Thoughts For New People Working Remotely

Dear Import/Export Compliance Manager,

I just started my first job in import/export compliance, yay!  Our department is five people and we’re all remote.  Do you have any advice for someone like me just starting out in a remote position?

Videoconferencing in Vermont

Dear Videoconferencing,

Of course the Import/Export Compliance Manager has thoughts on this subject!  It wasn’t quite a decade ago when he broke down and offered a millennial direct report three(!) days a month to work from home. (They turned it down and continued to come into the office every day, which was great).  It was truly another world back then...sigh.

Alright, so we all know that working remotely has many benefits and thus there is no need to reprint them here.  Let’s focus instead on key tactics to making it work for you. 

So first of all, it’s obviously more difficult to meet and get to know people remotely, meaning, REALLY getting to know people.  Seriously, we can all agree it is easier to learn about your co-workers when you’re face-to-face in the breakroom or going out to lunch.  And that’s just getting deep connections.  For import/export compliance, it’s often the shallow connections, i.e. the people you don’t work with directly or often, that can provide the most valuable tips and thoughts.  Does it matter if you never work directly with that manufacturing technician or the CFO’s admin?  They may have been with the company 20 years and know how to really get things done within the company.  Or maybe just explaining to them your issues getting your shipments through Customs will spur an idea in your own mind as you talk to them.  All of that is missing with remote work, even if a company makes a concerted effort to get people together virtually.

Something needed as a young person are the soft skills that you just have to learn from seeing people while they are working.  The simplest example is looking over a more experienced co-worker’s shoulder as they’re navigating their way through a folder directory on their computer.  We all know the basics of  programs like Word and Excel and we can all agree that some people are savants with these programs.  Watching someone work on a document in-person or even just navigating within a folder directory can teach you different ways to accomplish tasks faster and better.  Little things that save time or help you think add up to increased productivity and higher job satisfaction.  Examples that work for some people can be color-coding your e-mails based on priority, using ALT-TAB to switch between windows and freezing panes in Excel for easier viewing.  And let’s not forget learning how to navigate your companies’ internal systems and just knowing where things are located.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager feels that YouTube tutorials are not a substitute for this kind of knowledge.

And while we’re at it, there’s also general import/export compliance knowledge that is imparted in casual conversations with your import/export compliance co-workers.  There is no doubt that you’re much more likely to talk import/export compliance shop with a co-worker when you can walk a few steps over than catching them via electronic media or the phone.  Just like in school, it’s healthy to broaden your mind with far-flung subjects for which you may not have a direct use.  Likewise, it’s helpful in import/export compliance to, say, learn about other areas within import/export compliance that don’t involve you.  Talk to the person who covers duty drawback or the person dealing with export licenses.  Let them teach you or just allow them to vent.  You’ll not only learn subject material but you’ll learn about how the company operates, how third parties like the government operate and even how your co-workers operate.  Heck, you might even make a friend.

OK, so how do you overcome these limitations as a new-to-import/export compliance person?  Well, it helps to be assertive and have willing accomplices.  It’s natural to talk in the breakroom; it’s not so natural to ping someone on instant message and say “Hey, do you have a few minutes to catch up?”  In no particular order, here are some suggestions:

1.      For any co-workers you really, really get along with and/or see some commonality in your work set up a weekly or biweekly meeting or lunch.  Pretend it’s a 1:1 meeting where you fill them in on what’s going on with your work and they do likewise. 

2.      When having a meeting, show yourself on video and, if that sort of thing is acceptable, show where you are working.  Peoples’ work areas can be great conversation starters and can bring us all closer together.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager may be an outlier on this one but unplanned interruptions by pets, housemates, etc., as long as they aren’t routine and overly-disruptive, are welcome.  You’re in Vermont, Videoconferencing; stick an empty pint of Cherry Garcia on a shelf behind you.

3.      Can’t meet with your import/export compliance co-workers in-person?  Find other import/export compliance people in your area and get together in-person with them!  If you’re fortunate enough to have a local import/export compliance roundtable, participate!  If there’s not one in your area, maybe you can create one!  Or just go on LinkedIn and try to find other import/export compliance people around.  Reach out and offer to take them to lunch.  Who knows?  You might just find a mentor.

4.      See if you can set up an hour a week for you and your co-workers to be online together and not discuss work at all.  A freeform conversation will do.  This works well with lunch (as everyone needs to eat at some point). 

5.      And when you are together in-person in an office or wherever, act like it’s normal.  Wander into the breakroom and meet people.  Say ‘hi’ to people in the hallway.  You never know what helpful and interesting person you might meet.

6.      Go to external import/export compliance events such as trainings and conferences and be sure to meet new people.  Import/export compliance people are typically quite helpful to each other and therefore having an expanded network will increase your skill level.

So in short, get to know people and learn, learn, learn.  It won’t be easy but it will be worth it.  Good luck!