Adapting to the New Norm: Finding Growth in the Virtual Workspace

Remote work is rapidly becoming the new normal for workers everywhere, and this has brought a variety of new challenges to the fore, and the most pertinent of these are upskilling and professional development. As a remote professional in today’s working world, you need to be technically proficient, agile to change, and continuously improving in order to stay at the top of your field – but just how can you do this without the in-person support that workers have traditionally enjoyed from employers? In this piece, we’ll discuss just that, highlighting some key measures you can take to achieve continuous professional development in a remote work environment.

1. Laying the foundations for continued growth

First and foremost, embarking on a journey of self-development requires a commitment to proactive change. Adapting a change mindset will help a lot in this regard by encouraging you to keep your eyes peeled for new learning opportunities, but you should also aim to set out tangible development goals and establish a reliable framework for continual upskilling, as this will provide the motivation and support you need for long-term professional growth.

In the age of remote work, digital transformation and professional development are intrinsically connected. This is why a well-thought-out robust change management approach is so important – for both organizations and independent professionals – as this expert source illustrates. In order to continually improve yourself and bring more to the table as a remote professional, you need to be able to quickly adapt to technological developments in your industry and reliably master new tools. A digital adoption platform could be just the solution to help you in this regard.

Digital adoption platforms, or DAPs, are software tools designed to integrate with other types of applications. Visual overlays provide contextual guidance that can enable you to learn the key features of complex new software more quickly. By setting clear goals for your learning and incorporating a digital adoption solution into your professional development approach, you can reduce the learning curves you face with new software. This will empower you to broaden and deepen your skill set more quickly, allowing you to be more agile to industry changes and stay at the cutting edge of your field.

2. Creating a professional support network

A major challenge that remote professionals often face with self-development is the lack of organic interaction and collaboration that often facilitates learning. In an on-site environment, colleagues can learn at the same time, sharing insights and collaborating to motivate and support one another in their shared learning goals. However, this type of interaction is largely non-existent when working remotely, so you’ll need to be proactive in developing a supportive professional network that will help you achieve your ambitions.

If you work as part of a remote team at an organization, it’s worth contacting other team members and suggesting check-in sessions. Scheduling a regular call – even if it’s just for 15 minutes once a week – will give you a place to share experiences with learning new tools or techniques and discuss solutions to any potential sticking points. This facilitates better learning and development and provides you with an additional opportunity to learn about new technologies or practices that you could adopt.

Alternatively, if you work alone, then you’ll need to do some outreach to build such a network. Attending industry conferences and seminars – either digital or in-person – can help you to make connections with other professionals in a similar situation to yourself. Keeping in touch with these contacts an allow you to exchange ideas, ask questions, and share updates on the more recent developments in your industry.

By creating a strong supportive network around yourself, you can overcome learning challenges more effectively and improve your awareness of new industry developments to better guide your self-development.

3. Starting with essential soft skills

Thriving as a remote professional requires considerable digital skills and technical competence, of course, but that should not necessarily be your first priority when embarking on a journey of continuous development. Rather, it is important to ensure that you have the right soft skills first. After all, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so you might as well start off on the right foot.

Skills like project management, time management, multi-tasking, and self-motivation will all have key parts to play in how your development journey ultimately plays out, so it’s worth investing time in strengthening these before turning your attention to the ‘nuts and bolts’ aspects of learning. Again, seminars and workshops can be a great way to help you develop the foundational skills to learn more independently. Another solid way to improve these competencies is to create a regimented workday schedule that includes your learning time and breaks. It may sound simple, but this structure will help you to develop discipline in your routine and maintain a high level of productivity while you learn. 

Final thoughts

Continuous self-development is perhaps most important of all in remote roles, but that’s also where it can be most challenging in many ways. With the structure of the traditional workplace to keep you on track, you’ll need to adopt some proactive practices to achieve your learning and development goals, and the practices we’ve discussed here can help in that regard. By prioritizing key soft skills, building a strong supportive professional network, and establishing a reliable framework for learning new technologies, you can stay proactive in your self-development and remain agile to change to flourish in an ever-evolving landscape of remote work.