during & after COVID-19
＊This article was originally written in Japanese by our CEO, Yoshihide Arai.
This corona shock has made remote working inevitable, and it has forced even large, hip companies to start adapting remote working.
Recently, we’ve heard from many executives that they are considering downsizing their offices. One of the reasons for this is that employees say they can work more remotely.
Personally, I’m a little uncomfortable and uneasy with this idea.
Of course, now that they are used to working remotely and have prepared their home environment, coming to the office is definitely not as necessary as before. In that sense, it’s natural to try to cut costs by slimming down the office a little bit, and that’s totally agreeable.
But I doubt that organizations that really work remotely as their primary way of working will be able to survive in these uncertain times.
In terms of compatibility with remote work, I think there are two factors that come into play.
One is the issue of quality of work to be done.In cases where what needs to be done is clear to some extent, remote work is efficient. For example, office work and development work.
On the other hand, it is not necessarily true that efficiency is enhanced by working remotely when the work to be done is unclear, or when there is work to think or plan. There are a lot of things that come out of discussions with colleagues or uselessly talking to each other. Maybe creativity does not come from efficiency.
The other is the issue of engagement.
People often talk about whether they see their work as rice work or life work. The former literally means working to earn money for a living, while the latter means working not just for a living, but finding fulfillment and purpose in it.
For someone who goes to work and does rice work in the office, stressing needlessly over incompetent, nagging bosses and stubborn rules, it’s not hard to imagine that working remotely is a great environment.
For those who have worked their life’s work with a trusted colleague, remote work is efficient and easy to focus on, but the feeling of unfulfillment is growing by the day. We all have an inherent desire to work and interact with others, and it’s even more natural to want to meet with people we trust to achieve the same vision. It may be similar to the feeling of loneliness.
Depending on the quality of the work and the engagement with the organization and colleagues, there are cases where remote work is more or less desirable.
However, in today’s business environment known as VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity), companies like ours will not be able to survive unless the quality of work is more creative and knowledge-based, and the organization is built for high engagement to make work more rewarding and satisfying.
In other words, we believe that remote work is never a good fit.
Atrae has a long history of high engagement and has worked in business as an autonomous, decentralized organization with a flat, non-hierarchical structure. The rules of working are also minimal, and the transition to remote working was honestly completely smooth and easy.
Still, the members of Atrae are looking forward to the day when they can come to the office and work.
To be honest, I’ve also realized how important and comfortable it is for me to work in an office, face to face with my colleagues.
The corona shock will be a turning point in the way companies are organized and the way they work will change dramatically. A company will evolve from an organization that belongs to itself to a team that organically works toward the same goal, and the forms of employment will become increasingly diverse. I believe this is true.
However, as a manager, I don’t think we should make decisions that are easily influenced by rationality and efficiency. In this era of VUCA, it is important to create autonomous, decentralized organizations that are highly engaged and flexible enough to adapt to change.
Of course people are weak. There are not many people who can work so stoically on their own.
An organization that understands and recognizes this on its own, and for this reason, is one that brings together people who choose to work together in a space with their colleagues, face to face, in a friendly environment of friendly competition, is a truly strong organization.
I believe that organizational productivity is an extremely important factor in making the people we work with happy, but I don’t think it’s important to work efficiently and rationally, nor do I believe it will lead to high productivity in the long run. Every moment we experience with our peers, whether it’s the seemingly wasted small talk, lunch or drinks, enriches our lives and makes our life’s work more appealing.
For an organization that tolerates waste and mistakes, and allows people to thrive and engage in business that is valuable to society, the office, where colleagues gather, will continue to be an extremely important part of their base of operations.
The trendy Zoom drinking is surely fun, but for me personally, I can’t wait to meet my friends and drink with them in the same space.
I can’t help praying that the normal day-to-day life will come back soon.
