Coronavirus triggered a rapid shift to remote working, often in less-than-desirable circumstances. However, despite sub-par spaces, inadequate technology and nebulous policies, many companies have demonstrated their resilience in shifting to work from home arrangements, and even seen productivity gains as a result. Given the potential productivity, cost and talent attraction benefits that stem from remote work, businesses may look to make working from home a permanent option following the pandemic.

In fact, according to a recent survey of senior finance leaders by Gartner, 74% of organisations plan to shift some employees to remote work permanently. A number of high-profile companies are already leading the way, with Facebook, Twitter and Shopify recently announcing plans to let their staff continue working from home post-COVID-19.

Businesses that make this transition will have an opportunity to transform the future of how and where we work, and ultimately capture value from it. However, to make remote work an effective strategy for your business, it’s important to develop a cohesive approach across your processes, technology and people.

Whether you intend to allow a proportion of the team to work from home full time or give everyone the opportunity to work away from the office for part of the week, here are some of the key questions to consider when adopting remote work as a permanent component of your business operations.

What Conditions of Working from Home Should You Have in Place?

For many businesses, having all employees working from home all the time will not be feasible, so when considering the conditions of working from home for your team, think about what percentage of your workforce you can have working remotely on any given day, without impacting culture, client engagement or effectiveness.

You should also consider whether you’ll need to establish home office setup requirements to ensure employees will be as productive as positive when working remotely. Helping people meet this caveat could be as simple as providing a better headset or a second computer monitor.

Another key parameter for remote working is around work/life boundaries, as employees who struggle to switch off at the end of the day may be less productive overall. Work with team members to set clear work hours and encourage them to log off once their working day is done.

How Do You Maintain the Company Culture When Working Remotely?

Essentially, the company culture is the same whether is rooted in the office or remotely – the main difference is the need for extra considerations to ensure it consistently extends to employees who work from home.

A key concern around how to maintain the company culture when working remotely is finding ways to continue the same level of communication and casual interaction that would normally take place between team members when they’re all in the office daily. Meetings should always take place over video, and you can ask those attending in-person to dial in on their devices as well to ensure everyone is visible and included.

It is also a good idea to create opportunities for people to talk on a personal level, such as by setting aside a few minutes for small talk at the beginning of a meeting or creating a dedicated channel on the team messaging app. Don’t forget to schedule times for teams to come together socially, such as holding a monthly or quarterly team lunch, or combining a social event with an in-person workshop.

Additionally, regular feedback is essential for maintaining an effective culture and must be deliberately sought when in-person interactions are limited. Determine how and how often you’re going to get feedback – this could be done through a combination of individual catchups, anonymous surveys and external feedback through sites such as Glassdoor.

What are the Considerations When Implementing Work From Home Policies?

Integrating remote work permanently into your organisation may mean you need to implement new work from home policies around issues such as communication, hiring and training. For example, consider adopting policies around the balance of office and remote (and when each one is appropriate) to minimise disruptions to workflows, and review your recruitment strategy to accommodate remote working skills (a good recruiter will be able to help with this).

Similarly, transitioning to remote work often highlights any inefficiencies that exist within your organisation, so it’s vital to prioritise process improvements throughout the business. This is done most effectively when the wider team is involved, so ensure people feel empowered to identify problem areas and contribute ideas about how to improve processes. A simple way to do this is with a digital “suggestion box” where people can share their thoughts with the rest of the team.

Will You Need to Invest in Technology for Working Remotely?

To fully embrace remote capabilities, you need to have the right technology for working remotely in place. This should include a thorough review of your business needs, as well as factors such as security, compliance and usability.

If you haven’t already, consider implementing remote collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, Teamwork, Asana and Workplace. Likewise, most businesses will already have at least their basic communication and collaboration tools on the cloud, but moving all your applications and data there will avoid access issues when remote work becomes permanent.

Final Thoughts

By keeping these considerations in mind, you’ll be able to determine how to make remote working viable for the long term. At the end of the day, laying the foundations for an integrated, permanent remote work strategy will help you not only continue getting the most out of your current team, but also win the war on talent and attract quality people to your business in the future.

For more advice, or support with your next recruitment drive, get in touch with our team of Indigenous recruitment specialists today.