Working Remotely: The Benefits, Reflections, and Future-Planning

Suddenly, all people, all employers, and all business strategies have to rethink the workplace. ~ Pieter de Villiers, Shadowmatch

One of the most radical workplace changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic is the increase in the number of companies providing remote work opportunities. This switch was thrust upon some organizations almost overnight, resulting in challenges that were swift and, at times, unexpected and painful. Those challenges also produced some unintended consequences; happily, not all of them are bad. In fact, some of them may drive success for months and years to come.

Like most situations over which we have no control, there are great lessons to be learned for those who are willing. Companies that embrace the change and focus on the benefits of remote work may realize greater sustainability over their competitors and improve the organization’s financial situation by embarking on a new and sustained remote work attitude.

Certainly, not all jobs lend themselves to being done remotely, but the following recommendations may be true for some of your staff and could help build better working relationships with your customers, vendors, and stakeholders. This week, we’ll look at short term benefits and follow up next week with long term opportunities.

1. Working remotely provides a more Results-Oriented focus.  

For many office workers, productivity is most often measured by face time, i.e. when an employee arrives at work and when they leave the office, say 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It’s during this face time that an employee is measured on their productivity. 

In the remote work environment, the work focuses on the results of the individual, not on the amount of time spent sitting at a desk. Since there is no such thing as face time in a remote work environment, employees can better focus on their responsibilities – and managers know if responsibilities, objectives, and outcomes are met.

1. Focused Meetings are easier to schedule and results are more quickly realized.

In-person meetings can deteriorate into a time-suck. In an office setting, the constant interruptions of drive-by chats, the 3-8 minutes people take to settle in before a meeting starts, and the 6-12 minutes of after-meeting conversation deteriorate into a waste of time and energy. Working remotely offers a change in behavior allowing those meetings to become more priority focused. Concise and meaningful conversations can be had virtually, with specific priorities, deliverables, and deadlines being assigned. Following a virtual meeting, teams can focus on their deliverables more quickly, avoiding the delay caused by these outside interruptions.  

1. Company Culture is more important than ever.

One of the biggest challenges with a remote workforce is maintaining company culture. Keeping the organization’s mission, vision, and/or values front of mind with the team and interaction between team members (e.g., drive-by office meetings, discussions during a coffee break, and hallway conversations), define the culture of your organization, and it’s easy to lose the feel of it without those.

Consider reading a portion of the organization’s mission or vision, or highlight one of the company’s values at some point during each team meeting. Addressing behaviors, attitudes, mindsets, and other things that detract from what the company stands for, or recognizing outstanding demonstration of these same things by individual team members, will maintain and foster the company culture. 

Provide for teams to connect to catch-up, chit-chat, and socialize at a prescribed day and time. Some companies have virtual happy hour at 4:30 on Friday afternoon. Loneliness and the feeling of not belonging or cared for lead to depression, and this loneliness is not limited to individuals who live alone. Even employees who have spouses, children, or extended family at home may need to regularly interact with their work team. A caring, compassionate, and engaging company culture invites, welcomes, and provides the means for its team members to connect.

Remote working is challenging. It also offers benefits. If you need help improving your business processes and improving remote work in the short-term or long-term, contact me for a comprehensive discussion.

My goal as an experienced Executive and Leadership Coach is to help you re-imagine your life and let go of thoughts and behaviors that undermine your success, so that a renewed and fulfilled you can emerge. My personal commitment is to provide you with accountability, understanding and support while accomplishing lasting growth. Click here to receive tips and leadership advice to help you Discover Invisible Horizons.