Sneak Peek: Bottleneck Distant Assistants’ Company Culture | 061
You’ve heard about Bottleneck Distant Assistants in the past, where Jaime Jay, our host, conversed with amazing business leaders. BNDA is Jaime Jay’s company and his team members are here to talk about the good and the bad of working remotely. In this episode, Jaime Jay shares to us how to create and cultivate a culture on a remote-based company.
Working Remotely
Jaime Jay, a businessman who thrives off company culture, shares that having a remote-based team has forced him to build systems and processes internally in order to have sturdier communications. He says that repetitive tasks must be systemized and must be captured through a workflow.
This process has helped him with delegations and accountabilities since he has never met a single person from his team, physically. He also addresses some of the common queries that he receives on how to maintain a good culture with a remote team.
Setting Up Culture Remotely
In terms of company culture, It is indeed possible to have a great one even if the team members are working from different parts of the world. Operations Manager Sara Knox also shares how amazing their company culture is.
“With the power of technology, right now, we’re all looking at each other, we’re all talking. We, at any moment, we can jump on a call. We can have a face to face, we can share screens. I think it works very well and for the culture, I love how everyone is excited and cares about everyone else in the company. We interact and we engage in fact, we have engagement on Facebook with everybody on a personal level.” – Sara Knox, BNDA Operations Director
The BNDA Team
The team, comprised of Operations Director Sara Knox, Graphic Designer Cedrick Beros, Executive Assistant Reina Adlawon, Recruitment Manager Rechelle Adlawon, Marketing Manager Diane Gervacio, Social Media Manager Ace Medina, Podcast Pilot Audio Engineer Mike Duruin and Bottleneck Medical VAs Co-Founder Dr. David Laurino — each gave their sentiments on the the perks and challenges they face as remote based virtual assistants.
“It’s been quite an interesting life. I didn’t know much about remote work before I met Jaime but it opened my eyes to the possibilities, about people who have phenomenal skills across the world and how beneficial they can be to us on a day to day basis. – Dr. David Laurino, Podiatrist and Co-Founder of Bottleneck Medical VAs
The Good and The Bad
The pros that the team discussed in unison include freedom from traffic and commute, more time for family and their personal businesses and more savings in terms of food and clothing allocation.
“I wasn’t expecting that working remotely was a little bit homey. What I love about working is you don’t have to go out and commute. The traffic is terrible.” – Reina Adlawon, Executive Assistant
“Here in the Philippines, the traffic, it is an understatement if you say its terrible. It’s like a full-time job, it’s like you’re doing two jobs. One of the huge things why I am never going back to the corporate setup.” – Ace Medina, Social Media Manager
“It [remote work] helps me not to spend time in traffic just to travel back and forth to offices in Manila. It helps me in terms of time management, to learn how to control and balance my tasks.” – Cedrick Beros, Graphic Designer
They also shared some of the processes and culture of BNDA that they particularly like such as working with the team and their project management platform.
“When you have a team, everything feels like you belong, you have a family to look forward to.” – Rechelle Adlawon, Recruitment Manager
“Benefits of working remotely—aside from working with these incredible people, honestly, I will never be working for 4 years without these people, kudos to them—I am able to wear my home clothes anytime. I don’t need to wear a tuxedo for a meeting. I can always be authentic.” – Mike Duruin, Audio Engineer
What I like about BNDA is our project management platform, Basecamp, because I get to tick off my tasks and get to see the progress of my work. I also get to communicate and speak with my superiors and my teammates, all in one platform. I believe that’s of prime importance, not only for managers but for VAs like us, because we get to see our contributions to the company and we get to see our growth within the company.” – Diane Gervacio, Marketing Manager
In terms of challenges, Diane shared its internet connectivity issues and working in a multi-cultural setting where teammates try to get-along and produce results.
As final advice, Rechelle shared the importance of investing in your physical work assets and Reina shared her piece why she thinks everybody in the Philippines should consider working at home.
“You can invest in your dress and eat whatever you want because you are saving, but always think about what is the return on that. Always think about what you should do to improve your work station. We always recommend having a backup internet, because if there’s no work, there’s no income. Think of it as your home office.” – Rechelle Adlawon, Recruitment Manager
“I think every Filipino should work remotely because youre at the comfort of your home and you’re able to hang out with your family, if not all the time, at least on the weekends That’s the most important thing there.” – Reina Adlawon, Executive Assistant
Download and listen to Sneak Peek: Bottleneck Virtual Assistants’ Company Culture to learn more.
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Facebook: Bottleneck DistantAssistants
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About Jaime Jay
Meet Jaime Jay – a man who wears many hats, and wears them all admirably. He's a master connector, an entrepreneur extraordinaire, and a published author who knows how to get things done.
Before he found his way to the business world, Jaime served his country as a brave paratrooper in the U.S. Army. But that's just the beginning of his many accomplishments.
He's the founder of the renowned Bottleneck Distant Assistant Services firm, and his book "Quit Repeating Yourself" has become a must-read for entrepreneurs everywhere.
When he's not busy building his empire, you can find him on his beloved Harley Davidson, cruising through the countryside and taking in the invigorating effects of Uitwaaien – a Dutch practice that involves facing the wind to boost health and relieve stress.
He enjoys spending his free time outside building stuff with his wife, Nikita the dog and their two kittens (for now at least) Tommy and Tater.
He is ‘over-the-moon’ happily married to his wonderful wife Sara, his amazing daughter, Jessica, who is serving our country as a United States Army soldier. Jaime and Sara are the proud grand parents of two beautiful little girls.
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