We’ve all been trying to find our “new normal” this year. As the newest hire at a tight-knit company, I have seen firsthand how proper communication tools and broad approaches to learning make finding a new normal easy!

It has been a week since I started as 9 Clouds’ newest creative content strategist and let me say, it’s been smooth sailing starting a job from home.

This wasn’t the first time 9 Clouds has trained someone completely remote, so they have the right tools and information I needed to ease my way into the digital marketing world. With such great lists, visuals, and communication, these first days have flown by! 

Important Values: Community + Communication

My first meeting was with the same people I had already met throughout the interview process, and it was comforting to see some familiar faces. It was during this meeting I was introduced to two very important values at 9 Clouds: community and communication.

Communication came up quickly – maybe 20 minutes into the meeting when I needed to simply copy and paste something from the Zoom chat. I quickly realized that the shortcuts I had been familiar with on my college laptop were different from the Mac laptop.

Was I really going to ask how to paste something in my first meeting?

I am so glad I did!

It felt silly at the time but CEO Sarah Carnes answered my “hey, how do I paste something?” with kindness and assurance. She was quick to let me know that a.) the shortcut is Command + V, and b.) not to feel bad about any questions I had – that asking for help is not something to be afraid of but something that pulls a team together.

After learning the importance of communicating my questions, I learned the importance of community at 9 Clouds as well. It was a small gesture, but one I would never think a professional company would do for a new hire: the team specifically set aside time to clue me in on as many inside jokes or common phrases used by the team.

For a team that relies so heavily on effective online communication, this was vital information. Not only did it let me in on the humor of my new coworkers, it prevented any sort of confusion or communication rift between the existing team and the “new hire.” It was a small, sweet gesture that assured me everyone wanted to be on the same page.

Becoming Part of the Team

I was given some reading to help me understand the philosophies behind 9 Clouds. Not long after I started reading one of the books, “Rising Strong” by Brene Brown, I found a quote that read “the journey belongs to no one but you; however, no one successfully goes it alone.”

This transition to a fully remote nine-to-five is certainly going to be a journey for me, but to be successful here is to be part of the team. Even if that means a team you’ve never met in person before.

Even though we haven’t been together, I have not felt alone. 

With the help from some great chat tools like Slack (which, at first glance, was quite a bit to take in) and plenty of time set aside for questions, I never felt that I was going through any of this process “alone”. . . even from the little corner of my living room with a desk that I call my office.

Teaching + Learning Together

When you go to the 9 Clouds website, you will see an “education” link right at the top.

9 Clouds started as a business to bring digital education to the businesses, and you can see clearly that they present their training with well-organized information great for any learner!

And it’s not just for new hires like me.

The team creates content for their customers with the same thing in mind: different people learn differently. With webinars, eBooks, case studies, and a great blog to check out, any type of learner is going to succeed with this team. 

Until We Meet . . .

The most important thing I learned in my first week is that you don’t need to meet a team to be a part of one, and things like state borders can’t prevent good communication.

I am excited for more learning, more Slack jokes, and hopefully meeting everyone in person someday soon!

Meet the 9 clouds team