Making Remote Work: Why IT Infrastructure Can Make a Difference
Work has changed forever. Ever since COVID-19 restrictions were first introduced in spring last year, remote working has surged and become the norm for many companies. According to data published by Statista Research Department in March 2021, more than ten million people, or nearly one-quarter of the German labor force, are currently working from home full time, and analysts from bitkom further state that 35 percent of the post-pandemic workforce are expected to work away from the office full time or at least regularly in the coming years. In this blog post, Julia Golombek, Head of Corporate IT at Porsche Digital, elaborates on the fundamentals of remote work and the importance of a solid IT infrastructure.
As offices across the country went dark last year, we at Porsche Digital quickly adapted to the unprecedented circumstances. Although we encountered a few challenges, it was comparatively easy for our colleagues to adjust to working away from their offices full time. We already had a robust IT infrastructure in place that helped us manage the transition to remote-only. Moreover, people had regularly worked from home prior to the pandemic.
Technology is essential, but so is culture
But not all organizations are based on the same infrastructure. While some companies had the capacity to support remote work, others were caught off guard. Yet, successfully transitioning to remote work is not only a question of adequate technology and IT infrastructure, but also a question of mindset and culture. Matt Mullenweg, the founder of Automattic, ranks companies’ readiness for remote work according to five levels of autonomy:
- Level 0: A job that cannot be done unless you’re physically there,
- Level 1: No deliberate effort to make things remote-friendly,
- Level 2: Everything is still synchronous, your day is full of interruptions,
- Level 3: Being remote-first, or distributed,
- Level 4: When things go truly asynchronous,
- Level 5: Nirvana — consistently perform better than any in-person organization could.
At present, most companies are at level 2, with many of them trying to translate their way of working into the virtual work environment. The processes are still synchronous and a typical workday is full of interruptions.
Is this the right approach? Not in Mullenweg’s view. “At the third level,” he writes, “you’re really starting to benefit from being remote-first or distributed. That’s when you see people invest in better equipment — from a good desk lamp to solid audio gear — and in more robust asynchronous processes that start to replace meetings.”
At Porsche Digital, our teams were already used to work in a distributed manner, or what Mullenweg refers to as level 3 autonomy. Since Porsche Digital is spread over several destinations across different continents, we know how to work apart from each other and asynchronous.
Porsche Digital’s IT landscape
I started at Porsche Digital a bit more than four years ago, right after the founding. When I arrived, I was the first person working in IT and I had to build up our whole infrastructure. I decided to rely primarily on cloud services, as they are easy to scale and available from everywhere. Using tools like Microsoft Teams and Sharepoint was a no-brainer for us since digital collaboration is at the core of what we do. In addition, we equipped the teams with laptops right from the start so that they are not tied to their desks.
All these considerations led to the fact that we were in a good starting position when Corona hit us at the beginning of last year. But still, we had to move quickly to make working as easy and comfortable as possible for our colleagues. We wanted to provide them with the best possible hardware and equipment. So, when the stay-at-home order was first put in place, we made sure they could use their monitors, keyboards, office chairs, and other equipment at home.
How we mastered the pandemic
Furthermore, our teams experimented with different collaboration tools and took the chance to optimize our tool park. To quickly offer help when questions arise, we set up a dedicated support channel. We also put together some tips and tricks for setting up the office at home and working remotely, ranging from technical tricks over work-life boundaries to ergonomic essentials. Additionally, we advised our colleagues on how to set up their home office and how to pick the right equipment.
When everyone works from home, it doesn’t matter where you are located
A few employees even programmed a random generator for coffee dates to keep the Porsche Digital spirit alive. In part, remote work has brought us even closer together. When everyone works from home, it doesn’t matter where you are located. Suddenly, spontaneous get-togethers are not just arranged with colleagues from your own location, but from all over the world.
When it comes to finding out what works for us, we often engage in a trial-and-error approach. Some things have clearly not worked during the past year. However, both as a company and as individuals, we want to keep evolving, keep discovering, and keep getting better.
For me, the pandemic was an acid test. The experience has reinforced my belief that our approach was the right one. I also realized once again how important it was for us as Porsche Digital to be able to set ourselves up in an agile and needs-oriented way right from the start. Because we were always able to make quick and independent decisions, we were in a position to easily overcome the challenges posed by Corona.
Julia Golombek works as the Head of Corporate IT at Porsche Digital
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