If necessity is the birthplace of invention, has the Coronavirus crisis pushed us towards a new era in terms of the working experience? While the forced move to working from home under pandemic lockdown has been clunky and jarring for many, some have found themselves within their element. Those who are loving every second working from home may be facing a looming return to the office with dread. However, does it have to be so, and should it be? Perhaps this unanticipated mass work-from-home experiment can serve as a once-in-a-life-time learning experience.
Diving into remote work has given many the chance to restructure their days, create their own workspaces, and ditch long and frustrating commutes. While some may be missing the office buzz, others are relieved to step out of the din of office politics. We can say with absolute certainty that our household confinement has worked wonders for the natural environment, and probably allowed us to get more sleep than we’ve ever had in our lives. The question is, if the rewards of working from home are bountiful, can we enhance its effectiveness with modern tools, and what advancements will be required if we are indeed on the precipice of a grand transition?
Can Working From Home Work For Everyone?
Of course, it’s quite possible that not all of us are suited to a work from home lifestyle, as a bottom line. Back in 2013, Chinese company CTrip, a 16,000 employee, NASDAQ-listed Chinese travel agency, decided to conduct an experiment into the potential of sending workers home. They asked employees to volunteer, and then from that group randomly assigned half to work from home for 9 months. Impressively, they discovered that working from home led to a 13% productivity increase. Employee satisfaction rose, and staff turnover fell, but the frequency of promotions based on performance dropped.
Most fascinatingly, when the nine month test came to an end, CTrip gave the work-from-home employees the choice of whether to return to the office or not. Around half preferred to return to an office environment, but statistics from those who stayed home are worth highlighting. Among this group, productivity now shot to 22% higher than that of pre-trial. This seems to suggest that while working at home may not be suited to all, for some it may be the key to dramatic performance enhancement.
Potential Pitfalls For Businesses
As many businesses have discovered over the course of lockdown, remote work can have it’s pitfalls. For modern companies with remote work built into their fundamental structure, company ethos and employee expectations are launched from a remote work perspective. However, for businesses transitioning some or even all of their workforce out of an office environment, deep and fundamental structural changes to the way the company operates, how teams communicate, and how productivity is motivated need to be reinvented. This is a transition that must take root right at the core of the company, which calls for a mammoth oversight for successful implementation — especially when setting new precedents in doing so.
Some of the larger pitfalls to sidestep include avoiding silos between teams and departments, as vital communication procedures are not adequately replaced. Employers must navigate the dangers of a two-class divide between in-office and at-home workers. New systems for monitoring employees must be established, in order to maintain boundaries and discipline. Staff onboarding and training become more challenging, with the need for leadership to take the finer and more subtle elements of in-person training virtual. While some may lean into working independently, and self-driving growth, others will require as much guidance as ever. As companies toy with increased remote work staffing solutions for the first time, the potential pool of candidates widens geographically in ways never before experienced — with relocation no longer a requirement. If this is to be successful, however, innovations in remote communication are certain to be required.
Digital Transformations Required For The Task
Online collaboration tools have been on the rise for some time, with brands such as Slack, Asana, and Trello tapping into this emerging market long before Covid-19 arrived on our radars. Increasing numbers of online freelancers also make collaboration resources invaluable for businesses bringing in outside help. The arrival of 5G may, in this sense, be well timed, as large-scale virtual teamwork will call for serious hikes in bandwidth hunger. We may see brands who have been developing communication software next turn their hands to online infrastructure for interpersonal support. If businesses are to build tomorrow’s leadership from afar, targets and deadlines will not be enough — an array of resources, and yet further increases in video conferencing may be destined, if businesses are to keep company culture and engagement alive.
Helping Remote Workers To Cultivate A New Skill Set
For those who rely on the work environment for social contact, the move to remote work can be particularly lonesome. Perhaps this particular aspect would have been less jarring had we not fallen into isolation with such a bump. Working from home requires a specific skill set, which may come naturally to some, but could potentially be learned by others. Mastering time management from a work-from-home perspective, as well as developing independent thinking and problem solving strategies may allow others to find their feet in a new approach to work.
Science indicates that social contact is essential for human health — although some bear the evidence of this more than others. Introverts may find themselves delighted to skip immersion in a busy work environment. Some may find that appropriate interpersonal tools allow them to experience a strong sense of social contact with colleagues from afar, just as we have transitioned to communication virtually via social media in recent years. Through and through extroverts may simply long to get back to the water cooler!
Falling Into A More Natural Rhythm
More time to rest and be with family is cited as one of the greatest advantages that many have enjoyed under lockdown. Sleep scientist Sara Alger from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research is unsurprised from the rest perspective, highlighting that sleep is the secret to success. Alger argues that we have things backwards when we imagine that sacrificing quality sleep is a chivalrous professional undertaking. Her research indicates that we are actually terrible judges of our own impairment.
While many of us imagine that after four hours of sleep and seven espressos we are on top form, scientific testing reveals that we are not even close. Alger argues that while modern 9–5 office jobs force us to push through a natural afternoon dip in our circadian rhythm — you know, that 2pm moment when you feel like curling up under your desk — when working from home, we could instead take a nap and come back to our work refreshed, later in the afternoon. Even a 20 minute nap at the right moment can enhance our learning and recall capabilities. Equally, early risers can hit their desks at 6am, while night owls can do their best work in the twilight hours.
Moving Into Evolution With GRAYLL
Where we experience challenge, alongside hardship we find the opportunity to learn and evolve. Paying attention to opportunity is vital in such moments. What would life look like if we undertook a large-scale shift away from office spaces? How could we reallocate time saved when commutes are skipped, and what would be possible if location ceased to be a professional factor — allowing us to live anywhere? The extent to which working from home will stick is yet to be seen, but we can be certain that the Covid-19 pandemic has allowed greater focus on a vast array of possibilities, and shaken up many a status-quo.
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