Can Your Company Support New Remote Work Policies?
The pandemic has changed the very fabric of how people approach and interact with work. During the height of COVID-19, there seemed to be news every other day of a tech company announcing work-from-home policies. While there was a short period where companies saw a light at the end of the tunnel and made plans to bring employees back to the office, at least part-time, we’re seeing more and more companies announce indefinite remote work policies due to the continued effects of COVID.
The latest one is Amazon, which was reported on by the Seattle Times on October 11 that many tech and corporate workers have the ability to work remotely, as long as they can still make it to the office when necessary. Microsoft announced last month that it has indefinitely postponed a return to the office for employees.
While one of the main concerns that managers and directors have is trusting their employees to diligently get their work done, another factor is putting together an effective remote work policy. Based on the continued advancement and reliance of technology in nearly every industry, it was only a matter of time until remote work became widespread, but COVID really accelerated the process.
WillDom knows a thing or two about interacting remotely with its tech talent ecosystem and putting processes in place to make sure nothing falls through the cracks internally and for client work. Since its inception, WillDom has established a remote work culture, paired with strategic office locations to offer that in-person, collaborative experience. We discussed a bit about how organizations can take a few plays out of our playbook in supporting a remote culture in a previous blog post, “How to Feed Your Social Needs While Working Remotely.”
Based on our 10+ years of experience interacting and supporting our remote talent, here are a few things to consider if your organization is moving towards a remote and/or hybrid work environment:
- Use agile methodologies as the standard: An agile approach, which is a set of practices intended to improve the effectiveness of software development professionals, teams, and organizations, should be considered for the digital age. Agile methodologies have long been used in technology and are the gold standard that companies adopt in allowing them to work quickly and efficiently in a digital context. Explore how agile technologies can benefit your company and the best way to implement them for your remote teams.
- Expand your network and team to work globally and bring diversity to teams: Your remote work policy offers you a brand new outlook – your talent pool can be expanded dramatically. No longer are you tied to employees based on geography. Expand your search to build up your team with people from different locations, backgrounds, and cultures. Most of the time, it’s this diversity that helps drive meaningful change and positive business results for a company.
- Increased time online means improved business: Mobile devices and technology continue to be heavily relied upon, keeping people glued to their devices for longer periods. According to HootSuite’s annual “The Global State of Digital 2021” report, the amount of time people across the globe spend on the internet daily is 6 hours and 55 minutes (1 more minute than in 2020; 11 minutes from 2019). With the increase in screen time provides the opportunity to expand on business processes and work in general – especially if employees are no longer spending time commuting to and from work.
- Nothing is written in stone: Organizations are always looking to improve, whether it’s workflows or processes, in order to gain favorable business results. While the pandemic has been disastrous, perhaps the silver lining is that it has forced us to change and adapt to the evolution of the workplace. Whether they wanted to or not, companies now have the opportunity to reflect and make necessary institutional changes and updates that they may have been putting off. If companies take the time to put meaningful policies in place that support not only remote work, but how its culture can thrive in a digital environment, they will have a better chance of setting themselves up for success.
To learn more about how your organization can approach the digital age with strategic remote work policies, we encourage you to visit us at Willdom.com or follow us on Linkedin for more information about us.
