Working from Anywhere: Preparing for the time after COVID-19

Ten ideas to make work from anywhere the new normal

29. May 2020

(first published on Linkedin on May 29th 2020)

The COVID-19 pandemic is far from being over, but in some parts of the world companies, and governments have started to open up again and to reestablish what is considered ‘normal’. Lockdowns and restrictions are lifted and people are eager to roll-back the strict measures implemented over the last months. Maybe for one exception: the option to work-from-anywhere.

Home office or working-from-anywhere seem to work well for many employees. People value the benefits and find creative ways to deal with its challenges. Most of the IT problems are fixed by now, an online meeting culture has emerged, and a desk and a descent office chair are in place.

For me, one of the reasons why working-from-home is perceived well and often considered more productive is that everybody was working from home. No segregation between the office people and the home office people, nobody was feeling guilty of not being on-site and nobody was annoyed by ‘that only guy that attended the meeting online’. But this new way of working with all the positive effects for employees and companies might be gone soon because everything needs to go ‘back to normal’.

This article is not about the pros and cons of home office. Instead, it is more about seizing an opportunity. An opportunity to question some old assumptions and behaviours, to build new habits and to shape a modern corporate culture. A black-swan event such a pandemic can help to trigger change, but how to make it stay?

There has never been a better time to change some old (corporate) habits
I have collected ten ideas for companies, managers and employees that might have a lasting effect to make work-from-anywhere the new normal.

  1. Outcome over presence: Showing up in the office early in the morning and leaving late in the evening is not a good measure for performance. Employees shall be evaluated solely on the output and work delivered, not on the hours they spend in the office. If you are using badge time clock system consider replacing them with time sheets if you really need to report times.
  2. Online first: All meeting requests should always have online meeting as the default option, rather than a meeting room. Our IT folks have implemented that feature as one of the first measures at the beginning of the COVID-19 situation to limit physical contacts successfully. Kudos!
  3. Reinvent the office: Some tasks require an office setup, for example if you work in a laboratory or for security reasons. Writing emails, preparing presentations, doing phone calls, even most meetings don’t need an office environment. The past COVID-19 office is for (safe) social interactions, not for emails.
  4. Tools: Provide a selected, curated and supported set of online tools. Less is more. A zoo of four different video conferencing systems, seven online collaboration tools, three spreadsheets etc is a problem, not a solution.
  5. Online rituals: Build new rituals, which only exist online. Or move existing offline rituals to purely online. Examples are recurring team meetings, all-hands sessions, learning and information sharing sessions. Even workshops. Or have a daily virtual coffee break to share news, rumours and gossip.
  6. Better Video: Invest in a proper online conferencing and video setup setup. A dark home office space with your laundry in the background, a choppy sound and a wide-angle and low resolution webcam that makes you look like a dork are just not professional. Good lighting, a calm background, a HD webcam and good sound make such a difference. And always wear trousers.
  7. Stay real: Don’t go all virtual. Real human interactions remain important and become even more important if they are not ubiquitous anymore. Plan and communicate recurring presence days/times at the office and remain flexible if there are good reasons. Just don’t fully disappear in the virtual office.
  8. Local communities: Instead of meeting your colleagues at the office, why not set up a community of co-workers in your local area? You get to know other people of your organisation that live in the same area than you, explore new opportunities for collaboration and keep the corporate spirit. All without the hassle of the daily commute. A couple of day passes for your local co-working space might be all you need.
  9. Incentives: In the pre-pandemic days, companies provided benefits for people to come to the office. Parking, food, a gym, office supplies, etc. You might want to turn this around and make working-from-anywhere an attractive option. Give employees a budget to make their home office comfortable and productive.
  10. Quantify it: Last but not least, collect data points that help you to understand the implications of working-from-anywhere. You might want to measure productivity, the number of virtual interactions, the hours of commute saved, the increase (or decrease?) in employee satisfaction. And if sustainability is on your corporate agenda you even might want to track the reduction in carbon emissions caused by working-from-home

These are only some ideas to adopt the new way of working. Changing an old habit is hard. It requires time, persistence, communication and creativity. But for working from anywhere there has never been a better time.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments and ideas