Twenty-five years ago, whilst working in the tech industry, I wrote and published an article titled “Remote Workforce”. I firmly believed it would be the way of the future – my peers disagreed. As an introvert, the idea of working from home resonated with me – not to mention the significant savings in office space we would realise. At the time, 25% of our developers were contractors, and I thought there was an opportunity to have them work from home when they weren’t at a client’s site.
Fast forward to 2019, and we were all forced overnight into a new reality. Home offices were quickly rigged up wherever there was space – children moved reluctantly out of their bedrooms, and the family was placed on strict instruction to keep quiet when mom or dad was on a Zoom call.
Some people thrived, and others struggled.
Employees enjoyed the flexibility and control over their work schedules, creating a better work-life balance for those who can consciously separate work and personal life. They became more self-disciplined by managing their workload without constant supervision. The significant advantage of avoiding the daily drive to the office includes lower gas and car repair costs and, most importantly, the psychological benefit of avoiding the daily fight with taxis hooting and driving you off the road. No need for new clothes – a few extra scarves, a pair of earrings, and your old black tracksuit do the trick. Working from home can also offer healthier food options – no grabbing a burger for lunch, way less distraction (unless you have a small child) and a smaller carbon footprint, which, these days, is a serious consideration.
On the other hand, isolation and disconnection can precipitate bouts of depression. People who thrive on teamwork, communication and a fixed schedule to create the discipline they need prefer to avoid being stuck at home. Executives became aware that limited collaboration negatively affected company culture, and information security was compromised with sensitive data being accessed on insecure home networks. Employees missed direct mentoring and indirect influence from peers and other managers. Office infrastructure is way easier to manage centrally. The complaint of continuous availability is resounding.
Shifting the narrative from office to home was complex but had clear justification. It was accompanied by management sympathy with many companies sponsoring network connections and backup electricity solutions in South Africa with our intermittent electricity supply.
After successfully getting staff to work from home, executives now face the dilemma of persuading them to return to the office.
The hybrid solution is the most effortless transition. If your business is compromised by employees working from home, get them to come in for one or two days a week. Some will naturally prefer it, and others less so. Let them know why you feel it will benefit the business and themselves and try to engage individually about the difficulties they will confront in returning to the office.
On the upside, we now have options and can decide what makes the best sense for our particular business. Working from home or the office is equally acceptable in today’s reality.