The Future is Remote

During the pandemic the trend of remote work is on its fast track. 

We believe, that the trend of remote work will continue even after the pandemic and that many companies can no longer imagine being without remote work in order to increase their competitiveness in the future.

This article dives deep in why incorporating remote work is a must, which changes come in and how employees and companies can use remote work for themselves in order to achieve their goals.

First of all, a quick explanation what remote work is not

• Working at home the same way as working at the local office
• imprison oneself at home and social isolation
• Zoom calls all day

In a world of information overload, rapid changes causing by technology and efficiency-driven economies, productivity and maximum focus are a must. Productivity is now not an outcome of attendance, but is a result of the combination of focus and flexibility. This is where remote work comes in.

Remote Work not only requires new ways of working, but also new ways of thinking.

For companies supporting their employees working remotely means, that companies have no influence on the employees’ surroundings anymore.The changes which comes within remote work are reflected in following points:

• work ethic
• communication
• social connection
• equipment and digital tools

The company’s role as a provider for a local work environment changes into a role as an enabler of free time management and task-oriented working.Companies are responsible for providing their employers the necessary equipment and the right tools for remote work.

For employees remote work offers a high flexibility in planning their daily life which increases happiness.

For employees working remotely more freedom comes in. Without commuting they gain more valuable time and can dedicate their time to those matters they deeply care about. Stress is reduced and the employee can be more the master of his own happiness.

More freedom goes hand in hand with more responsibility.

This is an important point to consider as a company. Increasing the company’s competitiveness requires employees who are capable of working independently and more importantly: They need the ability of efficient time management and focus more than before.By supporting the employees to work remotely companies not only create trust, but also a more self-determined corporate culture. 

Remote work changes the way of building employee loyalty.

Employee loyalty is not built on social events anymore, but focuses more on mutual trust, personal responsibility and effective communication. Remote work does not allow any micro-management. Instead, leaders must now rely on their effective communication skills and their ability to give their employees the free space they need in order to perform well.

Ph.D Michael J. Breus identifies several chronotypes which are all represented in the society. Each chronotype refers to a specific daily cycle. Every chronotype has different times, in which they are the most productive, most creative and most active. When it comes to remote work, the classic era of nine-to-five comes to its end, in which everybody follows that one specific nine-to-five cycle.

In comparison, remote work does accept the fact, that everybody has its own daily cycle and even more: With remote work companies can utilize this knowledge in order to help their employees become successful, whether they have their best performances at night or in the early mornings.

Remote work is a game-changer when it comes to recruiting.

Prospective young professionals or also called Generation Y and Millenials want to work more self-determined. No wonder: This generation created new jobs in the online world like influencer, social media manager and content creator. These jobs can be run from anywhere and do not require a fixed workplace.

Remote work leads to savings — for companies and employees.

No working and parking spaces needed. Companies like Officery rely on 100% remote work, so high office rents can be saved. People who live far away from the company’s location do not need to commute and can save months of their precious life-time. This has also a good side effect on the environment.

Remote work expands the existing possibilities for creative work.

Well but what about collaborative work? Creative work only happens when everybody meets in the same place and discusses.

This question cannot be solved by depending on a certain place or space where everybody needs to go there. This way of thinking needs to be changed.The more solution-oriented approach is to adapt the current opportunities and to always look after new ways to encourage creative work.Creative work happens when everybody can contribute his ideas and more importantly: to visualize the idea directly, so the competition for the best ideas can begin.

Nowadays tools like monday and miro provide different templates for collaborative work, so everyone is able to visualize his ideas and see the other’s ideas in real-time. Some video conference software also include the possibility to work on one document or presentation in real-time together.

Remote work means fast adaption to changes which increases the competitiveness.

Looking into the future only those companies can compete which are flexible enough and can adapt changes quickly. With remote work the flexibility starts with the employee and runs through the whole company. Remote work is a mindset which combines flexibility in the way of thinking and adapting with the focus on effective communication, so both parties — companies and employees — can achieves great goals.