6 Reflecting on your preferences
Now that you’ve had the chance to consider some of the benefits and challenges of remote working, it will be useful to end this week by reflecting on your personal perception of working in this way.
Remember that virtual employment can be full time or it might take the form of hybrid working, combining time in the office with time working remotely. Khanom (2025) describes five different hybrid working models:
- Flexible hybrid model – allowing employees to choose when they work in the office or remotely.
- Fixed hybrid model – has a predefined schedule showing when employees must be in the office and when they can work remotely.
- Remote-first model – where remote work is the preference, but some office space is available if occasionally required, e.g. for teamwork or collaboration.
- Office-first model – prioritising an in-office presence, while offering flexibility for remote work from time to time.
- Week-by-week model – teams alternate weeks between working in the office and remotely, ensuring everyone has equal access to both options.
Even if you have already experienced this form of working in some way, now might be a good time to ask yourself whether it aligned with your strengths and needs in the workplace.
There are a number of personal skills and abilities that might make virtual working an easier proposition for you.
Henke et al (2022) investigated the skills and abilities required to thrive in remote work, interviewing over 50 individuals employed by a large, health care organisation, who had been unexpectedly required to work remotely during the pandemic. They were asked which skills or characteristics were most useful in enabling them to work effectively in this way, and the most frequently sited were:
- technology literacy
- communication
- work ethic
- ability to manage distractions.
The Indeed Editorial Team (2025) suggests that employers recruiting for remote working roles should consider candidates with the following skills:
- good time management
- problem solving
- accountability
- written communication
- technological proficiency.
Activity 5 Could you thrive in a virtual team?
Russell (no date) suggests asking yourself the following questions:
- Are you self-directed?
- Are you comfortable working alone?
- Are you an excellent communicator?
- Are you capable of maintaining a healthy work/life balance?
Use those questions to reflect for a few minutes on whether or not you could thrive in a virtual working environment. Think about your strengths, i.e. the skills you have that you enjoy using, and consider what could give you job satisfaction in a remote environment.
Comment
Did you decide that you would thrive in a virtual team? Perhaps you concluded that you could work effectively in that way, but wouldn’t particularly enjoy it – in which case perhaps a hybrid option would suit you better. Maybe virtual working simply isn’t for you.
If you do find yourself considering a remote role, another of Russell’s questions is ‘Does your employer offer a healthy remote culture?’, and this is an important consideration. As you saw in Section 5, the effective use of technology can make a big difference to how connected members of a virtual team can feel. This could be something to ask about in a job interview.