Telecommuting, mobile work, remote work, flexible workplace… call it what you will. In light of the Covid 19 epidemic working from home (WFH) has become the norm for many Australians. But how good is it for your business? Is it really sustainable? Or should we see working from home as temporary… making the best of a difficult situation.
The concept of WFH is far from being something new. In the early 1970s a wave of technological innovation gave us the tools to bring our work and home lives together in a much more sustainable manner. Networked computers installed in employees’ homes revolutionised the modern company. Teleworking – as it became known – would free us all from the grind of the daily commute, enabling an easier blend of work and family life. But was it and IS IT the ‘Magical Unicorn’ it’s touted to be?
Marissa Mayer, the chief executive of Yahoo, created an uproar when Yahoo forced employees back into offices in 2013. “Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people and impromptu team meetings,”.
IBM came to a similar decision. In 2009, 40 percent of its 386,000 employees in 173 countries worked remotely. But in 2017, with revenue slumping, management called thousands of them back to the office.
With a predominantly remote team, real face-to-face interaction is lost and there’s no substitute for this during some activities, especially those more collaborative in nature. Video conferencing can offset this, but it’s not a perfect replacement for that in-person human interaction. In addition, remote workers must constantly balance and monitor various communication streams… instant messaging apps, video call software, project management tools, and of course the ever-present email. With so many options for communication, it makes sense that managers are concerned about something slipping through the cracks or being ‘lost in translation’. Then there is the human toll, for staff who WFH a sense of isolation and decrease in morale is an ever-present concern.
