We’re living in The Age of Connected Work.

Wait, what?

We’re a pandemic-surviving generation so we have naturally become less connected with co-workers, right? In some ways yes. In others, we are (and need to be) even more connected.

Remote growth

I work in a seed-stage startup with ~20 employees spread across the country. I live in California and have coworkers in New York, Utah, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest in a remote-first company. I believe this trend will persist.

A Gallup report from October last year (Remote Work Persisting and Trending Permanent) highlighted that 45% of full-time US employees worked from home either fully (25%) or partially (20%) in September, with an estimated 25% of all professional jobs in North America being remote by the end of 2022 as forecasted by career job site the Ladders and featured in Forbes.

If recent ARR milestones of high-growth companies are an accurate proxy, the top two companies: Cart.com (eCommerce as a service) and Deel (remote hiring) show a strong bias toward companies engaging customers online as the eCommerce trend continues, and hiring remote talent globally - another data point that this trend is here to stay.

“community watering holes” resonates.

Successful companies will need to not only leverage their PLG motions, but also figure out how to influence the influencers since B2B software buyers are no longer buying in a straightforward manner, and the path to purchase may be a less direct track that is a combination of factors that influence the user decision maker.

Conclusion: Role for partnership leaders

PLG is already a mainstream framework for CEOs/Founders building new startups and sustaining innovation leaders. Now we layer in considerations around macro trends like remote work/hiring talent remotely and eCommerce potentially influencing how we as consumers live and buy virtually. There becomes a greater, pressing need for companies to intentionally build openness into their product, and define their approach to engaging communities early on.

Partnerships professionals are well poised to play a major role on both these fronts.

First, by being an active conduit of intel and insights to the Product team informed by firsthand partner feedback.

Secondarily, Partnerships must partner with Marketing to co-develop a proactive Community engagement strategy as part of the company’s growth plans. Both of these cross-functional motions help sharpen the company’s roadmap focus while extending its reach and influence in the market.