The View from the Other Side of WFH

I've been working from home for twenty years. The mass migration to the home office has not been as easy on us as you might think.

On April 1, 2000 I joined the ranks of the remote workforce. Just before the momentous twenty-year anniversary of that event my co-workers and a significant percentage of the world joined me.

Nearly seven months later I want to say that it's been a very long seven months. Sometimes a rough seven months. Consistently an exhausting seven months.

There is an assumption that those of us who've been "working from home" for years are weathering the mass migration of our co-workers from the office to their homes just fine. For me, for the most part, that's true. We have experience at this, generally have office space set aside, and are well-versed in the discipline required to work remotely - and alone.

But the shift to work-from-home has had an impact on us, because it's had a noticeable impact on you.

Positive: A Place at the Conference Table

First, this shift has dramatically increased inclusivity. And by inclusivity I mean in daily work routines. It has always been passingly difficult to feel included when you're represented by an easily (and sadly often) overlooked speaker phone in a conference room. Video was just rolling out when the pandemic forced us all home. Its use was still sporadic, but it had begun the process of giving remote workers a seat at the conference table. With everyone remote, that process was accelerated.

What I've seen is that video has democratized the conference room. With it has come a sense of belonging that relieved some of the anxiety inherent in every remote worker, and fostered a feeling of really being a part of the team.

Neutral: Overcommunication

I'm an INTJ on the old Myers-Briggs (a blue-red reformer on the new one). That means I'm an introvert. Yes, I know, I don't seem like an introvert when we're talking or I'm in the office or on the stage. I can do all that, but it takes incredible amounts of energy to do so.

Many coworkers are the exact opposite. They rely on visual clues and body language and tone of voice to understand what's really required, or a priority, or is being asked of them. Without those very human clues, some folks are understandably anxious and looking for clarity through multiple channels. This often results in even more meetings and more communication and more human interaction.

That said, there is a significant benefit in increasing communication. It means remote workers are more likely to be included in discussions and decisions that might otherwise have taken place in a hallway. Overcommunication may be overwhelming, but being a part of the process is a significant plus that makes it an acceptable byproduct of the new normal.

Negative: Extended Office Hours

One of the aspects of working in the office I do not miss is a commute. I go downstairs in the morning, I go upstairs at the end of the day. That's it. My coworkers have much longer commutes; some of them nearly an hour long, twice a day.

Without that commute, office hours have changed. They now last longer into the evening hours, which means well past the end of my day because I'm two time-zones ahead of my coworkers.

I end up feeling guilty either way. My family expects me "home" after hours, this meeting is important. Should I stay (at my desk) or should I go (upstairs)? As I recall the Clash never did answer the question.

The fear of missing out is a powerful one; but should we miss opportunities at work or home? Work-life balance has gotten much more difficult in the past seven months.

Changing Where and How We Work

I am, of course, all in on supporting a future comprised of a distributed work force. That means from home, from coffee shops, and from offices around the globe. How could I not be? For me, it's the status quo.

But we can't just change where we work without also changing how we work. Recreating physical interactions via digital methods is an imperfect solution. In technology, we understand that codifying existing processes through automation is not necessarily the best way to gain efficiencies. In fact, it's often through that exercise that we find and eliminate inefficiencies across business and technology operations.

I see a some changes coming in how we work, but mostly we've attempted to digitally recreate how we worked in the past. This isn't necessarily the best way to support a distributed future. 

How We Want to Work

We need to ask more questions about work. Do we need this many meetings? Should we consider when we have meetings? Should we set aside time in the day for meetings to make sure folks can eat lunch, feed their kids, or take their dog for a walk? Should we spend an hour sharing status via Zoom when it would be just as well to send an e-mail? Are traditional "office hours" necessary any more?

Even if we (and by we, I mean you because my work location won't change) go back to the office, these are valuable questions we should be asking about the way we work now and the way we want to work in the future. This is an opportunity to examine current processes and assumptions and, more importantly, question if they remain valid in a hybrid digital-physical distributed workforce.