Teleworking: at long last!

What are we waiting for to really embrace teleworking? "High-tech" companies that created the managerial philosophy and the products that allow us to easily adopt it today are doing great. Let's learn from them!

30 years already! At the end of the 80s, research and development engineers (soft and hard) from the main computer manufacturers and software suppliers (HP, IBM, Apple, Microsoft...) are working hard to create and design technological solutions that are close to their hearts. They are young, talented, ambitious and passionate. Their vision: that in the near future employees will have at their disposal the tools and services that will enable them to be informed, communicate and work together wherever they are. 

There is a great boom in departments dedicated to "networks" and "telecoms", and the emergence of teams specializing in "IT security". Engineers are not talking about fiber optics, but about information highways! Internet does not yet exist, but the most sought-after profiles have all one line in common in their CV: expertise in TCP/IP (Internet protocols)!

All of them are inspired by the Californian dream. Rather than wasting their precious time in traffic jams to reach "the Bay Area", it would be possible for them to stop at any gas station and start monitoring their activities remotely or even better, not to take the road every morning and do it from their jacuzzi! 

It's no coincidence that all these technologies, which are now part of our daily lives, were designed in companies that invented a participative management style from the outset. This style of management fosters a bubbling creativity and is based on trust in employees and in their ability to independently achieve common goals.

For this is the sine qua non for the success of teleworking.

It is no longer a question of giving orders or controlling, but of relying on the intelligence and skills of employees and empowering them by trusting them. It is also about respecting individual differences and accepting that there are several possible ways to achieve the same goal.

The benefits are numerous: employees choose the personal means and strategies they use to succeed. They are more motivated, more creative and more productive. Some are also happier because they are less affected by the toxic relationships that can exist within teams in the same workplace.

As we face the second wave of the pandemic and the imperative of physical distance is still relevant, let's live up to all those who have thought about the technologies now at our disposal. 

And perhaps we should welcome the opportunity we have been given to prove that remote working works!