In 2020 most businesses have been presented a number of new challenges around working practices and none more so than how the head office will operate. The Covid pandemic has forced businesses to innovate quickly and find and develop new ways for their teams to continue work from home whilst undertaking social distancing.
We no longer work from 9 to 5 just to make a living!
Major changes in working practices usually come about due to efficiency gains, new ideas or evolving business culture. If a leadership team takes the brave decision to move away from the norm, it takes a huge amount of communication and is only successful if you bring the team on the journey. You have to overcome fear and anxiety of both the leaders and the team about, productivity, support, equipment and social separation. One of the big concerns revolves around team effectiveness. When we come together, we bond as a group and share common goals. Working alone it can often be difficult to remain focussed and feel the same sense of shared responsibility.
A number of businesses already operated hot-desking and remote working policies but made sure all team members kept in touch physically and through regular weekly meetings and project workshops. A lot of businesses would never have considered this a possibility and only had remote working as part of their disaster recovery scenarios. We have been forced into taking a paradigm shift in how we now operate the modern office, so how much of this do we think will remain?
The benefits of this new working world are clear and evident for all to see:
- Reduced commuting times
- Impact on the environment
- Flexibility around family life
- Increased productivity
- Maintain community ties
- Reduced financial costs
- Ability to retain staff
- Improved communication
- Innovation and problem solving
- Improved work life balance
The nice thing is the majority of benefits are felt by the remote worker and the biggest benefits for the business owner are reduced costs and productivity.
It’s not a perfect scenario and some major benefits have been lost through this remote working revolution both directly and indirectly:
- Social bonding
- Potential creative collaboration
- Inspiration and relationships
- Reduced physical movement, lack of exercise
- Separation of functions, the Silo mentality
It’s really important to address the downsides of separation in order for the team to work at an optimal level.
Will I now work from home forever?
Recent major announcements from the tech giants Facebook and Twitter have agreed to allow staff the option to work from home forever. This shows that times have certainly changed. They have identified that the benefits of choice will provide a more effective overall workforce and have adapted to suit the individual’s needs.
As a business matures, the issues of trust around productivity reduces and it then becomes all about the final outcome. The knock-on effect of this change will be felt in the wider community of retail, hospitality and commercial property where demand will reduce if a bigger proportion of the workforce will be working from home.
Technology will continue to develop and make remote working easier, so the shift will then need to take place in managing workflows and leadership development. The challenge will come from finding ways to motivate your team and ensure productivity remains high.
I cannot help but think that the future of the head office must change as cost pressure and productivity become even more important on your agenda than ever before. Businesses cannot afford to not have plans in place to minimise working disruption, so embrace the change and use nimble technology partners to help support your transition.
Like all major change programs, necessity becomes the biggest driving force and all businesses faces very difficult and challenging times ahead. It is clear the world is entering a very tough period with recession on the horizon, only the fittest and most enlightened forward-thinking businesses will thrive!
