Will Coronavirus be the trigger to make remote working work?
In 2017 experts were predicting that 50% of the UK workforce would work remotely by 2020. That still hasn’t happened. Presenteeism seems to be alive and thriving, but now we are facing a Coronavirus outbreak in the UK. Will this crisis be an unexpected catalyst to support remote and flexible working? Surely giving your employees autonomy to work from home (or wherever they choose to be productive) is better than zero productivity.
Remote and Flexible Working Statistics
The stats seem to be heading in the right direction but globally 44% of companies still do not allow remote work according to Owl Labs’ study State of Remote Work 2018 (the 2019 report focused on US only). Interestingly, 16% of companies are fully remote, which is higher than I would have guessed. It makes sense though, as technology has enabled entrepreneurship it has also enabled founders to find the right employees beyond their local geography.
Not surprising at all is that the study also found that, ‘those who work remote at least once a month are 24% more likely to feel happy and productive in their roles than those who don't or can't work remotely.’ Unfortunately, in spite of the evidence of benefit for companies and employees, many are not getting what they want, the 2019 UK Working Lives Report ‘reveals that two in three professionals (68 percent) would like to work flexibly in a way that is not currently available.’
Brad Shaw of Office Arrow compiled a great list of 100 Remote Work Stats and Quotes if you need extra backup to prove your case for continuing to work remotely after the pandemic.
The Remote Working, Remote-First, Flexible Working, Distributed Model
Although there are nuances, I group flexible working, distributed model and remote working together under remote working. The guiding principle is that you don’t need to be anchored to a desk in an office, sitting in conference rooms or working M-F to be a highly valuable contributor to your company or your clients. In fact, it is probably precisely because remote workers aren’t in these constrained circumstances that they are so productive.
I’ve been a remote worker (with bursts of office-based work) for about 10 years. Within those ten years I’ve worked as part of a remote-first company, in a few distributed models with teams across the globe, and I’ve been a flexible worker. Initially I fell into remote working by chance. Now it is my work style of choice to accommodate the fact that I have a young son. Flexible remote working works for me because I have plenty of career ambition and I do want to have it all when it comes to work and family success. Why not aim for everything you want!
From my point of view remote working is the future with a long list of pros. In addition to working in a setting that works for you, it also opens the door to working with talented people from across the globe. From an employer’s perspective it helps employees achieve a work life balance and opens the talent pool wide open.
Remote Working is Different
To be fair, the dynamic of remote working is quite different to office based work. To make it successful for company and employee it's important to proactively adjust ways of working so that information flows, collaboration, culture, bonding, accountability and output are all enabled. I find that companies with remote working best practices offer food for thought for office-based companies: since colleagues aren’t next to each other every day they are forced to be more buttoned up and can’t fall back on lazy practices.
My Top Tips for Successful Remote Working
Everyone should work in shared folders and documents.
Teams should have shared activity plans offering full visibility – keep it simple, keep it up to date.
Schedule weekly/bi-weekly status meetings AND encourage impromptu collaboration/interactions by IM and video calls.
Hire collaborative people who want to share. If you hire information hoarders you will go nowhere.
Zapier, a remote-first company, wrote a great guide ‘How to Run a Remote Team’ that is worth a read. They give spot on advice from hiring ‘doers’ and people you can trust, to ensuring your tools and ways of working enable collaboration and communication, to overcoming the lack of break room and corridor conversations in traditional offices.
Setting up a successful remote working company is such a timely topic there are even Ted Talks on the matter. Matt Mullenweg of Automattic, the company behind WordPress and WooCommerce, makes a fantastic case for ‘distributed’ working in this 5 minute video. Key takeaways:
‘You have to approach distributed working consciously.’
‘At the base of the decision to go distributed, there's a desire to give people autonomy over how they do their work.’
‘Document everything.’
‘Try to have as much communication as possible online. When everything's shared and public, it allows new people to catch up quickly.’
Remote Working is a Challenge for ‘Command and Control’ Management
My final thought is that the key to successful remote working isn’t employees, good employees are motivated to achieve especially if they have autonomy and flexibility, it’s actually management. We’ve been handed down a mindset of command and control management that is very hard to break. Even though in our guts we know that micromanagement, being overly controlling and stifling autonomy are poor management practices that hinder productivity, it is really hard to stop. Fear of failure and insecurity are powerful drivers. Perhaps fear of spreading Coronavirus and economic meltdown will be a stronger motivator to give remote working a go!
Want to know more, get in touch: katherine@torrencemarketing.com