Members of today’s remote workforce face unique challenges in building connections. For virtual medical assistants (VMAs), it could be harder. They’re often outsourced from oceans away and with little to no chance of meeting the rest of the staff personally. On-site staff can also experience some hurdles coordinating with their remote counterparts because the former may either be new to the arrangement or lack some required skills. The technical aspect of the setup can nonetheless be learned fast. What’s more important is utilizing available tools and pairing them with both hard and soft skills necessary to create the ideal remote work environment.

It’s technology that enables remote work, while communication makes it work. Practice managers may seek a thorough system reassessment and even a process restructuring to integrate remote staff. And the moment a team commits to the remote work setup, employees should recognize that simulating the traditional dynamics and attaining optimal productivity heavily depends on how effective their communication is. Once a good technological and communication system is established, upheld, and improved, everything else will follow — planning, management, and even performances that exceed expectations.

While effective communication makes up for the lack of personal interaction, certain hard and soft skills lay the foundation. Hard skills equip staff with wide-ranging job knowledge to get work done independently and efficiently. Soft skills ground your work values regardless of where you are. Anyone can learn essential skills and traits on the fly. Some may turn to Google and Youtube to facilitate learning. There are also those trained by their organization’s skills development managers. Staffing companies should put together a list of skills and help their talents enrich their knowledge and abilities. Better to also keep the list dynamic and evolving as they continue identifying weaknesses and rooms for improvement.

Remote work has definitely matured. By the looks of it, it’s here to stay seeing its advantages that evidently outweigh the cons. Tech-celeration is leading the way and is shaping behaviors initially projected to manifest five years from now. This can be a perfect example of chance favoring the prepared, more so for someone who has a lot to offer to a company or a medical practice, in this case.

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