The Great Remote Work Experiment: How Developers Survived (or Didn’t)!

The Covid 19 pandemic brought a lot of significant challenges for our society, one of which was the inability to continue working within the office. As a result, development companies needed to adapt and find an ideal way to continue their projects. That kickstarted the Great Remote Work Experiment. The idea was to ensure that developers would work from home or anywhere in the world for as long as they could. It did bring in its fair share of challenges, though, because many developers were unable to fulfill that kind of requirement and commitment.

Every developer had a different experience

As you might expect, working remotely is a natural fit for some niches, but it can be very difficult for others. That’s why it’s imperative to understand what brings such challenges and how you can tackle them appropriately. With that in mind, many developers could switch to the remote work idea very quickly.

Since they usually need just a computer to do their work, the natural transition of working from home was swift and straightforward. It did take a bit to narrow down all the pros and cons, but once they did, the benefits were nothing short of incredible. Yes, having the opportunity to stay at home and work helped some developers speed up their processes and made them even more productive. Then there was also the downside, with some developers being less effective due to distractions that appear when you work from home.

The challenges brought by this Great Remote Work Experiment

What kind of challenges did some developers face regarding the Great Remote Work Experiment? Right off the bat, the constant need to go on Zoom did take a toll on developers, and their ability to deliver their work very quickly was affected. Working as a team while relying on constant online conferences is not ideal, and many developers deal with burnout from that alone.

Sure, going back to the office did help them quite a bit since that removed a lot of the back and forth. Plus, communication through online tools is not always ideal. In niches like development, you need proper communication to help you narrow down problems and identify any challenges. That is precisely what makes this a critical situation because you want to address everything and ensure nothing appears randomly. The problem is solved as quickly as possible.

Unreasonable expectations from some companies

Some employers felt working from home would be a natural and smooth transition. But that’s not always going to be the case. Instead, you always want to ensure that the process works as expected and flows efficiently. But the truth is that transitions of this magnitude will always come with some caveats. In this case, the expectations for some companies were too high, and with a lack of training and assistance, it was hard for some developers to transition toward remote work as smoothly as they wanted. But that was not impossible, and that’s what truly made the difference in a situation like this. It won’t work the way you want, which in turn will provide a fascinating position at hand.

Not everyone was/is ready to work online

Even if some businesses will find working online to be ok, there are some tasks you need to do on-site. And as we have shown earlier, you will face hardships when you try to work remotely if you don’t have the proper training and expertise. It’s never going to be a smooth and straightforward process, but some adjustments can ensure that everything is handled appropriately and without any worries.

Plus, in general, you will find remote work to be a privilege, and it can help in many situations. But when it’s forced, like the Great Remote Work Experiment was, that’s when you are facing all kinds of problems, and those are the things that you need to think about in a situation like this. It won’t be easy to achieve that, but it also shows the value of having remote work systems.

Forceful remote work can be challenging to digest, and for many employees, especially developers, it might not be an ideal work environment. It also removes the social benefits of working as a developer, those side chats, face-to-face meetings, and so on. Removing some of these elements from the work environment can be extremely difficult, and that’s precisely why you want to address such a situation correctly and professionally.

The Great Remote Work Experiment made onboarding a lot harder

Onboarding, especially for developers, is a process that relies on human interaction. Not having that kind of interaction becomes an issue, and it certainly delivers a disconnect that can become an issue in many situations. As the Great Remote Work Experiment started, it was clear that newer developers who had just joined a team and started working remotely found it very hard to work the way they always did.

But one of the advantages that the Great Remote Work Experiment brought was the ability to adapt and focus on making this process as cohesive and as seamless as possible. And for most developers, it worked great because it showed they could adapt to remote work and even boost their productivity.

Even if working from home is not going to be seamless and as quick as some might expect, it still has its fair share of benefits and something that will eventually bring better results in the long term. Of course, re-entering the offices was one of those things that could help people reconnect and re-learn how to socialize after working remotely for quite a long time.

Did all companies come back to the old ways?

No, the Great Remote Work Experiment helped some companies realize that remote work is in their favor. They were able to figure out a way to cut costs from not renting large buildings (or any buildings at all), while still being able to fulfill the work efficiently. Spreading themselves over multiple time zones was a great solution because it offered more liberty and a great lee-way to optimize how they work.

Are developers feeling any downsides or upsides from the Great Remote Work Experiment?

It depends on the company and projects, but developers were able to adapt and find new ways to work thanks to the Great Remote Work Experiment. It showed that working remotely is ideal for some developers but can also be difficult for others based on the project. With that in mind, there were challenges when it came to working remotely, which connected to distractions, a lack of hardware, improper internet connectivity, and other factors.

These are issues that any remote business will sometimes face, and tackling these things can help make the process better and more accessible. Nowadays, remote work is not just an alternative; in the case of many developers, it’s mandatory. And even if it’s not compulsory for everyone, it’s become commonplace for many businesses. This is what matters in the end; the opportunity to work remotely can help provide new ways for companies to showcase their skill and growth while pushing the boundaries and offering exceptional results in the long term. So yes, the Great Remote Work Experiment worked for most developers, but it wasn’t without hardships!