Wall Planning Group functions just the same as any other boutique town planning firm, only better (well we think so anyway). We consider ourselves unique for a number of reasons, but one of our key differences is that we have a remote team.

Whilst we consider Clermont (in Central Queensland) to be WPE HQ, and have offices in Brisbane and across Queensland, the majority of our workforce operates remotely, communicating via phone and online.

Where, once upon a time, a scattered workforce would be a cause for concern, today’s working environment is changing like never before. With skilled professionals spread across cities, countries and the globe, modern communication technologies have connected likeminded professionals to facilitate the flow of information.  In businesses, this has given clients access to a wider range of services and the ability to choose the team best suited to them.

Through project and team management software and online communication tools,  the remote team of a modern town planning office can work seamlessly with clients, councils, and stakeholders throughout the life of a project.  This saves on overheads for the company and translates to savings for the clients without jeopardising the functionality and quality of the company.

CRM programs like Teamwork help us keep track of our clients, leads, projects, and time.

The Future of the Workplace.

Whilst the ‘traditional’ office space does have certain conveniences, we have found that our team members are happier, more productive, and produce a high quality of work when in their own home.

The critical building blocks in all of this are organisation and communication .  Having systems set up to monitor task and team member productivity, track project flow, and maintain open channels of communication ensure that work is handled efficiently and with attention to detail.

Our comfort with online communication means that the Wall Planning office can operate from anywhere in the world, no office required! Anywhere and at any time, the Wall Planning team can be working towards completing projects and achieving deadlines.

The Remote Workplace Toolbox

Aside from solid leadership, committed employees, and a passion for the work, a remote workplace can benefit from a few online tools that have helped the Wall Planning staff to stay on track and remain focussed and productive. Some of our favourites for the remote workplace are:

• Teamwork: We love Teamwork and use “Teamwork”, “Teamwork CRM”, “Teamwork Spaces” and “Teamwork Chat”! The Teamwork program allows the virtual office to run with efficiency like few other programs could.  It allows us to assign and track tasks and projects, record hours and notes on work, track leads and clients, establish deadlines, chat within the team, and even provides the space to make all our SOPs and policies available to team members; the Teamwork software has become an invaluable part of the Wall Planning team.
• Google Drive: Google drive is a simple, effective, private and secure document storage program. Storing all company documents to the cloud allows access to any files from anywhere at any time, which is vital to the functionality of the virtual workplace. After a year or two of working with the Google Drive program we have our filing systems down pat which makes finding a company documents a breeze.
• Google Meet / Zoom :  Video communication for those client meetings that are just a bit too far away. The video meeting is a fantastic tool that the virtual office place has over a traditional one as cutting out the transport time allows us to fit important meetings in without as many schedule clashes or difficult commutes.
• Shared Calendars:  Sharing our virtual calendars among the staff make it easy to keep track of each other’s schedules and deadlines, that way we know the best times to call and when we’ll all be in the office.

We have other useful tools to maximise our company efficiency –  check out our other article about our online tools.

The Remote Workforce

Without spending hours upon hours in the office with the team, it can be challenging to keep the entire team moving in the same direction at the same pace. However, Wall Planning has carefully selected a number of likeminded and motivated employees that share similar professional values and goals that help to keep the machine running smoothly.

Some key qualities that the Wall Planning employees share are:

• Trust:  Everyone needs to be doing their job, to the best of their abilities, in the timeliest manner possible.
• Proactive:  Making sure the team is more goal oriented than task oriented. Wall Planning staff excel in making sure that we are working towards completing what needs to be done for each project as soon as possible.
• Discipline:  Remote work can be an easy place for some to slack off, however the Wall Planning team believe that keeping on track is key to the success of our work.
• Accountability:  The Wall Planning team take our responsibilities seriously, and therefore we find it vital to hold ourselves and each other accountable for the work we are tasked with.

Our business ethics are one of our most important guiding principles, with the key to our success stemming mostly from our respectful, driven yet relaxed, cooperative approach to our work and business.

Owning the Remote Workforce

Wall Planning is not alone in our remote workplace method. More and more businesses are realising the benefits of a remote workforce and are ditching the traditional office in favour of a virtual one.  WPE are proud to be amongst those pioneering that type of workplace over the past decade.

Interested in working with our team?  Contact us today for your free 20-minute consultation!