Is Remote Work The New Normal?

Is remote work the new normal?

Yes, but also no. It’s a little complicated. Let’s recap.

On January 1st of 2020, most CEOs of most organizations would not believe that their employees could work from home five days a week and still be productive. There was a rise in the remote work movement years before, but there was also a fall, and until a little bit later this year, there was no new rise. 

But then, by July 1st of 2020 — six months later — no one would believe you if you said you were working at the office.

A Brief History of Remote Work

Remote work had actually been around for quite a while. The Roman Empire stretched across almost the entire known world, and all they had were roads, messengers, and, well, okay, a whole lot of soldiers. 

The British Empire stretched across the even larger known world, and all it had were ships and trade routes. 

If you ever knew somebody who was a traveling salesman, the chances are they worked from home. 

Work from home has been around for a long time but in various different forms and has always been seen as a side element to the world of work.

It wasn’t until 50 years ago that the remote working movement started to gain some steam. 

That was around the time that Jack Nilles published “The Telecommunications-Transportation Tradeoff.” Nilles wasn’t actually trying to solve any sort of work-from-home or remote work problem. He saw remote work (or, as he labeled it, “telecommuting”) as a solution to the congestion problems of cities. 

Nilles has even said he doesn’t think working from home would have worked well at the time. Instead, he envisioned companies leaving their massive headquarters that everyone commuted to for many smaller offices on a ring around the city that allowed people a much shorter commute.

However, using technology to solve the office problem gained steam even after his book. Charles Handy, in 1989, praised the wonders of the car phone and said, “Link it to a computer and a portable fax, and a car or train seat becomes an office.” 

A couple of years later, fellow management thinker Peter Drucker said, “Commuting to the office is obsolete.”

I don’t think very many CEOs get faxes.

Because after Drucker, nothing happened. Well, almost nothing.

Remote Work in the Tech Sector 

Remote work increased in certain pockets of the economy, particularly in the tech sector. However, the tech sector was actually the first one to experience a backlash against remote work. 

We all remember Yahoo’s attempted turnaround at the hands of Marissa Mayer and the infamous memo that called all employees back to become “One Yahoo,” which started with being in one place. 

Mayer wasn’t the only CEO to speak up against remote work. Shortly after her, the new CEO of Best Buy— previously famous for its Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), where attendance in the office and even attendance at meetings was optional—pulled the plug on the ROWE. 

Then, we saw companies like Google and Facebook invest more and more and more money into the on-campus experience of work. Facebook famously spent $1 billion and hired world-renowned architects to design the world’s largest open office—as if the world’s largest open office was a good thing.

It was almost the end of remote work, and then… COVID.

COVID-19 and The Remote Work Model

In response to the threat of the virus and the need to flatten the curve, almost every business could afford to pivot quickly to a remote work model. 

When 15 days to flatten the curve turned into 30, which turned into 200, many businesses started realizing this was probably how they were going to operate for the foreseeable future. 

Facebook (remember Facebook and the $1 billion open office?) said that half of their 48,000 employees would likely be working remotely permanently. It wasn’t just corporate leaders pushing for this new world of remote work. It was employees as well. 

In an IBM survey conducted right at the height of the pandemic, 75% of employees said they’d like to continue working remotely at least some of the time.

If you were paying attention to the world of work, then you would’ve known this shift was coming. Even before the pandemic, research suggested that employees are most engaged when they are always not at the office. 

Gallup, famous for its Q12 survey of employee engagement, published a study in early 2020 (when COVID was just a distant fear in most people’s minds) saying that the most engaged employees are the ones who work between three and four days remotely and one and two days at the office.

So, if we’re not all returning to the office anytime soon, what do leaders need to know about making employees feel included and engaged even if they’re not on campus all the time?

Shared Understanding And Shared Identity

When we look at the research on virtual teams, we find that two key things play a role in whether or not those employees perform at high levels of engagement and whether or not the team performs at high levels of collaboration

It’s the extent to which leaders help them develop a shared understanding and shared identity as a team.

Shared understanding simply means how well I understand the context and expectations of other team members. Do I know their knowledge, skills, and abilities, and have I developed a sense of cadence in working with them? Shared understanding means we can focus less on coordinating work and more on getting work done.

Shared identity is the flip side of that; it refers to how much I feel like the team is a part of my identity. One of the biggest challenges moving forward, if some employees are at the office all the time, some are there half of the time, and some are there none of the time, is how we’re going to define team. 

It’s tempting for the people you are co-located with to creep into your mind as the “us” in “us versus them.” Shared identity speaks to that. When we’re working on a project, do I feel like that is a team I can identify with no matter where they are?

We’re not going back to the office anytime soon. So it’s important that now, even as we start to come out of this forced work-from-home experiment, we focus on building cadence, on building a sense of expectation among each other, on building a set of shared norms about how we’re going to communicate (and also when we’re going to communicate). 

It’s important that we focus on building a sense of identity that transcends location and building that sense of identity around the purpose that our team is working towards. Shared understanding and shared identity are how we make remote work work.

We need to start figuring that out soon because remote work is indeed the new normal.

The Long-Term Implications of Remote Work

Remote work has reshaped industries, organizations, and even cities. It has completely shifted the corporate dynamic and traditional career paths.

But while it has many pros to its list, it also has some concerning downsides.

Urban Development

Since most of the team works from home or in comfortable spaces, demand for centralized offices has decreased.

Companies today are downsizing or even repurposing their office spaces into mixed-use areas.

Employees don’t have to find properties or expensive housing just because it’s close to their offices. Rather, as per research, 57% of people agreed they would shift to rural areas if they had the option.

Similarly, public transportation is less neededon as people no longer have to commute to and from their workplaces.

Diversity

We can now include people from different backgrounds and geographical areas and easily have a good mix of global talent. It’ll build a culture of innovation and inclusivity, bringing an influx of skilled workers.

Challenges of Remote Work

However, remote work still comes with its set of challenges. For instance, there’s still a rather bleak line in work-life balance in remote work. That can lead to stress and a burnout stage.

Of course, it can be managed by giving the employees space to work on their personal lives. Build a culture where you talk about the outcomes instead of micromanaging the tasks.

Also, boundaries should be set so the employees are not compelled to answer or respond immediately to emails or at odd hours. 

No need to check on them multiple times a day. Rather, keep an open communication channel so they can just reach out to you or their fellows promptly at any time. 

Instead of creating a culture of fear and a working environment where you check on them multiple times a day, focus on the results.

Cybersecurity Challenges

Another aspect of remote working is that it exposes you and your systems to cyber threats.

There are greater chances of data breaches as the decentralized environment makes it hard to keep sensitive information safe.

Then, most employees use their own devices for work, further weakening the security system. However, we can invest in quality VPNs or ensure multifactor authentication and employee training about cyber security to avoid these issues.

Other challenges include scheduling problems. Coordination in big teams that are geographically spread out can get tricky.

Further efforts may be needed to ensure that employees in and outside the company feel included in the company culture as if they are part of it.

Wrap Up

Despite its challenges, the hybrid model can be quite successful if we have the right strategies in place. Set and define clear expectations and office policies for attendance and working hours.

Give all employees equal access to resources and recognition, regardless of location. With just a few minor tweaks to your systems, you can make remote working a success.

HOME_AboutDavidBurkus

About the author

David Burkus is an organizational psychologist, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of five books on leadership and teamwork.

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