Do you resist or reject remote work? Are you a leader or supervisor who insists on having all staff in the office, adhering to strict inflexible office hours every day? Requiring butts in the seat so you can keep an eye on them? Why? Do you think your co-workers are inherently lazy? Won’t be as productive? Don’t trust them?  After all you reason to yourself, they’ll wear their pajamas, shorts, and t-shirts all day and won’t “dress for success” if they work remotely from home.

Admittedly, there are hundreds of job roles and businesses that require staff to be on site in person to fulfil their purpose and objectives as an organization. However, for the millions who work in the information and knowledge sector, remote work is not only highly effective and efficient, but it’s here to stay.  Many company executives thought remote work came on the scene primarily due to Covid and would be short lived in the weeks and months after the lock down ended. Covid may have accelerated the move toward a larger remote work force, but it wasn’t the cause of it.

There was already a ground swell of pressure and support for remote work options. Companies were already experimenting with and allowing for hybrid models. A significant repercussion stemming from the lock down was that it caused people to reexamine the dominant role that work was playing in their lives. They questioned and grappled with work versus life-balance priorities and came to the realization that work was driving and controlling their lives. Labor was driving life instead of the other way around. Through this examination, and time of introspection, a significant part of the labor force determined that all the overtime, working on weekends, and being on call 24/7 wasn’t what they wanted, and they both reacted and responded.

When corporate executives began to push for workers to get back to the office or else, the response was strong push back and a backlash. The “great resignation” had countless workers quitting and looking for options where remote work was possible, or even a non-negotiable, as they searched for new positions. There was a trend toward quiet quitting due to feelings of being underpaid, underappreciated, and unreasonable work demands, especially the expectation of always being available or “on call”.

Here are a few thoughts for both employers and employees to consider that may bring about some needed balance.

As an employer are you worried that if you allow remote work that it will weaken or negatively impact your corporate culture? Are your core values, goals and objectives, practices and company culture dependent on every worker being in a specific location? If so, you may need to rethink how your culture and values are being communicated, promoted and implemented. Ask yourself is your current culture and work climate healthy?

Perhaps permitting remote work will result in less gossip and office politics around the water cooler or coffee pot. Not to mention a major reduction in the incessant number of interruptions by those busy bodies who have nothing better to do than drop by your office unannounced to “shoot the breeze”, robbing you of valuable focused work time and productivity.

Management and staff should work together to agree upon, protect, and enforce boundaries. Determine expectations on both sides. Let your supervisor know if you aren’t open to being available evenings or weekends, unless of course your job sector involves night shifts or weekend hours. Realize that in some instances not putting in the extra hours may result in fewer opportunities for promotions or advancement. There is a tradeoff. I recognize there are times when a project needs to be completed, and that a final push or sprint is needed to put a project over the finish line. But that should be the exception not the norm.

Even if remote work is not an option, perhaps allowing for focused work time and moving away from the traditional 9-5 work schedule could be considered. Seek to understand the working style and rhythm of those you lead. Ask your staff when they do their best work? Consider splitting the workday. Maybe start at 7am working to 11am. Take a long break and resume the workday at 1:30 or 2pm finishing the workday. Work out a schedule that works best for all parties.

You might find that when you provide flexibility and schedule work tailored to not just to the company’s, but your staff’s needs that the culture, morale, and work atmosphere improves significantly.

Consider this, instead of workers spending hours driving on congested highways each week, a remote option or modified work hours will result in less time commuting and more time computing.

And finally, keep in mind that as a follower of Jesus, regardless of your work location or schedule, you are to work with integrity and diligence, always doing your work as unto the Lord.

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