Working remotely or ‘remotely’​ working?

how are you making it work?

In all this hype about remote work, hybrid model, or whatever they call it these days, are we not losing something? There seem to be an increasing number of cases where a few people take remote work for granted. Here are some scenarios from my interactions with remote workers…

1. Mobile connectivity is so poor at the other end, that we lose both time and the flow of a conversation. Imagine such connectivity being used as a hotspot during an internet outage
2. No power backup, and both laptop and phone batteries run out after a few hours
3. Having a distracting environment with cooking, cleaning, talking or construction noises
4. Not sharing deliverables or checking-in code or at the end of the day, and not online when a teammate calls up for it
5. Not responding to calls or facing application or device issues, thereby delaying someone having a dependency
6. Appearing to be busy with ‘the other project’ when there are multiple managers or direct client interactions
7. Working on personal projects, looking for other jobs, or even moonlighting in parallel
8. Sending in a proxy for interviews (I’ve heard that some people did this even on a video call)
9. Looking for better-paying jobs after accepting an offer — sometimes not turning up on the day of joining
10. Citing incidence of Covid in family / PG accommodation when asked to come to the office

We all realize that the commute to work can sometimes be a pain, but look at what we’re also missing at the workplace…

1. Dressing up for work — believe it or not, there is a mental state here that makes us productive
2. The in-person standup meetings (assuming that it’s done well :-) Even IT War Rooms when the situation demands it
3. The bonding over lunch and tea breaks, the real water cooler conversations — often a much-needed break to energize
4. If someone is busy, you could tap them on the shoulder and leave a note for a quick response on your dependency
5. And the sheer pleasure of coming back home to your loved ones

In the end, there is a fine balance on this too. A lot depends on individuals’ work ethics and a company culture that supports a flexible yet productive model. Company policies and procedures can go a long way in enabling some of these

1. Defining minimum requirements of devices and a work from home environment
2. Clear expectations from remote employees and contractors, including their availability for ad-hoc meetups
3. Sharing, documenting, implementing and rewarding best practices in communication

Please share your thoughts. Kudos to everyone who is making working remotely work despite all the challenges.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.