My Acceleration Economy colleague Kieron Allen recently wrote an insightful report on the rise of the “Chief Remote Officer” and asked me to provide a quote from the perspective of a CEO. I shared with Kieron that, in my ongoing discussions with senior executives across industries, I have learned that the challenges around remote and in-office work are still major issues. As a complement to Kieron’s piece, and a roundtable discussion we conducted on the same topic earlier this week, I’ll take a closer look at remote work 2.0, as well as explore some of those current challenges and provide some solutions.
The New Industry Standard
There’s nothing new about remote work. People have been able to work remotely ever since telephones were made available to the average consumer in the 20th century. Mobile phones and wireless technology only enhanced the capability to work wherever and whenever we choose. It’s become so commonplace to see people “working” from the local coffee shop that you don’t even notice it anymore. So, why does it feel different now? Because remote work, or at least the option for remote work, has become an industry standard. Welcome to remote work 2.0.
History teaches us that there is a significant time lag between the introduction of new technology and mainstream adoption (Though, we tend to shorten this lag in our minds.) My favorite example is the wheel. The wheel had no material change on human capabilities in work or travel — until 6,000 years after its invention. A more recent example is “streaming,” which started in the 1990s and accelerated commercially in 2007 via Netflix, but didn’t reach mainstream adoption, with more than 60% of U.S. adults subscribing, until 2019.
We are at a unique time in history, where the slack (no pun intended) has been taken out of the lag between the introduction of the enabling technologies that allow for full and productive remote work and the impact on where and how we work. As with the jump in e-commerce adoption, the pandemic has dramatically accelerated remote work.
Remote Work Pros and Cons
You need look no further than two key data points — productivity and employee surveys — to see that remote work works (and works well for both the company and its employees). All knowledge work will inevitably be done in remote-first and office-second environments. Frankly, we’re already there. Most companies that shifted to completely remote operations in 2020, when the stay-at-home-mandates were first implemented, saw continued, if not increased, productivity. Remote-first opens up tremendous opportunities in recruitment, employee retention, and in the potential to reallocate costs. The average company spends 10%-15% of its revenues on office space. You run the math.
This increased flexibility also provides the opportunity to open multiple, smaller offices in more than one location, perhaps closer to customers. While WeWork’s reputation took a beating based on the founders’ nuttiness, its model holds huge potential in a remote-first, office-second world.
Remote work is not without its challenges. Having a remote-first workforce puts more pressure on company culture. It’s much easier to demonstrate your company’s values and culture when someone is sitting in your office. But there’s no reason why this can’t be done, and done well, in a remote-first organization. People feel the power and benefits of company culture when they feel they are a part of something larger than themselves; have a clear understanding of what they need to do to succeed; feel they are provided with the tools and support they need, and when they see their contributions are valued. These can all be provided in a remote-first organization.
The story of remote work will mostly be a story of cultural change, not one of technology. However, this is not to say that technology does not remain a central component of remote work in the future.
5 Technology Areas To Watch
Technology is foundational for a successful remote-first company. Today’s technology tools are remarkable and can go well beyond simply emulating an office environment. This is an opportunity to reimagine the workflow of individuals, groups, and your business overall. From marketing and sales to production, billing, and customer support, no area of the organization can neglect technology; it can provide a 360-degree view of your customer, making life easier for everyone in your company — not to mention improving your customer’s experience.
In your business technology planning, here are five technology areas to watch as you look to manage your remote-to-in-office environments.
1. 5G
5G has been rolling out across America and will increasingly make remote work a lot easier. Delivering speeds that are up to 100 times faster than 4G — and designed to handle exponentially more devices — 5G networks make it practical to work from anywhere you can get a signal. Remote work locations have been previously limited by the need to connect to Wi-Fi or ethernet, so 5G will help to expand potential job sites and provide more opportunities for distributed working. While it’s prevalent in most major cities, many rural areas will nevertheless need to be upgraded before 5G truly enables “work from anywhere,” however.
2. Communication, Messaging, and Immersive Computing/Virtual Reality
Video conferencing tools like Zoom, and messaging apps like Slack and Twist, are enabling team collaboration for remote workers. They offer an inexpensive, easy solution for companies looking to create a virtual, in-office experience.
Immersive Computing and virtual reality (VR) are emerging technology categories that hold tremendous potential for business use. MeetinVR, is an early example of what is being developed, and we will see a series of new and innovative VR business applications introduced over the next 18 months.
3. Administrative Automation
Remote work is largely self-directed. Requiring self-reporting and self-organization for remote workers can add unproductive administrative tasks to a remote employee’s day, however. For collaboration, performance management, and accounting to work, employees must ensure that their work projects, schedules, and expenses all stay visible.
This is where new smart technologies that automate administrative tasks can be game-changers. There are automatic time trackers like Timely, which help with accurate time sheets and keeping managers up to speed on remote workloads; AI scheduling apps like Dewo, for booking meetings around remote team schedules; and smart expense apps like Expensify, for expense management via mobile phone.
4. Productivity Assistants
Employees are increasingly looking for remote work options. That said, for some workers, understanding how to best structure their day and manage their work in a remote setting can be challenging. Remote workers need help understanding how to manage their productivity.
A series of new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered apps can help remote workers manage their productivity and minimize distractions: Check out Freedom, FocusMe, LeechBlock, and MindfulBrowsing
5. Remote Training
Remote working makes onboarding and ongoing training difficult. New tools that enable company-wide knowledge-sharing, communication, and training can help. Initially developed for programmers, Tuple allows for easy and flexible screen sharing. Webinar platforms like BigMarker allow companies to pre-record training and offer a range of tools; it can also be used to create a self-service company knowledge base, where people can intuitively search to find useful templates, documentation, and company guides.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of whether they are in-office or remote advocates, knowledge workers have overwhelmingly voted for the flexibility of work-from-anywhere options. Learn more about the remote work landscape in the “Future of Work” Guidebook that our Analyst team put together, as well as in a recent CXO roundtable discussion video I did with Kieron and Analyst Wayne Sadin, where we debated whether the new title of Chief Remote Officer would last. We encourage you to join in the discussion, by adding your thoughts to LinkedIn.
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