Bear with us here: We will say a positive thing about 2020. It’s hard enough. But due to lockdowns and reduced mobility, one certain work philosophy has gained attention in the economic discourse: Remote work.
By now, more and more companies, big and small, have shifted their work policies. They now allow their employees to work from their home office and telecommuting with their colleagues. And this remote work trend might continue: Just recently, the Center of European Economic Research (ZEW) conducted a study according to which 75% of big and 64% medium-sized companies want to permanently give their teams the option to operate from home office spaces.
Remote Work – Ripe With Challenges
So, if everyone is doing it, it should be easy, right?
Not necessarily.
Companies embracing the home office concept just now will be faced with a challenging transition period. It’s a paradigm shift. Tried and true recipes for on-site working often don’t qualify for remote working routines. And, given external economical pressure (like a certain pandemic), not all companies are settling for a remote work policy out of conviction. Experiencing early setbacks in their new telework routines, corporate decision-makers might then even come to the belief, that working remotely hurts their businesses. What if home office workers are not the all-productive powerhouses they were promised in articles by eager proponents of workplace flexibilization?
But let’s not jump to conclusions. Businesses have to adjust working routines and company culture to get the most out of this type of work. If your company stands at the beginning of switching to remote work, you should realize that embarking on that path will change how your company operates as a whole. How your employees engage with their work. And how your clients engage with your services, too.
So, how to make remote work work? Let’s start with the basics.
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