With the rise in remote work capability it is easy to be constantly connected. I was recently on a family holiday in Vanuatu, where I did a bit of “remote work” including filming a few videos.
If you practice remote work regularly, you will be prepared to work remotely when required. This is a great advantage from a business continuity perspective.
I asked BCP Builder Community on LinkedIn about the most remote places they had worked. There was a great variety and a couple close to home:
- Russia, China, Ireland, Malaysia, Mexico, US, Jost Van Dyke, Kabul, Palestine, a cruise ship mid Atlantic and my favorites Vanuatu and New Zealand.
Just because it is possible to work from anywhere, it doesn’t mean we should be always working. It is important to retain a work life balance and ensure you take regular breaks and avoid leaveism.
The term leaveism describes:
- Taking annual leave because you or your dependents are sick, to disguise how many sick days you are taking;
- Taking work home that cannot be completed in normal working hours;
- Working while on leave or holiday to catch up.
This isn’t healthy and an increase in connectivity drives an increased expectation of availability.
260-year-old turtle
While on holiday in Vanuatu, we were lucky enough to see a 260-year-old turtle, which made me think of all the technological changes which have happened in his lifetime.
This turtle was born around 1759, that was ten years before Captain Cook’s first landfall in New Zealand.
Captain Cook was completing remote work, by charting the new world and reporting back his findings. Communication was possible, but much slower – usually by written letter.
In the last 50 years we have gone from communicating by letter to instant communications anywhere in the world.
If you want to increase your Organizational Resilience, start with preparing a Business Continuity Plan and check out BCP Builder’s Business Continuity Planning Templates.
