The Covid-19 pandemic has introduced us to the new normal as we now work from home or remotely. Across the globe, companies have directed their people to operate remotely, anywhere possible.
As a result, what used to be a limited aspect of employee benefits has now become a daily routine.
Although telecommunications is not a new practice, many people believe that this will continue to exist as a common way of working even after the pandemic has ended.
However, some governments are concerned about the risks of emptying major cities and are choosing large businesses to ensure a return to physical in-presence employment opportunities.
They are apprehensive about the fact that a largely remote workforce may cause a substantial shift in the economy.
Most certainly, the vast majority of businesses would accommodate certain remote work solutions, if not for the whole workforce, at least for a considerable number of employees. There will thus be some crucial issues here that we need to concentrate on, which act as the reason for not so long-lasting remote work. Here’s the list:
Blurred Communication
A recent study by MIT found that communication is the first aspect that organizations and leaders should enhance to facilitate remote work. And several companies have made tremendous efforts to make it seamless for employees with innovative management strategies during the lock-down.
We’ve all had the experience of joining a remote meeting and sometimes having the very impression that you lost out on the discussion and early chatter that occurred in the space before the meeting actually began.
Many businesses have established unique guidelines and have sought to create a distinct “communication system” that is designed to ensure the information flow to all remote employees as well. Ensure that every important piece of information is recorded and communicated with those, not in the workplace.
Lack Of Collaboration Opportunities
Although there are still powerful technologies like video conferencing and chat rooms that allow remote workers to remain linked to one another and the workplace, it’s still not the same as getting a team working together in the same room. When workers are compelled to spend time working with each other, they communicate and collaborate more effectively compared to a virtual communication environment.
Undiscovered Employee Engagement
Most leaders have a lot to learn about how to manage people well. Only some of them are remarkable at it. For most employees in the organization, their manager acts as a bridge between themselves and the company. Great managers, having known an employee for many months, eventually are able to comprehend what motivates that employee.
Through a lot of encounters and relevant data, the manager will determine the employee’s degree of engagement in each interaction. With remote work, it’s significantly more difficult because there are going to be fewer points of reference. This will result in a lot of extra effort from the management chain for employee performance management, and the HR to monitor the pulse of the company.
Onboarding Employees May Cost You Much More Effort
On-boarding an employee remotely is more complicated with one to two orders of magnitude as you have to execute it completely in a virtual environment without having the chance of interacting with the candidate in person.
It is logistically more complicated as you need to make sure that the new joiner is provided with the required equipment and permissions such as laptops, access keys, software configurations, passport checks, etc.
Also, it’s much more difficult to get them to know the team and the project they will be working on. Above anything, it’s trickier to get them to absorb the culture of the organization, and this drives us to the next reason below.
Not The Most Preferred Alternative For Interns Or New Graduates
Some may suggest that remote work creates more opportunities for a person to work for an employer without having to relocate or move — a valid concern in some cases of immigration, disability, or family-care limitations. It is also true that interns and new graduates have a lot more impact when they sit together at a workplace with their manager, mentor, and peers to shadow, learn and understand the responsibilities of the role.
On the other hand, there are quite a few instances where there can be a communication gap between the new joiners and the managers in a virtual workplace. Additionally, it becomes even more difficult to make sure that they are comfortable and engaged in working with the team.
Inclusion In Decision Making
The problem is not just about Slack chats and attending meetings. Every employee wants to be involved in the dialogue and decision-making process with the team.
However, without literally being in the office, it’s impractical to be metaphorically present in every decision-making process. Undoubtedly, impromptu meetings are still going to occur at the workplace, even when remote employees cannot be a part of it.
It’s not through resentment on the part of your peers; it’s just a natural dynamic that forms a mixed in-person and remote workforce.
Failing To Set Remote Working Boundaries
For some employees, it’s easy to form restraints to avoid interruptions while working from home. For most of them, careful behavioral supervision and alignment are required. Everything from basic hygiene to understanding when to stop working can be a daunting task. So everything that impacts the health of employees, whether physical or mental, will end up hampering their work as well.
What Can You Do About It?
It’s obviously impossible to develop a strategy that can work in every different kind of work environment. But one such strategy that can help you make remote work better is having a Remote-first mindset.
Developing a Remote-first mindset requires rethinking your workplace as a network of connections. Work can take place anywhere; offices may or may not be pertinent in this scenario, but what needs to be considered is that you should re-imagine everything from this perspective.
The Remote-first mindset implies that the work team will be, first and foremost, a remote team, even if part of the team is working from the office.
This approach will ensure that you are well-prepared to efficiently manage your workforce, regardless of it being in a virtual or a conventional workplace environment!
