Marketing professionalism is not the only thing Aboad is known for. As agile lean marketing pioneers, we have been at the forefront of remote work for years before it became mainstream. What’s it really like to work remotely in a small, yet multi-national company, completely unrelated to your current location? Learn from years of experience, what are the benefits, pitfalls, and best practices for success in your remote work.
Culture is everything
In a continuously ongoing public discussion, people and organizations are debating whether it’s better to work from home or at the office. Most of this discussion lacks two major factors within this conversation:
- Freedom to choose your location based on your personal experience and preferences.
- Management and leadership are mostly based on traditional methods that need to be adjusted for modern, location-independent work.
Regardless of these prior factors, it all comes down to the type of your work and the culture within the organization. If the nature of your work doesn’t especially require physical presence, the culture may still hold you back. Many organizations are not prepared for remote work, even if their work would allow it. If you hear tired excuses, such as “we’re already paying for the office, so we need to use it,” or “remote work kills creativity,” it’s likely better to change the environment than to fight the inevitable: your organization is not ready for remote work. However, if your culture allows it, or you’re decisive in your own work, you’re ready to move to the next chapter.
Communication makes or breaks remote work
The number one challenge in remote work is communication, in other words, project management. It requires specialized skills from both your company and you to run efforts effectively from a distance. Processes are the key to holding the threads in one’s hands – neither a technology nor a single tactic can do the trick for you.
What tactics have we created and applied in order to balance effectiveness with complete freedom?
Regular meetings, such as weeklies, play a key role in communication within a company and between its stakeholders. Not to mention, the social aspect is also critical, whereas recurring meetings hold their place, maintaining the ‘we’ culture and emphasizing human interaction and relationships. Another thing is the functional usage of communication channels and technologies. You must have a proper project management platform that backs up all necessary information, while also ensuring that other communication levels are allowed. Therefore, you should create basic rules for your organization’s communication: what, when, and where it shall occur, depending on the purpose.
Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand
The company will give you the guidelines and the resources, but working remotely means that you must lead your own work. Remote work gives you freedom, but it also demands a high level of personal responsibility. If you don’t meet the deadlines or lack the quality of work, it’s up to you. In our model, you are given full autonomy to manage your own day, but in return, you are expected to deliver results.
That balance can feel entrepreneurial. You are free to take an afternoon walk, but you’re also responsible for making time in the evening if the job is not done. You may underplan your day, but that could mean overworking the next. Working remotely doesn’t remove pressure – it redistributes it.
For the right type of person, this mindset shift is liberating. It builds trust, performance, and ownership.
Your workspace is your responsibility
Without a shared office, the quality of your physical work environment is entirely up to you. That means investing in the right tools, hardware, and setups that allow you to perform comfortably and effectively.
- Reliable internet connection
- Ergonomic furniture
- External screen, camera, and lighting
- Tools that enable focus and flow
It’s recommended optimizing your workspace based on your own needs. Some team members prefer silence and separation. Others thrive with background noise or in shared spaces. Either way, your workspace should serve you, not the other way around.
Find your personal way of working
Everyone has their own rhythm, focus patterns, and communication styles. One of the greatest benefits of remote work is the freedom to find and refine what works best for you.
This might mean working in deep-focus blocks, taking regular walks, or doing your hardest tasks early in the morning. It might mean designing your schedule around energy peaks instead of fixed hours. What matters is that you stay aware of your own working style and continuously optimize it.
Remote work gives you the space to be efficient, but you must also learn how to lead yourself.
Let goals guide you
Remote work is not necessarily measured in hours but in outcomes. Your results matter more than your routines, and your targets should guide every day, week, and month.
Whether your goal is tied to sales, project delivery, customer satisfaction, or any other measurable metric, the foundation remains the same: know your goal, track your progress, and make adjustments accordingly.
At Aboad, we set clear goals with our team and clients. That clarity makes it possible to stay productive, accountable, and aligned, regardless of where you are working from.
Dive deeper into the topic: Benefits of Remote Distributed Digital Marketing Agency