Is Your Company Ready For Remote Work?

Change can be scary, but changing your company policies to reflect the demands of the modern workforce is necessary to keep up with the competition and the future of work. Companies have made the hard switch to become remote-friendly in the last two months. With the easing of circuit-breaker measures, companies are faced with another tough decision. Do they move back into the office, or keep remote work as part of their infrastructure moving forward? Here are 5 questions you should ask yourself to make the decision easier.

It’s been two months, and we are sure your team members have concerns about working from home. You should find answers to their question as a team. Some people might not be able to work from their homes due to personal reasons, others might not be comfortable with the new communication tools, and yet others might need help with establishing borders between work and personal life. Involving your team in these discussions will unveil any possible problems faster. It will also give everyone ownership of the process and increases team spirit by tackling a common challenge.

With the current economic climate, the chances are that you will have to make cuts to your budget. In good times, office space seems like a driver for productivity. Now when money is tight, it suddenly seems like a surplus. Your previous office might seem too expensive now. What is the cost savings if you do decide to go remote? However, don’t neglect the cost involved in going remote. If you plan to make remote working a requirement, then you need to have some funds set aside for employees to set themselves up properly. A good webcam, microphones, as well as paying for premium project management software will be a cost. Do your cost-benefit analysis.

“How do I know people will work when they are not in the office?” is by far the most common concern managers have about going remote. My answer is always the same: you know it the same way you would if they were in the office — you look at their results. Managing is not about monitoring the amount of time your team members spend online, but about building and supporting a team that doesn’t need to be micromanaged in the first place. It all comes down to trusting the people you have hired. Seeing someone sit on a chair all day is no proof of work getting done. You need to identify the goals and tasks, so everyone knows what is expected. If you can’t tell if work gets done or not, then you have to rethink your goal-setting strategy as a manager first and only then suspect your team members of slacking off.

Take a peek at your competition. They are faced with the same difficult decision as you are. Checking out what your competitors are doing is a quick litmus test for your thoughts. It would help if you also looked at this from an HR perspective. If the majority of your industry is moving online, talents might gravitate towards that structure and organization. If you stubbornly refuse to keep up, it could lead to lost opportunities to attract the top talents to your company. You do not want to appear outdated and inflexible in your policies!

Since the start of the pandemic, your company has likely implemented many cloud-based communication apps and programs and other remote work technology. With the right communication tools (e.g., video conferencing software and hardware, asynchronous communication tools) you’re ready to begin the transition to remote work. If not, you need to look at what software is still lacking in your workflow, and what additional software you might need to purchase. Money is not the only issue here. To work efficiently from home, you need to make sure your employees are familiar with the new workflow too, so it has to be intuitive.

To sum it up, before making your decision post-social distancing, ask yourself why and how you will go about it. Regardless of your choice, the leadership must be behind it 100% and understand the ‘why’ behind the decision. Mixed signals from your team leaders will erode trust faster than a hot knife cuts through butter.