of the 00:22:56.660 --> 00:23:02.119 office the entire week. I mean, one example is 00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:04.839 let's just say I was in an office with you guys 00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:07.000 Wednesday afternoons. I'm out on the golf course, 00:23:07.019 --> 00:23:09.039 but I can still work from the golf course. I'm 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.259 still answering emails and taking phone calls 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:13.740 and those sort of things. So it's like, yes, 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:19.099 it doubles it as networking, but I'm still working 00:23:19.099 --> 00:23:21.640 that afternoon. I might not be in the office 00:23:21.640 --> 00:23:24.420 at that point in time present, but things are 00:23:24.420 --> 00:23:26.759 still happening, so there's those alternatives 00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:30.279 as well. Yeah, it would be interesting. People 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:31.660 will listen to that and go, well, she's playing 00:23:31.660 --> 00:23:34.019 golf. She's not working. She's available to work 00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:36.220 when someone requests her, but she's not taking 00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:38.740 a swing while she's processing some numbers or 00:23:38.740 --> 00:23:42.380 anything like that. So probably clarify that 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:45.660 a little bit. But using my case, for example, 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:50.210 my phone rings randomly all the time. So... Most 00:23:50.210 --> 00:23:52.089 of my clients that were bring out of hours or 00:23:52.089 --> 00:23:54.509 anything like that You know to get guidelines 00:23:54.509 --> 00:23:56.690 and and it's finding that relationship with your 00:23:56.690 --> 00:24:01.970 your your customer But when I had to work nine 00:24:01.970 --> 00:24:04.400 to five for someone I would sit at my desk sometimes 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:06.380 going, gee, I don't really have too much to do 00:24:06.380 --> 00:24:08.660 right now. It's been a quiet day. Like I'm just 00:24:08.660 --> 00:24:11.079 sitting here twiddling my thumbs. This is a complete 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:12.799 waste of my time. I could be doing this. I could 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:14.440 be doing this. I could be playing golf. I didn't 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:16.759 play golf then I'm still no good at it. But you 00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:19.279 know what I'm saying? Whereas with the sort of 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:22.099 the remote, the flexible type work is that, hey, 00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:24.319 well, I can be available at these times while 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:26.599 I'm doing these other things. Then the flip side 00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:29.019 to that is that sometimes you might not have 00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:32.000 wanted to be available before, but you would 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.099 do a little bit of work because it sort of balances 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:36.980 itself out and overall for the week you find 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:39.539 that you can do a whole lot more. An example 00:24:39.539 --> 00:24:42.720 would be if you drive to a meeting with a client, 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:45.460 you've got some travel there and then you drive 00:24:45.460 --> 00:24:47.799 back, you drive past the supermarket and you're 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:50.200 like, I'm on the clock now. I'll go back to the 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:53.200 office where later you've got to go back to the 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:56.839 supermarket then back home whereas the flexible 00:24:56.839 --> 00:24:59.000 style is that you would hit the supermarket on 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:01.799 the way home then go to work and you can deal 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:04.579 with the work after which just saves you a good 00:25:04.579 --> 00:25:07.980 half an hour out of your day. Yeah, good way 00:25:07.980 --> 00:25:10.259 saying and I still remember my first day working 00:25:10.259 --> 00:25:12.559 with the wonderful current business abundance 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:15.599 Being two hours ahead here. I thought 830 in 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:19.059 the morning I'll just quietly stroll on in online 00:25:19.059 --> 00:25:21.660 login and sort of take my time get familiar with 00:25:21.660 --> 00:25:24.980 things because it'd be 630 a .m. Where you guys 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:28.140 are based and yet? people were online at that 00:25:28.140 --> 00:25:30.059 time of the morning chatting getting started 00:25:30.059 --> 00:25:32.140 with their day and not because that they had 00:25:32.140 --> 00:25:34.819 to or feel that they had to but because it suited 00:25:34.819 --> 00:25:38.640 them it suited them to be on at 6 37 am take 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.210 a break around eight thirty, drop the kids off 00:25:41.210 --> 00:25:43.430 at school, go do a few other things, come back. 00:25:43.569 --> 00:25:46.230 And that's really the beauty of it is that, you 00:25:46.230 --> 00:25:47.990 know, people are ready to go at other times. 00:25:48.109 --> 00:25:50.089 People are night owls. People like to stay up 00:25:50.089 --> 00:25:53.009 a bit later. And it just caters for all that. 00:25:53.009 --> 00:25:55.809 It caters to the individual more than just being 00:25:55.809 --> 00:25:58.450 structuring everyone's routine into the nine 00:25:58.450 --> 00:26:02.650 to five workplace philosophy. Yeah. And you definitely 00:26:02.650 --> 00:26:05.890 can't make it work in all industries. Some do 00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:11.500 have certain. Sorry, Zee. No, you're fine. You're 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:14.779 fine. I was just going to say that this is attractive 00:26:14.779 --> 00:26:17.059 for employees, but how does a business owner 00:26:17.059 --> 00:26:21.579 benefit? So it's attractive for employees, but 00:26:21.579 --> 00:26:23.059 it's more attractive, I would say, for business 00:26:23.059 --> 00:26:25.519 owners. So you've got to be able to manage the 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:26.559 people. You've got to be able to make sure your 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:29.380 work's going. But for a lot of businesses, if 00:26:29.380 --> 00:26:31.240 you don't have systems and processes or ways 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:33.599 to know if things are going well or wrong, you've 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:36.779 got... some business issues to fix, but if you 00:26:36.779 --> 00:26:38.880 can see that, then it's just a management issue 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.700 of if people aren't performing, then having something 00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:44.660 happen with them. If people are performing, it's 00:26:44.660 --> 00:26:46.720 good. Why is it good for the business? Happy 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:48.740 employees. There's reasons for people to stay. 00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:53.269 There's the whole... I'm really good at what 00:26:53.269 --> 00:26:56.089 I do, but I'd like to be my own boss and have 00:26:56.089 --> 00:26:57.890 holidays when I want and drop the kids off at 00:26:57.890 --> 00:26:59.430 school. And I just can't do that here, so I'll 00:26:59.430 --> 00:27:02.430 go work for myself. Well, that aspect's definitely 00:27:02.430 --> 00:27:05.170 gone because they do get all those benefits without 00:27:05.170 --> 00:27:08.039 the stress of running their own business. But 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:11.420 like a direct one, we can attest to recruiting 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:13.440 accountants in Australia is really hard. Most 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:15.039 accounting firms will say they can't get any 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:18.000 applicants or any good ones. And we have a huge 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:19.680 amount of applicants when we put an ad up and 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:22.640 they're mainly good quality. And the difference 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:25.660 is that we're saying, hey, you're remote. We 00:27:25.660 --> 00:27:29.500 operate business hours. But once you're up and 00:27:29.500 --> 00:27:31.140 running, you can basically pick when you work. 00:27:31.339 --> 00:27:32.579 As long as you're doing your job, we don't care. 00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:34.910 and that's their choice. It's not ours. We're 00:27:34.910 --> 00:27:36.769 not saying go work nights or we're not encouraging 00:27:36.769 --> 00:27:40.329 it even. We're just saying, your work is this, 00:27:40.750 --> 00:27:43.990 get it done. And if it suits them to adjust it 00:27:43.990 --> 00:27:49.450 and most employees say it's, oh, I just wanted 00:27:49.450 --> 00:27:51.430 to go to school and watch my kids. But in my 00:27:51.430 --> 00:27:53.730 old office, I was allowed to do that. But when 00:27:53.730 --> 00:27:56.690 I walked back in, all the eyes were on me and 00:27:56.690 --> 00:28:00.390 it didn't feel like I was allowed. So it's the 00:28:00.390 --> 00:28:03.869 whole fact that if you've got that culture, then 00:28:03.869 --> 00:28:06.049 you get these really good people that are great 00:28:06.049 --> 00:28:08.190 at what they do, that just want to do a good 00:28:08.190 --> 00:28:10.470 job. They want to be rewarded for doing a good 00:28:10.470 --> 00:28:12.329 job, not for sitting at a desk doing nothing 00:28:12.329 --> 00:28:14.910 all day or whatever, getting paid the same as 00:28:14.910 --> 00:28:17.670 the numpty next to them. So if you have a really 00:28:17.670 --> 00:28:19.470 good setup, you keep it flexible, you should 00:28:19.470 --> 00:28:20.970 be able to attract really good people and that's 00:28:20.970 --> 00:28:23.369 great for your business. The second part is, 00:28:23.730 --> 00:28:26.630 like in our case, Jake's in New Zealand and most 00:28:26.630 --> 00:28:31.789 of us are based in Australia. He was the person 00:28:31.789 --> 00:28:34.130 we thought was right for the job. There's no 00:28:34.130 --> 00:28:36.190 reason why he couldn't be part of the team. It's 00:28:36.190 --> 00:28:38.750 the same as anyone else. So we can get him on 00:28:38.750 --> 00:28:43.150 board, which the business benefits from just 00:28:43.150 --> 00:28:45.730 for that. So yeah, it sounds great for the employees, 00:28:45.990 --> 00:28:48.430 but that's probably more looking at from a... 00:28:48.190 --> 00:28:50.390 point you would have heard the quiet quitting 00:28:50.390 --> 00:28:52.109 or people working from home and they've got the 00:28:52.109 --> 00:28:54.349 thing just pushing the keyboard every one minute 00:28:54.349 --> 00:28:56.150 whatever to make sure it shows they're online 00:28:56.150 --> 00:28:58.849 but you know that's just a business that doesn't 00:28:58.849 --> 00:29:00.970 know what people are doing and doesn't look at 00:29:00.970 --> 00:29:04.450 what the clients are getting in and manage that. 00:29:04.970 --> 00:29:09.410 The upside's much better. So how would a business 00:29:09.410 --> 00:29:13.089 owner change from their standard nine till five 00:29:13.089 --> 00:29:15.630 to something like remote work or change the way 00:29:15.630 --> 00:29:18.900 that employees can work within the business. 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:22.960 Yeah so in terms of being changing and jumping 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:26.839 in and well so I say jumping in or treading carefully 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:30.339 and moving slowly towards it. I mean the first 00:29:30.339 --> 00:29:32.980 thing is if you're let's say you're working in 00:29:32.980 --> 00:29:36.039 an office environment already and you want to 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:38.960 extend that to even be semi -flexible let's say 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:41.500 fully flexible it's probably just taking working 00:29:41.500 --> 00:29:45.519 in stages making sure that you test it in your 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:47.240 own environment where you are at the moment, 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:49.900 just get the right tools in place, I'd say is 00:29:49.900 --> 00:29:54.319 number one. What I can recommend is have a solid 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:57.319 communication tool to communicate with team members. 00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:01.579 We use Microsoft Teams here. I know that Slack's 00:30:01.579 --> 00:30:04.180 another alternative, Google Hangouts, whatever 00:30:04.180 --> 00:30:08.900 your preferred platform is, just start to communicate 00:30:08.900 --> 00:30:11.769 with the whole team using that. And this doesn't 00:30:11.769 --> 00:30:14.589 replace email. It just creates more transparency 00:30:14.589 --> 00:30:17.730 across the team, having certain channels, communicating 00:30:17.730 --> 00:30:19.869 with multiple people. It's just an easier way 00:30:19.869 --> 00:30:22.809 to keep track of the history. And then a project 00:30:22.809 --> 00:30:25.690 management tool is equally as important. I mean, 00:30:25.690 --> 00:30:27.990 I can only speak for, say, the marketing side 00:30:27.990 --> 00:30:31.210 of things, but being able to have an environment 00:30:31.210 --> 00:30:33.150 where you can go online and work with your team 00:30:33.150 --> 00:30:35.710 through big projects and break them down into 00:30:35.710 --> 00:30:40.200 individual tasks. communicate solely on that 00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:43.039 task and bring that from in progress through 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:45.480 to if it's stuck in the work to put it in stock 00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:48.099 right through to completed so you're always working 00:30:48.099 --> 00:30:52.339 on individual tasks moving forward and like we 00:30:52.339 --> 00:30:54.400 are right now, just know what you're going to 00:30:54.400 --> 00:30:58.559 be using to hold calls and team meetings so people 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:01.559 can see your face. See your face, as I say, is 00:31:01.559 --> 00:31:04.480 very important. It was always distressing not 00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:07.660 seeing people's faces. Not all the time, but 00:31:07.660 --> 00:31:11.200 just once in a while. People can hear your voice. 00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:13.740 But I'd say if you're wanting to start to move 00:31:13.740 --> 00:31:16.799 into that environment, just start. Start by getting 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:20.019 the right tools. Have a Allow your staff members 00:31:20.019 --> 00:31:22.259 to work from home maybe two days a week to start 00:31:22.259 --> 00:31:24.839 with if you're a bit cautious, but use those 00:31:24.839 --> 00:31:27.359 tools and you'll see how it starts to work into 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:29.940 your everyday work life. And I'd say as a business 00:31:29.940 --> 00:31:33.400 owner, as Rowan's already pointed out, it doesn't 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:35.799 just give your employees the flexibility, it 00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:37.920 gives you as a business owner the flexibility 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:40.880 to go away with your family and not lose track 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:44.009 of what's going on or feeling. Not in control 00:31:44.009 --> 00:31:45.930 of your business as you can stay across your 00:31:45.930 --> 00:31:48.710 business overseas and micro chunks, which I'd 00:31:48.710 --> 00:31:52.289 recommend So that would be my advice for starting 00:31:52.289 --> 00:31:58.509 small Some great tips there Jay The one thing 00:31:58.509 --> 00:32:00.329 I would would add is that if you're going to 00:32:00.329 --> 00:32:03.109 offer it to people offer it to everyone Because 00:32:03.109 --> 00:32:05.289 there's nothing going to devastate a team environment 00:32:05.289 --> 00:32:07.210 more than now some people getting preferential 00:32:07.210 --> 00:32:11.990 treatment to work from home and not others definitely 00:32:11.990 --> 00:32:14.910 make sure that whatever you choose to just put 00:32:14.910 --> 00:32:17.289 across the board that works for everyone. Most 00:32:17.289 --> 00:32:20.069 of the things that Jake mentioned there basically 00:32:20.069 --> 00:32:21.970 are things that most businesses should have anyway. 00:32:23.430 --> 00:32:26.490 So the example could be in a lot of businesses 00:32:26.490 --> 00:32:29.809 you have six people processing payroll as an 00:32:29.809 --> 00:32:33.750 example and they spend probably the first three 00:32:33.750 --> 00:32:35.769 hours of every day chatting to each other about 00:32:35.769 --> 00:32:38.410 what's gone wrong, what's gone right, and who 00:32:38.410 --> 00:32:40.569 did what last night, and what do we eat for breakfast, 00:32:41.349 --> 00:32:43.009 and causing general chaos in the office every 00:32:43.009 --> 00:32:45.049 time they're bored because there's two days of 00:32:45.049 --> 00:32:49.630 Fortnite, they're not processing payroll. So 00:32:49.630 --> 00:32:51.490 when you've actually got some processes in place 00:32:51.490 --> 00:32:53.609 and some accountability and some transparency, 00:32:53.710 --> 00:32:55.269 if you had that as a business, you probably wouldn't 00:32:55.269 --> 00:32:56.730 have needed the six people on payroll. You might 00:32:56.730 --> 00:33:02.099 only need four. So it sort of forces you by having 00:33:02.099 --> 00:33:04.900 these tools to have a much better picture of 00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:07.079 what's going on in your business. That's good. 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:10.700 We have resources and also the support services. 00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:13.980 So if a business owner was saying, well, I don't 00:33:13.980 --> 00:33:19.799 have the IT to even facilitate that, then we've 00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:23.559 got IT services that are able to set up remote. 00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:28.740 work and provide remote IT services or support. 00:33:30.579 --> 00:33:34.039 There's resources in our knowledge center that 00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:37.779 you can access to just see how you can develop 00:33:37.779 --> 00:33:43.220 your team remotely or how you can better communicate. 00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:45.900 There's a ton of different resources in particular 00:33:45.900 --> 00:33:51.099 because remote work is becoming so popular. There's 00:33:51.099 --> 00:33:54.789 resources all over the internet. But if you are 00:33:54.789 --> 00:33:56.990 looking for those resources, head over to our 00:33:56.990 --> 00:34:02.490 website at www .businessabundance .online. Just 00:34:02.490 --> 00:34:04.970 want to say thanks for joining us, Jake, and 00:34:04.970 --> 00:34:08.309 thank you again, Rowan. We will wrap it up here 00:34:08.309 --> 00:34:09.289 and see you next time.