What have we learned from the Pandemic? New trends are predicted when you look at what just happened.
Working From Home
“HSBC said in its annual report that it plans to reconfigure its office space to accommodate the work-life balance and hybrid arrangements for its staff.” Forbes.com
An avalanche of people who now “Work From Home” is setting new trends all by itself. A long-held opinion about worker productivity being higher from an Office or On-site location is being debunked. Worker productivity from home is up.
Fluctuations in work at home productivity range from 10% to 21% higher than working at the office week over week in some cases. 13% is the average increase in employee performance over a 9-month period, according to a Work Experiment conducted by Nicholas Bloom of a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR).
But like all else, when some things go up, others go down. Not everyone can get used to working from home. “We are home working alongside our kids, in unsuitable spaces, with no choice and no in-office days,” says Bloom, “This will create a productivity disaster for firms.”
On the other hand, Bloom is optimistic about the future of Work from Home lifestyles. Once people and companies manage the upheaval caused by this transformation, it could be better for us all. Bloom also refers to the downside of “a bonfire of unnecessary regulations.”
I can sympathize with both sides of the Rules and Regulations scenario. Companies will want to control and regulate workers just like my old sales managers did when requiring fifteen-minute timesheets and extensive reports.
As someone who submitted those reports and as someone who also manages my own time effectively, I can say that often report time is time wasted. You can end up spending more time reporting than actually doing the work. As a supervisor, I can also see the need to know what is being accomplished by those on your team.
It comes down to knowing yourself and knowing the individual strengths and work styles of your team. Like making friends, the best ones are made over time.
We are all individuals with varying family lives, responsibilities, and personal traits. I have worked from home for many years and prefer it. As an entrepreneur, I have disciplined myself to regular hours. Sometimes more than regular.
I spoke with a friend recently who is new to working from home, and she mentioned that her friends still took regular breaks as they did at the office. She, on the other hand, was having a hard time with that. She is a bit like me, and I have to set a timer to take a rest break—different personalities. You need to understand the times when you are most productive. Working at an office does not take this into consideration at all.
Different types of work demand different approaches. For instance, when I worked as a salesperson, I had to work and sell when the potential buyers were available. When I had my own business as a photographer, my client’s timing was preferential—lots of evenings and weekends. When I was the executive director for Lynde House Museum, I worked both onsite and offsite. There could be up to three hours of planning, communication, and other office work for every onsite hour. Now that I am a writer and illustrator, I still get myself going in the morning, work regular hours, but I can balance computer and art time with homemaking. I also try to balance staying connected with family and friends by phone or facetime since COVID struck. It can feel isolating if you don’t try to compensate. I know my habits and jog around them to be effective. If I feel like working late when the inspiration strikes, well, I can do that. It takes time to understand your own best practices.
With companies opting to get out of expensive leasing arrangements, the trend is, no matter what, to have more people working remotely. This means a transformation in workspace arranging.
The biggest trend for the success of the individual now and in the future, in my opinion, is flexibility. The ability to change your work, how you work and where you work to maximize your personal growth and value in the workplace.
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