While the vital work of the ARLF remains the focus of this monthly column, I thought I would take a moment to highlight our team’s shift to remote work over recent years.
For 25 years, the ARLF team worked almost exclusively from the Canberra office. I still remember those early conversations with team members who were moving elsewhere and felt they had no choice but to resign. My initial thoughts were firstly about the person – why couldn’t they do their job and contribute to our work from wherever they were? Upon further reflection I thought about our 100% commitment to RRR Australia and how employment opportunities were so vital to the future of those communities.
Spreading out, not spreading thin
This led to a proactive approach actively recruit new team members who live in rural, regional and remote areas. Today only 20% of our ARLF team is based in Canberra with the remaining 80% spread throughout the regions. These fantastic contributors can be found from Rockhampton (Qld) to Darwin (NT) to the WA wheatbelt to Glenrowan (VIC), Bathurst (NSW) and many places in between. This approach allows people to work remotely from their own place and as such, continue to contribute to the fabric of their own community.
We know from the many conversations and programs we are actively engaged with across RRR Australia, that, amongst other imperatives, regional employment opportunities are vital for healthy regions. While the extent of employment opportunities the ARLF offers (around 35 currently) may be considered small, it is important to us that we play our part in supporting RRR Australia and to remain in keeping with our vision and values. This also supports priorities from all levels of government and those with a key stake in the future of RRR Australia including those we work closely with like the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal and the Regional Australian Institute.
Connection is key at a practical level, a key question becomes ‘how do we create a positive team culture focused on delivering against the ARLF mission when we are all over the country’? There is no silver bullet to this question and we are learning as we go.. Some of this is about putting the right structures and processes in place, however as we know all too well from our leadership development work, it is the people, their behaviours, connections, relationships and ability to work through complexity that really count in making any team, including a remote working team function.
Coming together from afar
To this end and in addition to all the work we do together in multiple iterations of ‘team’ online, ensuring there are multiple in-person interactions over each year within and between teams is crucial. Celebrating success is vital. Creating an environment where constructive feedback and quality conversations can take place is vital.
The keystone event that acts as the glue that binds for this dynamic remote work team is the annual team retreat. This has only recently taken place in Queensland where all team members had shared time together over four days. Importantly there is no ‘work’ or ‘planning’ done at the retreat. This is the anchor point that all team members can lean into over the ensuing 12 months. The focus is connection, allowing space to build relationships and creating an environment where trust and challenging conversations can flourish. This in turn supports an environment where the ARLF can make progress in complexity and sometimes difficulty over the period in between retreats.
Geographically dispersed or remote working teams can be a positive and flexible way or working now and in the future. This type of approach has the potential to contribute positively to a ‘liveable’ rural, regional and remote Australia. Given our experience my advice would be to focus on fostering people, relationships, opportunities to build trust and allow space for constructive challenge and conversations. This can provide a for a positive culture and a happier, more productive workplace.
