New tools are springing up every day at the moment that promise to make your work life easier. Better, faster communication, tools to enhance your productivity, tools to improve collaboration. They all talk about how you can now work from anywhere and instantly connect with colleagues. Yet, despite shelling out fortunes on these companies, we could probably have a conversation with the same people just by turning and facing them.
Which begs the question, “Why aren’t more us working remotely?”
I’m a big believer in giving people the tools they need to complete their jobs and trusting them to finish on time. In my mind it shouldn’t matter if someone works 9–5, or 6–2, or a few hours in the morning and in the evening. If their job isn’t time critical (say for supporting an open store) then why not let them work when they feel at their peak?
The problem is that too many businesses, especially “legacy” companies, have a “bums in seats” mentality. They equate people sitting in offices or meetings as equal to productivity when in my opinion the reality is probably quite different. There’s too many distractions and little interruptions that equate to a lot of lost time over a day. This leads to people staying late in order to complete tasks an so begins a vicious cycle. Coupled with overcrowded, stressful commutes and it’s no wonder more people are turning to mindfulness apps to maintain a healthy state of mind. In fact I’ve even seen examples of newer companies, building tech that will “change the way we work” or promising to “decentralise the internet” that require you to work at a central location. Oh the irony!
Just imagine how much happier and productive you would be if you knew you didn’t have to wake up an hour earlier to cram yourself onto public transport like a sardine, and experience the same feeling for an hour on the way home. If the need arose you could even spend an extra hour working from home, safe in the knowledge you don’t have to rush to catch a particular train.
For parents you can drop off/pick up your kids from school and spend some time listening to them about their day, or spend your lunch hour doing those little errands that demand your attention at the weekend, freeing up even more time outside of work for those precious moments with friends and family.
There would also be other benefits to companies that embraced a remote working way of life. Would you still require that great big office that you lease and pay other expenses on? If your employees are happier, would retention be better requiring less investment in recruiting and training for staff churn?
Connectivity is only improving and the way people live and shop is changing. The workplace seems to be one of the last bastions clinging onto an old way of doing things and is ripe for a change. Research shows we don’t all work in the same way, and forcing people to sit in seats so you can watch them working isn’t an effective way to measure productivity. It’s time we really embraced all these new tools we buy as companies rather than jumping on the bandwagon to show potential employees you use the latest tech. Measure results and employee happiness and I’m sure companies might be pleasantly surprised.
Do you think we should embrace more remote and flexible working? Let me know in the comments.
