Location-independent. Knowledge workers are not dependent on location and don't need to be in an office.
Location-frequent. These people spend half their time in an office and half remote. They need an in-person base to use for coordination and physical meetings. These are often salespeople, marketing people, back-office services (IT, HR, finance), and creative jobs.
Mandatory in-office jobs. These involve specialized equipment that you can't put in an employee's home, such as manufacturing jobs.
Far more job functions can be done remotely if company leadership will accept it. But, remote work is not for everyone. Some jobs are tied to physical locations or equipment. Some people also do not want to work from home.
Remote work isn't new; it's just growing in popularity thanks to technology and the exposure to hashtags like #DigitalNomad and #WorkFromAnywhere on social media. Remote workers weren't born overnight when the internet was first created in the 1980s. Working remotely was the norm long before downtown offices and commuting even existed.
Before the Industrial revolution, everyone worked out of their home and sold their goods from there. With the Industrial Revolution came the need for automation and factories, and employ...
Just after WW2, there was a rise in corporate headquarters and larger office spaces and cubicles. During this time, the 8-hour workday was established.
Then came the advancements in computers and technology that lead to remote workers of today. The internet and public WiFi allowed employees to do everything they would in their cubicle, but outside the office. They can also work all hours of the day.
4.3 million people currently work from home in the United States at least half of the time, and this figure has grown by 150% in the last 13 years.
Remote workers tend to have higher engagement rates and higher productivity levels. Once they switch to remote work, they rarely want to become office bound again.
Companies that fail at remote work focus too much on technology and too little on the process. Successful remote work is based on clear processes that support three core principles.
It can be difficult to explain complex ideas. The lack of face-to-face interaction limits social cues, which may lead to misunderstandings and conflict.
To avoid miscues and misinterpretation, match the message with the medium. Videoconferencing is the next best tool to talking face-to-face. Small, non-urgent requests are best suited to e-mail, instant messaging, or all-in-one platforms like Slack.
Frequency of communication matters. Provide regular updates, respond to messages promptly, be available at important times.
Remote workers should be working in harmony, but people often don't know what others are doing and how everything fits together.
Create formal processes that simulate the informal way; for example, stopping by a colleague's desk or eating lunch together. These interactions serve as course corrections.
Managers should clearly articulate the mission, assign roles and responsibilities, create detailed project plans, establish performance metrics. They should also document all that and make it available offsite.
Managers should model and enforce the processes until they are completely incorporated.
Computers and the internet have made remote work a common arrangement, and this is a recent phenomenon. PC and internet access changed the shape of work in an unimaginable way, and the techn...
Today, remote and flexible work arrangements are seen as a perk. In 2018, a survey showed that around 3 percent of Americans worked from home on a regular basis. Due to technological advancements (starting with Blackberry), employees were working from everywhere, the subway, the café, home and during the commute.
But even after we have the technology required for remote working for about fifteen odd years, we have been slow to adopt mainstream remote working. The mass-adoption needed a catalyst, and that was provided in 2020 in the form of a deadly disease.
The 2020 pandemic has shown that all remote working is possible, and bosses are no longer reluctant towards it, a forced change due to the present conditions.
Many global giants like Google and Twitter have embraced remote work in a big way, in their bid to protect worker health and to reduce corporate liability.
The unpredictable nature of the pandemic and an expectation of the second wave of infections can hamper any chance to return to offices.