2020 was anticipated to be the “year of remote work,” but no one could have predicted that much of the workforce would be forced to participate in the world’s largest work-from-home experiment.
A survey from cloud communications company 8×8 found that 55% of consumers with full-time jobs have already had to cancel travel plans, reduce in-person meetings and increase their use of video conferencing.
Although 90% of respondents said that they are confident or very confident they can remain productive if asked to work from home, some remote working advocates aren’t so sure.
“What is happening en masse related to Coronavirus is largely a temporary work-from-home phenomenon, where organizations are not putting remote work ideals into place, as they expect to eventually require their team members to resume commuting into an office,” according to GitLab’s guide on what not to do when shifting to remote work. “Merely transferring planned office meetings to virtual meetings misses an opportunity to answer a fundamental question: is there a better way to work than to have a meeting in the first place?”
So how can companies actually conduct business and effectively implement a work-from-home policy?
First, it is important to make an educated decision on how telecommuting will impact your business and how it can benefit your company by making this change.
Additionally, companies should create a written policy that makes it clear to all workers how to make the transition from physical to virtual work.
