There’s an almost pointless debate about remote work, hybrid work, and mandatory “at the office” days. Here are some clarity and some of TechRepublic’s best thoughts on the subject.
Despite a few years of planning and experimenting with various permutations between working in the real office, working from home, and more options in between, there still seems to be an ongoing debate about remote work. Some companies have announced fully telemedicine policies, while senior tech executives and companies ranging from Elon Musk to Goldman Sachs have asked for a “work week” in the office. ” 5 days.
Executives and human resources departments seem to be looking for some mythical “perfect” policies that will address concerns from productivity arrive innovation. Even in companies that realize there’s likely no one “magic bullet” answer to remote work and office work, there’s a seemingly endless quest to determine fulfillment. good combined working model.
Believe until proven otherwise
Curiously, many of the companies that seem to spend the most time debating the nuances of different hybrid models also trust employees to make multimillion-dollar decisions within a single set of rules and regulations. instructions are relatively lax. Presumably, your leaders are trusted to generate and monitor the performance of different teams reporting to them and have the ability to determine if productivity and performance goals are being met. .
A generally applicable set of guide, the expectations around performance management and metrics, and perhaps the occasional performance review is enough to allow teams to determine how they get their work done. Trying to visualize and minimize any potential difficulties with an integrated work policy and developing a comprehensive set of rules and guidelines not only wastes time but also creates the expectation that employees are not allowed to work. trust to get their job done. If you fundamentally don’t trust your employees to make the right decisions about getting their work done, then you need to address concerns that are deeper than mixed work policy.
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Follow the same approach to remote work abuse cases as you would if you handled an individual who stole from the company. You would likely take punitive action against that single employee and then assess the situation to see if any policy oversight created the problem. For example, if employees are allowed uncontrolled access to large amounts of cash and cash thefts are frequent, you should address cash access after the employee is fired. If you find out that a particular team has no performance metrics without ever checking in with leadership and never completing their assigned work, address the individuals and then create guidelines. common sense instead of trying to solve every potential pitfall and headache with policies for weeks.
At the office is not a cure
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the endless debates surrounding remote and hybrid work is the assumption that bringing everyone into the same physical space will solve any and all problems. on productivity. Anyone who has ever worked in a physical office probably knows a handful of people who show up on a daily basis but make the bare minimum needed to keep their jobs going.
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An employee who fails to work remotely is unlikely to be the best performer when brought into the office, and vice versa. Debating combined work policies is often the scapegoat for deeper challenges. As a leader, if you find your teams endlessly discussing the nuances of integrated work policies, there could be a deeper workplace performance problem. rather than simply determining the position of workers.
As leaders at many organizations, it’s time to “time out” for endless debates about where and when people work. Trust your people, deal with personal or system issues while they’re at the office, and make sure your remote work debates aren’t a smokescreen for deeper performance issues will make your team productive and happy in the most productive environment for both employees and employers.
