(More on flexible work cont. 1)

Remote Working

Introduction

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic (early 2020), organisations encouraged their staff to work remotely. This usually means working from home.

"...the share of people working from home at least some of the time has doubled roughly every 15 years since 1980..."
Jose Maria Barrero et al as quoted by Sarah Greene Carmichael, 2023

"...by 2019, around 5% of work days took place at home. That figure search to 60% in 2020 and has now plateaued at around 25%..."
Sarah Greene Carmichael, 2023

Recent innovations, like fast Internet connections, has encouraged remote working.

An old adage is 'out of sight, out of mind'. Does this apply to virtual teams, working remotely, etc?

Some issues with remote working
"...- working away from office support structures
    - working away from entities and colleagues
    - having to interact remotely with work colleagues and their families
    - impact on family (schooling, partners' job, etc)
    - fewer offers to engage in activities
    - impact on work-life balance, etc..."
Chris Schutte, 2021

Furthermore,
"...employees to work entirely from home are less creative and less productive.....receive less feedback and more time coordinating. As a result they work longer hours to keep up with their in-office peers..."
Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research as quoted by Sarah Greene Carmichael, 2023

Other issues that need to be handle include disengagement, slower learning, loneliness, etc.

However, hybrid work, ie alternating between the office and home, can help alleviate some of the disadvantages mentioned above.

Other ways to handle this include

i) deliver value (establish a strong reputation and track record of delivering outcomes on time and under budget; don't confuse office time with productivity, etc)

ii) when stakes are high, get face-to-face meetings (despite the incredible benefits of remote working like flexibility, work-life balance, access a wider audience, etc; there are times when in-person meetings are preferable)

iii) organise and implement informal interactions (these need to be created like a Slack channel to share articles and books; end of the day phone call for social chitchat, etc)

iv) seek feedback (as non-verbal cues are limited to shoulder-up, 2-dimensional views, ask for as much verbal feedback as possible, ie
"... I'm not reading your body language. What do you think and how do you feel?..."
LeadFactor, 2022)

v) build daily contact (maintain a daily connection to provide feedback; interact meaningfully, etc)

More detail and understanding required by asking questions around:

- personal (goals and growth, initiatives, open to variety, work-life balance priorities, etc)

- family (partner's specific family needs, children's specific needs for family and education, etc)

- contextual (life-work environment, hobbies, outside work interests, social needs, etc)

- job-related (career progression, finances, job compliance, etc)

More on remote working
Research is showing that there is more likely to be a lift in productivity when working remotely if done voluntary, ie
"...When work from home becomes mandatory and full-time, or external factors (ie COVID-19 pandemic) are at play, the overall impact is less positive and can be detrimental to productivity and performance..."
PLOS ONE as quoted by Euan Black, 2022a

It is felt that the increase in productivity at the start of the pandemic was mainly due to time spent not commuting back and forth from work/home.

However, the hybrid work model, ie sometimes in the office and otherwise working remotely, has given more flexibility to organisations and their staff; some organisations are finding more engagement.

NB Productivity is not a reliable way to measure a knowledge worker.

Working from Home as Part of Remote Working