Permanent or Passing? The Pervasive Power of Remote Work

As pandemic restrictions ease, it’s becoming clear that remote working is going to be sticky, no matter who is against it. A recent poll found that 45%+ of US based employees are working remotely at least some of the time. 91% say that they want to maintain the flexibility of working remotely – even if (as I have noted in previous updates) this means that social and emotional needs are far less likely to be met . Interestingly, there are definitely some geographic dynamics at play too, as people living in smaller urban areas are more likely to be back in person for work. This is a reminder that commuting frictions are a significant contributor to people staying at home. Prevalence of remote work is also directly correlated with hourly wage , which again reminds us that this is mostly a topic of concern for highly skilled “knowledge” workers.

With new behaviours setting in, attention is turning to how we can make this whole new system work. The Harvard Business Review published an insightful piece on this, emphasizing the role of manager behaviours to address some of the issues and challenges of remote working. The piece highlights the “ground game” that managers need to play to ensure they keep employees engaged, developing intentional habits to compensate for the lack of ad-hoc interactions and “soft data ” offices generate. For me, there are a few things that stand out. First, many of the strategies try to directly mirror or simulate the act of being together – like enjoying the same bottle of wine together (sent to everyone’s home in advance). Second, the importance of regular face to face/in person interactions continues to be emphasized – it’s always important to have the next in-person connection planned. Last, the role of the manager expands significantly, with many additional tasks and activities including an increased in planned one-on-one check-ins and regular ad-hoc calls that help create connection.

The last part is important because it’s clear that it has never been more difficult to be a manager – not only does a good manager need to be inspiring, empathetic, technically competent, calm, objective, etc, etc – they now also need to be able to help connect employees to the wider culture of the organization and generate a sense of belonging for each person, all while managing their own boss effectively. The job is getting even harder and changing fast. The risk of this is that an increasing number of people who might actually be good at it (like women or people in care-giving situations) start to avoid taking on the role, which opens opportunities for ambitious but ineffective managers to step into the gap. This would only make a bad situation worse and is something that organizations much actively intervene to avoid. More support is needed for managers.

The other advice that has appeared is largely in the areas of setting clear guidelines, boundaries and work patterns . This can mean working in a more “asynchronous” way – using cloud technologies to collaborate on work products independently. It can also mean establishing new rules for hybrid work meetings, frequency of interactions and expectations about response times across various interaction platforms (email, direct messages, meetings, etc). Many are still struggling with this and a recent report found that just 28% have established team agreements to clearly define the new norms of behaviour.

Last, as people spend more time working remotely (and therefore independently), the individual’s own role and skills to operate in that context become more important. While discussions about “quiet quitting ” are just a continuation of trends related to employee disengagement – they also signal an increased focused on the importance of an employee’s managing their own engagement and motivation with less structure provided by an organization or community around them. This is something that might benefit some people (conscientious, curious, self-starters will do well in this environment) while others might struggle. Everyone will have a role to adapt to making remote work, work. Leaving it to organizations alone is not an option.?