#WFH…

Just a new trend or a new way of doing business?

During the current situation with the COVID-19 Pandemic we are being forced to #WFH (Work from Home)! This concept isn’t new at all! The concept has been around for years and even has a variety of names used in the past such as “telecommute”, “remote work”, “telework”, “home based work” and others. The current concept seems to have come on the scene in the 1970’s driven by other societal challenges such as oil rationing of the time. Aslo, remember that working from home has been around for most of history and working outside the home is a fairly new concept rather than the other way around!

Once again, we are being forced to consider “at-the-office” versus “WFH”. We want to look at this issue from multiple angles to attempt to recognize the consequences for as many of the stakeholders as possible in the discussion. Among the stakeholders we think of are, business owners, managers, employees, those that support modern offices, those that provide infrastructure support and many others that are affected by the choice of WFH as a large scale change. In the article we will address a number of topics. Our goal in this article is to raise awareness of the intended AND unintended consequences and impacts!

One of the hot topics in regards to #WFH is productivity! Some say people are more productive working from home, others say they are not. Unfortunately the disagreement on this seems to follow along the lines of some employers saying no and employees saying yes. There is more and evidence to support that #WFH is more productive. We think the bigger or root issue here is about trust and demonstrating productivity. This struggle shows the struggle between managing and leading people. Traditional managers base productivity on having employees present where they can be watched and accounted for. 

Combine #WFH with the Global #Covid Pandemic takes this challenge to a whole new level! Where #WFH usually means working quietly by yourself, we now face the challenge of combining this with your partner also working from home and homeschooling your children at the same time. Besides this, taking the #Covid Pandemic into consideration, people react very differently to a crisis situation. They have to deal with fear of being contaminated, fear of losing loved ones and dealing with losing loved ones, friends or colleagues to the virus.

Besides this, people have different temperaments and one person may love keeping in touch with colleagues, another may be more introverted and feel more comfortable working by themselves. Finding the right balance between the different needs of team members is something that remote leaders need to take into consideration. This requires leaders that are able to empathize with these feelings of fear and loss. Emotional Intelligence has never been more important then right now. 

Does #WFH isolate people, even to the point of negative results? There is certainly potential that #WFH can cause people to feel isolated even if not intended. One of the considerations in this has to be that some people will thrive in a more isolated environment and some will be negatively impacted. Another consideration is that all people need human interaction to one degree or another. The challenge will be finding the best way to accommodate and consider both sides of this issue. It’s not likely that there will be a one-size-fits-all formula that answers this challenge. This issue leads to questions and concerns about the next issue, office space.

What will be the impact of  #WFH on the economics of companies having and maintaining office space? This question could be potentially very impactful! The implications could be very far reaching! The current patterns of having office space for all employees is a factor in overhead. Although cutting overhead is usually a great thing, there are other implications.  It’s also a big impact on local economies. These office spaces contribute in the form of tax base, real estate sales/rentals, need for maintenance, construction and renovation, and many others. So, considerations of the economic impact is not just a positive of saving overhead but also the potential impact for local economies. There are other economic implications as well. Read on to see what some of the other implications are.

So the company or organization has saved money on overhead by not maintaining big office spaces, but who pays for the offices that employees have at home or other places? The implication for employees as they #WFH is the overhead necessary to support the new situation. At a minimum, there is potentially a shift in technology costs. Work phone V home phone, work computer V home computer, work internet V home internet, and there are more. Also, if an employee has to set up an office at home there are other costs, additional utilities, office furniture, other support costs and maintenance. There are positive impacts for the employee in regards to this, potential tax savings, time savings, and the next topic, commuting savings.

To commute or not commute, that’s a big question! As #WFH opportunities increase and more people take advantage of the opportunities it has an impact on commuting for the employee, the company, AND local economies. For the employee, well the impact seems to be primarily a positive one! They save time, transportation costs, AND stress from commuting in traffic. All very positive for most! The implications for the company are a bit less clear but need to be considered. One is that by offering this option it’s as if they gave the employee a raise. That is because of the time saved in commuting. Local economies are affected by less traffic, less fuel and maintenance revenue, more home maintenance and upkeep revenues, and more. This question leads to the next consideration.

Less commuting means less traffic, therefore less vehicle emissions! This is a positive impact and it has even been evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emission gases have been reduced and air pollution reduced. It also takes pressure off infrastructure which includes police and emergency responders. Because traffic means accidents, deaths, less traffic will likely mean less need in these areas.On the surface it sounds very good but, will this affect employment needs in the public safety, emergency response, and medical communities? There is a lot of positive implications to the commuting question but it isn’t all positive.

What about your health and #WFH, does it matter? #WFH lends itself to becoming very sedentary. When we work from home the likelihood is we will be out and about less therefore less movement. At least when we go to the office we walk to and from, walk around seeing colleagues, going to and from lunch, and other inherent movements. 

An important thing to consider as well is maintaining a healthy physical attitude when we #WFH. Having an adjustable chair and desk to suit our posture is best! It isn’t naturally for everyone and can be an expensive cost at first. Looking at the long term benefits, including preventative medical costs, then all of a sudden the cost may be less then expected. Then there is the concerns related to mental and emotional health. We don’t get to see smiles and share laughs with colleagues as readily. We tend to be and feel more isolated; for some that works (introverts) and some it creates a struggle (extrovert). When we are involved with #WFH it becomes more difficult to “lock the door and leave it behind” referring to work. Everyone needs some down time. Too much churn can end up with too much burn and ultimately burnout!

Want more? Check out the next article on #WFH. We will take a look at the different aspects and consequences related to #WFH and explore ways to overcome the obstacles and head off negative consequences.

About the Authors: W. Kevin Ward & Titia Niehorster 

Titia Niehorster is a certified Mediator and Leadership Coach

In her 25 years of experience of working in many different organizations and teams, she gained a lot of experience in Team Improvement, Leadership, Culture Change Programs for Businesses, Coaching and Mediation.

She also runs a health and wellness business as everything starts with good health

W. Kevin Ward is a speaker, trainer, coach who has been involved in leadership and workforce development for over 20 years.

He is engaged in bringing leadership and wisdom topics to multiple media platforms and outlets to help build people to reach their potential! He has become known as #WKWPeopleBuilder!