Posts
Remote Work Is Dead. Long Live Remote Work: Why Most People Are Getting Career Advancement All Wrong
Working from your kitchen table in tracksuit pants isn't the career killer the doomsayers predicted. After seventeen years helping professionals navigate workplace politics - first in stuffy Melbourne boardrooms, then across video calls that freeze at the worst possible moments - I've watched remote work evolve from "emergency pandemic measure" to "the future of work" to whatever we're calling it now.
Here's what nobody wants to admit: 73% of remote workers I've coached are accidentally sabotaging their own career progression. Not because they're lazy or disengaged. Because they're trying to replicate office dynamics that never worked particularly well in the first place.
Other Articles of Interest:
The whole "presenteeism equals productivity" mythology died a slow death between 2020 and 2022, but somehow we're still measuring remote success by how quickly someone responds to Slack messages. That's like judging a restaurant by how loudly the chef bangs pots.
Remote career advancement requires a completely different playbook. One that nobody taught us because, frankly, nobody knew what they were doing either.
The Visibility Paradox That's Killing Remote Careers
Let me tell you about Sarah. Marketing manager, Brisbane-based, worked remotely for three years before she realised her boss had forgotten she existed. Literally. During a team restructure, her name didn't come up for promotion because - and I quote - "Oh right, Sarah! I forget she's still with us."
This isn't unusual.
The traditional advice about "managing up" assumes you're bumping into your supervisor by the coffee machine. When your boss only sees you as a floating head in a Teams window, different rules apply. You need to become professionally memorable without being the person who schedules unnecessary meetings just to "touch base."
Here's the counter-intuitive truth: remote workers who advance fastest are the ones who stop trying to prove they're working and start proving they're thinking. Big difference.
I learned this the hard way after spending six months colour-coding my calendar to show how "busy" I was. Spoiler alert: nobody cared about my artistic approach to time management. They cared about whether I could solve problems they didn't even know they had yet.
The companies getting remote career development right - think Atlassian, Canva, SafetyCulture - focus on output and impact rather than input and activity. They've figured out that someone who delivers exceptional work in 25 hours per week is infinitely more valuable than someone who's "available" for 45 hours but produces mediocre results.
The Connection Conundrum: Building Relationships Through Screens
Networking events are dead anyway, so remote work just accelerated what was already happening. Those awkward industry drinks where everyone pretended to enjoy warm chardonnay while exchanging business cards? Good riddance.
But humans are still tribal creatures who trust people they know. Remote workers need to manufacture the casual interactions that used to happen naturally. The trick is doing this without becoming that person who DMMs everyone about their weekend plans.
Smart remote careerists create what I call "strategic spontaneity." They join cross-functional project teams. They volunteer for industry committees. They show up consistently in company Slack channels - not just work ones, but the book club, the running group, the terrible-memes channel.
The key word is consistently. Sporadic engagement reads as desperate. Regular, valuable contributions read as collegial.
I've noticed remote workers often underestimate how much career advancement happens through what psychologists call "mere exposure effect." Simply being present (virtually) in the right conversations, repeatedly, builds familiarity and trust. Your brilliant insights matter less than your reliable participation.
This drives results-oriented people mad, but it's reality.
The Skill Stack That Separates Remote Career Winners from Remote Career Casualties
Technical competence is table stakes now. What separates the promoted from the plateaued is a specific combination of soft skills that traditional office environments never forced us to develop.
Communication architecture is the big one. Remote workers who advance write better emails, structure clearer presentations, and ask sharper questions. Not because they're naturally better communicators, but because remote work punishes unclear communication immediately and visibly.
When you can't read body language or clarify confusion with a quick desk-side chat, your written communication skills better be exceptional. The emotional intelligence training that felt optional in face-to-face roles becomes career-critical for remote professionals.
Project ownership mentality separates career advancers from career survivors. Remote workers who wait for detailed instructions plateau quickly. Those who identify problems, propose solutions, and follow through without constant supervision get promoted.
The manager who can trust you to handle complex projects independently is the manager who recommends you for bigger opportunities. Simple as that.
I've seen this pattern repeatedly: remote employees who treat their role like a checklist of tasks stay remote employees. Those who treat their role like a business they're helping to build become remote leaders.
Technology fluency beyond basic Zoom skills. Understanding collaboration tools, project management systems, and digital communication etiquette isn't optional anymore. But neither is knowing when NOT to use technology - when a quick phone call resolves what would otherwise become a fifteen-email chain.
The professionals advancing fastest are simultaneously more digitally sophisticated AND more willing to pick up the phone than their office-bound counterparts.
The Feedback Loop That Most Remote Workers Get Backwards
Performance reviews in remote environments are broken. Monthly one-on-ones often feel forced. Annual reviews cover too much ground over too long a timeframe. Most feedback arrives too late to be useful.
Remote career advancement requires creating your own feedback loops. Not waiting for scheduled review cycles or hoping your manager notices your good work.
The most successful remote professionals I work with send brief weekly updates to their managers. Not detailed time logs - strategic summaries highlighting wins, challenges, and upcoming priorities. Takes five minutes to write, provides continuous visibility, and creates paper trail of achievements.
They also seek feedback actively from colleagues, clients, and stakeholders. Not formal 360 reviews - casual check-ins asking "How could I have handled that differently?" or "What would make this process smoother next time?"
This feels vulnerable initially, but it accelerates professional development dramatically. You catch and correct course much faster than waiting for formal feedback cycles.
I used to resist this approach because it felt like extra work. Turns out, it's less work than dealing with performance issues that could have been prevented with earlier intervention.
Remote workers who advance are comfortable with ambiguity and proactive about clarifying expectations. They don't wait to be told what success looks like - they define it themselves and confirm alignment with stakeholders.
The Professional Development Trap That Keeps Remote Workers Stuck
Here's where I'll lose some people: most professional development for remote workers is completely backwards.
The industry pushes time management courses, productivity apps, and home office optimisation tips. All helpful, none transformative.
The remote professionals getting promoted focus on developing business acumen, industry knowledge, and strategic thinking skills instead. They understand that being a more efficient remote worker is less valuable than being a more strategic business contributor who happens to work remotely.
Companies like SiteCoach provide negotiation skills training that addresses this gap. They recognise that remote workers need different capabilities than traditional employees, not just remote-friendly versions of traditional training.
The professionals advancing fastest treat their remote position as a competitive advantage, not a accommodation to manage. They leverage flexibility to attend industry events, take strategic courses, and build relationships that office-bound colleagues can't access during business hours.
They invest in skills that make them valuable to future employers, not just effective at current tasks.
Think bigger than productivity hacks. Think business impact.
Why the Future Belongs to Remote Workers Who Stop Playing Defence
Remote work anxiety makes people defensive. Defensive about productivity. Defensive about engagement. Defensive about commitment.
This defensive mindset kills career advancement.
The remote workers advancing are playing offence instead. They're more available for urgent client calls across time zones. They're picking up skills from online courses during commute time they don't have. They're building global professional networks impossible to access from traditional office environments.
They've stopped trying to prove they're as good as office workers and started demonstrating they're different in valuable ways.
The future doesn't belong to remote workers who successfully replicate office culture from home. It belongs to remote workers who create new models of professional excellence that office environments can't match.
Your career advancement as a remote worker depends on embracing this difference, not apologising for it.
The author has spent 17 years helping Australian professionals navigate career transitions, workplace politics, and professional development. Currently based in Perth, working with clients across Australia and internationally through virtual coaching programs.