Most of us are in some form of remote working position right now and this brings about a whole host of new challenges. Brendan McKay is a Principal with Falcon Investment Advisors who has been working remotely for the last few years and today we have him on the show to talk about the lessons he has learned! Our conversation with Brendan is all about creating a productive remote working environment and the value of maintaining social connections between employees for the firms they are a part of. We kick things off with Brendan hearing about his transition from New York to L.A. and how he set up an appropriate space for working. From there, Brendan details his process of slowly realizing that while he was very productive at home, something was missing. The problem was that working remotely doesn’t allow for those informal ‘water cooler talk’ moments which seem unimportant but actually end up playing a large role for firms as far as decision making, and building trust amongst staff. We drill down on the necessity of this type of social interaction, and Brendan talks about the changes he made to incorporate more of it into his remote work arrangement. Next up, we get into the importance of mentorship, the idea that so much of what you learn at work happens through doing. Falcon has been building formalized systems for this into their corporate culture since even before the lockdowns and we hone in on their value as far as the firm’s long-term vision. Tune in to get it all!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Unforeseen challenges remote work presented Brandan and lessons he learned. 
• How technology has allowed for remote working styles, especially in the investment industry.
• The value of creating a separate space at home so that work can be focused on properly.
• How much harder one has to work in a remote environment to stay in touch with people.
• ‘Water cooler talk’ – its role in decision making and the challenge of replicating it remotely.
• Regular catch-up calls and increasing travel cadence: Remote water cooler talk.
• Productivity versus effectiveness, the need for the latter for building trust and decision making.
• Building a corporate culture that values bringing back the informality that is lost remotely.
• How the responsibility rests with seniors to reach out to juniors to build informal relationships.
• The mentorship program at Falcon and the role it plays in formalizing building relationships.
• ‘You only learn investment by doing’ – stewarding apprenticeships through mentorship.
• The role of mentorship in ensuring the continuation of high-quality workers for the long term.

Brendan McKay LinkedIn
Alex Drost LinkedIn
Connection Builders LinkedIn

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