The use of remote working options has saved jobs and reduced health risks inherent to the rise of COVID-19. The opportunity to use telework has allowed organizations to engage in operational activities by leveraging virtual teams’ potential. Organizations offering workers to work remotely have become financial salvation for many workers during the pandemic, significantly since the pandemic impacted the U.S. economy so severely that more than since more than 57 million American workers have filed for unemployment government benefits in just 2020. While having a telework option is an assurance of organizational sustainability or continual employment, it represents a unique opportunity for exploration for employees, supervisors, and organizations attempting to adapt to this evolving level of complex change. This paper uses applied qualitative focus group research from a process consulting to explore the values and barriers that telework for a real estate title organization called XRO.

The purpose of this reflection on practice was to reflect on how my professional identity developed through supporting dissertation chairs within the evolving supervisory and coaching aspects of becoming a research specialist. The conceptual lenses for this reflection were derived from strands of research on reflective practice, professional identity, and doctoral supervision. By reflecting on a supervising and coaching process as a research specialist, I offer insight into the dynamics of professional identity within a changing profession. This fulfills the need to understand the changing aspects of a profession by reflecting on the development of professional identity, given the supervisory and coaching aspects as a research specialist in the doctoral college are constantly evolving. A collaborative partnership was formed between several dissertation chairs and myself with regard to learners, which in turn has served as a basis for future interactions. Future reflections on practice using alternative models and other practices as a research specialist will help to strengthen my professional identity and practice.