In order for office workers to be able to work remotely, what do you need? The first answer usually given is “broadband”. Broadband is the life blood of remote working, no question about that. Once you’ve got your high-speed Internet connection, the next thing you need is secure access to your organisation’s data and applications. This is where remote access tools, virtual desktops and virtual private networks come in.
Now the remote worker has all of the systems he/she has in the main office as their remote office. Thanks to technology, they now are now no longer commuting to sit in front of a PC – they can do it without the commuting. They can save on gas/petrol, have a better work-life-balance and their employers can save on office space, lighting and heating to boot.
The problem is that there is more to office work than just the technology – there are people. People have roles and people have jobs to complete. People interact with each other. In the office environment, there are a multitude of roles, for individuals, teams and managers. Managers can easily determine how a piece of work is progressing – sometimes even without asking. Employees know when they’re well thought of and their work is appreciated.
In the remote office, things are different. There’s little or no human interaction except phone calls, email and IM. As a manager, it’s easy to forget about the person working from home today. As a remote worker, it’s easy to forget about the work that has to be done today. Managers find it difficult to “feel” how something is progressing and workers get very little feedback on how they’re doing.
Thus to be “enabled” for remote working, doesn’t mean a person is actually working and doesn’t mean that their manager considers them as part of the team. Solving this isn’t trivial. Some solutions suggest that the remote worker should spend time and effort on being more responsive when out of the office. This entails fast replies to emails, more regular phone updates and IM chats.
This seems counter-productive to me. Just for starters, working remotely shouldn’t incur more effort. However, many remote workers opt for this to justify the fact that they are working remotely.
This is the problem that we at RWorks are addressing – how to make sure a (remote) worker remains key to the success of an organisation while at the same time making sure an organisation gets the very best from its employees. We’re not about “enabling” remote working, we’re about making it it a success.
