Office Politics: Six ways the world of work will change
It has been months now since knowledge-workers worldwide began working from home in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. At first, businesses were understandably focused on the short and medium-term fallout.
Now that we can begin, cautiously, to anticipate a post-pandemic world, it’s time to look at the situation we’ve found ourselves in, the adjustments we’ve made in response to it, and how these might affect the workplace in the longer term. As we prepare for our new normal, here are some of the shifts I predict we will see:
Work will be measured by output, not hours
Early on in the pandemic, a survey of HR execs by Gartner found that the top employee complaint so far had been ‘concerns from managers about the productivity of their teams when remote.’ When employees aren’t in front of you, it might be tempting to worry that they aren’t getting the work done. That’s why we have to measure work in terms of output, not hours at work, online, or in meetings. Status updates should lead with, ‘how are we progressing on the goals we have set?,’ not ‘what have you done on this project?’
Presenteeism will be a thing of the past
I’m hopeful that, in the long term, we’re going to see less importance placed on employees’ physical presence in the office as a means to measure their output. This will be driven by the productivity people can find remotely – in fact two thirds of employees find they are more productive when working from home. I don’t believe we will do away with offices altogether, but I do think we will realise that not everyone has to be physically present to make their professional and personal presence felt. We could see hiring decisions freed up from geographical considerations, and distributed teams will become a new normal.
Distributed and remote workers will find it easier to make an impact
Having a whole workforce skilled in working remotely will make a huge difference to more regular home-workers and how well they feel they can contribute. For example, we now all know what it is like to dial in to a meeting on VC, so we will have more empathy for remote-workers and will look for their input.
We’ll be better equipped for work, regardless of location
Whether it’s making sure we have fit-for-purpose tech, or a comfortable desk set-up, we’re all figuring out what virtual and physical tools we need in order to stay productive, and we’ll bring these tools with us when we return. It’s on businesses to provide their teams with fit-for-purpose tools: 62% of remote workers want employers to provide better technology that helps them stay connected with their colleagues.
We’ll be skilled at prioritising
This period is going to challenge us enormously, but I do believe we will reassess what is important, and perhaps get better at prioritising – both professionally and personally. There is a lot of background noise for everyone – news announcements, worries, distractions, homeschooling – so people have less capacity. We have had to learn to ruthlessly prioritise and focus on the tasks that are really valuable – which is a skill that will serve us all very well in the future.
We may end up more empathetic than before
It sounds counter-intuitive, but this enforced distance might bring some of us closer – whether that’s through small acts of kindness within our own communities, or rethinking how we keep in touch with people and making it more meaningful. I’m finding that people are opening up about their coping strategies and their home lives, which in turn is building deeper empathy for colleagues, family members and the community.
It’s impossible to predict the future, but what we do know is that knowledge-workers have had to make huge sudden changes to their working habits, and employers have rapidly adapted their processes and systems. It’s unlikely we will ever truly go back to normal. But what leaders can do is ensure that, where changes have had a positive impact, these are adopted, not just as a temporary crisis-response, a long-term improvement to working life.