Remote Work — The New Normal
The popularity of remote work has been growing steadily well before the latest global pandemic reared its ugly head. But once it did, the statistics have skyrocketed. For many of us, it’s a dream come true, yet the attitudes towards this paradigm shift vary.
For some, especially the tech-savvy, the transition came easily. For others, it turned out to be quite a rough and unbudgeted shift. The undeniable fact here is that some companies will never return to their offices, and many employees will be required to adjust to new regulations. So let’s make the most of it.
Understanding and accepting the new normal will allow us to go with the tide rather than resist it, Bruce Lee style. The good news is that remote working has been shown to have immense benefits to both workers and businesses alike.
Reports have it that those who work remotely work better, live a more balanced life, experience increased productivity and focus, and even reduced stress levels.
Businesses can benefit from this arrangement as well: apart from increasing productivity, remote work can help them slash down overhead costs and access a larger pool of potential candidates.
So, without further ado, what can we do to make the best out of the situation?
In short — let’s take advantage of what working from home has to offer, give our employees what they like about being in an office and try to get rid of bad workplace habits. Let’s look at how to achieve these results without taking off our favorite bunny slippers.
Breaking bad habits
Let’s focus on reducing bad habits first. I’ve been hearing about employers who send out tens of zoom invites every day and call their employees constantly to check if they’re not walking Mr. Bubbles instead of surfing the spreadsheets. I’m not a fan of this approach.
If you’re an employer, you decided to hire people and you did it for a reason. You put your trust in them. The situation hasn’t changed — they are still your team and they still know what to do. It would be beneficial for both sides to give your colleagues some autonomy.
What is more, not everybody enjoys video conferences. For some people they’re a source of stress and it takes them a lot of time to get back “in the zone” and focus on their tasks.
I know many programmers who refuse to use anything other than Slack. The truth is — quite often it’s much more effective and less time-consuming to send an email or a short message on Slack than to call (cut to a 3-minute scene with 10 people asking each other if they can hear each other well, then waiting for Mike from Sales in semi-awkward silence).
We’ll get back to the topic of useful software solutions in a little bit. Just remember that trust and giving your employees some leeway can pay off on many levels. Workers operate better when they are given some form of autonomy. Let me back it up with some statistics (don’t worry, I don’t want to bore you with charts). Trusted employees say that they feel:
- 106% more work-related energy
- 74% less stress about work
- 76% higher engagement in work tasks
- 40% less burnout
Sounds like a win for both sides in my book.
On the importance of water cooler conversations
Working at home may improve engagement while saving time and resources, but let’s admit it — it can be somewhat dull at times.
And while most of us have at least one awkward-watercooler-conversation-from-hell kind of situation under our belt, the truth is that meeting with our colleagues improves our mental and physical health and is a great way to boost our morale. It’s sometimes hard to believe, but some of us have started to miss our co-workers. Well, maybe not all of them.
My tested solution? Find a nice place to hang out, have a delicious cup of coffee and play darts while gossiping about ... (can’t think of a right name). Or, even better, replace the last part with a chat about your favorite series. Or that weird neighbor who has issues with the way you fold your trash bags.
Choose a day of the week and turn it into a nice habit, it’s important to remember that your team members are still there, they’re real people and they need real connections.
Convenience means improved performance and lower costs
Apparently, open space offices might be gone (at least for a while) and, as it turns out, many of my friends think it’s the best thing that could have happened. Some people are rockstars/zen masters oblivious to the surrounding noise and office hubbub, but for many of us it’s simply an exhausting experience. Let’s face it, those places hardly ever resemble libraries and even though you could be interested in your colleague’s latest app idea, you may not want to hear Barney praising his vintage red stapler for the 10th time today. And this is where remote work becomes the best solution.
There’s a prevalent fear that remote work has a negative impact on employees’ focus and performance and, as a result, is detrimental to the interests of the company.
However, research shows that it is the exact opposite. A publication by Stanford study showed that working remotely could increase workplace productivity and performance by as much as 13%.
But there’s another factor I’d like to mention: remote working also reduces the cost of regular office jobs. The employees get to save on transportation costs, time, and other resources that would have been deployed if they were to move to the office everyday.
For the employers, there are considerations of office space, power bill, etc. When fewer staff members come to work, these costs will be reduced and the organization may even settle for a smaller office space.
It’s dangerous to go alone, take these apps
So you’ve heard about all these benefits, but you’re still fretting about the organizational aspects of this transition, such as the coordination of tasks or technical issues hindering performance? Fear not, here come the apps.
If some of your employees need more guidance or the methodologies involved require the use of broadly understood productivity software, you can invest in some trusted project management solutions, like Basecamp, Jira or Asana and even find some free plans.
I don’t want to go into too much detail, as there are many great articles on the subject, so I’ll use Basecamp as an example. With Basecamp, your employees can communicate with one another, give status updates, share files, create tickets and to-do-lists, etc. It will make it easier for them to stay on the right track. What’s more, everything is on one page, you can check everyone’s schedule, choose from different subscription plans and access the official iOS and Android apps.
As you probably know, the need for video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Skype soared during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the worldwide lockdown, and it’s not without a reason.
As far as instant messaging tools are concerned, I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the previously mentioned — and immensely popular — chat-based solutions such as Slack and Discord. They promote collaboration and enable you to organize your team effectively, especially when your employees prefer text-based communication channels.
Fin
While 2020 seems like something devised during a masked ball attended by Albert Hitchock, David Lynch and Cormac McCarthy, there are definitely good opportunities worth pursuing here. I hope this post will help you identify them!
