Since the start of this pandemic and the need for social distancing, companies have been turning to remote work to keep their businesses going. Since a lot of these companies are in “thought” industries (i.e. science, technology), and can be done from pretty much anywhere, it makes sense. This is something many of these companies have been very resistant towards. Now that remote seems to be the only viable option, they make it seem like this “transition” is extremely difficult. It isn’t. Of course, a lot of people have been coming up with guidelines to tell others how to work from home “properly.” Most of these blogs end up trying to turn your home into your office, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. No body wants to live at work. There are a few things to understand about the relationship between people and work, and how that relates to remote work, as well as the so called difficult transition.
Nearly every US software company has multiple locations throughout the US, and often outside of the US. Most of the time, software teams are disbursed between two or more of those locations. This means that team meetings take place via internet. Often, the out of state team members were already remote workers, yet the company still claims that “transitioning” to full remote is a “difficult strain.”
Why are companies so resistant to their employees working remotely?
Often, it is a matter of misconceptions about what remote work entails. Most of the time, C-suite executive work remotely without even realizing it. By scheduling meetings, updating their calendar, and contacting people for investments while not actually on premise, they are working remotely. Sometimes it is difficult to make the connection between executive duties and remote work.
Another issue is propaganda that clouds the issue. Apple’s commercial that is a circus of ridiculousness is NOT at ALL what really happens when real people work remotely. Make no mistake, this commercial is a propaganda parody designed to sell software, and nothing more. Keep in mind, I am writing this blog on my Mac, I have a 13″ iPad Pro, and an iPhone SE (because I believe a phone should be phone sized, not tablet sized). So, I do believe in Apple products; I simply do not agree with the way they misrepresented remote work for their own profit.
Another issue is a lack of understanding about the software industry. There is a grave misconception that a business is a business, and they are all run the same way. That is not true. Many software corporations have C-suite executives who do not have the right background to run a software company. Many of them want software to behave like a factory or service, but it doesn’t. Instead of trying to understand software and technology, they try to force the technology to behave the way they want it to. When that doesn’t happen, they blame the employees, distrust those employees, and want to keep constant tabs on everything those employees say and do.
This is such a destructive mentality. This kind of distrust permeates the corporate culture and radiates negative waves throughout it. Often, this mentality causes serious issues with Agile. When C-suite executives do not understand the technology, they do not understand the framework designed to help engineers create the technology, either. Certainly, pure Agile works best on a small scale. But these companies even corrupt scaled Agile (SAFe). They do this by cherry picking the aspects of Agile they like and discarding the rest. By doing this, they cause more harm than good.
One aspect of Agile that always seems to be cherry picked is the concept of face-to-face collaboration. This concept is used by companies to justify their resistance to remote work. Companies need to understand some things:
Agile only works properly when it is used properly.
SAFe isn’t just a bunch of cherry picked aspects of Agile. It’s a carefully constructed version of the Agile framework scaled up for larger projects.
Lack of transparency creates a culture of distrust.
When C-suite executives stay aloof, sit in their offices all of the time, hide information from their employees, and/or lie about what goes on in the company, employees will not trust management.
When management surveils their employees, installs tracking/recording software on the employees’ computers, don’t want employees to work remotely, it tells employees that management does not trust the employees.
Breeding a culture of distrust lowers the employees’ investment in the company, increases their apathy toward the company and their work.
Incorrectly using Agile principles against employees to get what you want enhances the culture of distrust.
Software engineers, certified product owners, scrum masters, and anyone else trained in Agile understand how it works. By cherry picking different aspects that further whatever agenda you have, all that’s happening is a stronger culture of distrust is being created.
Here are some ways for top executives to get back in touch with what really matters – the people who keep the company alive.
Understand what you do.
It blew my mind when I heard the C-suite executives at a software company say that they were a “finance company.” Creating finance software is a far cry from being a finance company.
Learn about the things the company makes policies on.
It only takes a few minutes to look things up on the web. In a couple of days, you can be certified in whatever aspect of Agile you prefer (PO, scrum master). By understanding the framework, policy decisions can be more thorough and well thought out.
Come out of the office.
Simply coming out onto the floor, mingling with employees, and seeing what they do/how they work can do wonders for building trust. The more trust employees have in their leadership, the more invested they are in their company, and the more reason the leader has to trust the employee.
Be honest and transparent.
Not everything that happens in a company is good. Covering up bad things or lying about them will build distrust. The more employees distrust their leaders, the more they try to distance themselves from their work and their leaders. By being completely honest, during good times and bad, company leadership can build on the trust they’ve already established in other ways.
What is the “right” way to work from home?
For employees entering remote work, there are a lot of guides out there to “teach” people how to conduct remote work properly. The issue is, most of those guides seem geared toward setting employer’s minds at ease, rather than helping people become more productive. They do this by turning people’s homes into their workplace, and nobody wants to live at work.
To begin with, it has been a long standing myth that a certain amount of stress is necessary to ensure top performance. In fact, according to a VitalSmarts study, the highest performing workers experience the lowest levels of stress. 1 For many people, their work environment is extremely stressful. Recreating that stressful environment in their home would not only lower their productivity for work, but affect their overall health.
Another thing that is very common in these work from home guides is to maintain exact business hours schedule. According to the experts, you shouldn’t even do that while you’re working in the office. Nicole Fallon recommends finding your peek productive schedule, then working with your employer to find a work schedule to match it. 2 While working from home, it makes much more sense to conform to your peek productive schedule.
Many companies are concerned that without superiors micromanaging every aspect of their employees’ work day, the employees won’t be productive. This leads them to install intrusive software onto employees’ computers to ensure that work is being done. 3 In truth, remote workers are more productive than office workers. 4 Perhaps that has something to do with being less stressed and being able to work during their most productive times.
Remote resistance comes down to fear, distrust, and a lack of understanding. Companies tell people that “transitioning” to remote work has been difficult and costly, yet most of the teams were already working at least partly remote. The data shows us that remote workers perform better than in office workers, so the claim that switching to remote is costly doesn’t hold up. Leaders don’t want to say that they don’t trust their employees because they understand that a culture of distrust is bad. What they don’t get is that actions speak far louder than words. By refusing to trust employees, these companies are building that culture of distrust they want to avoid. As a remote worker, you understand what stresses you and what makes you more productive. Use that information to ensure that you get the most done without sacrificing the comfort of your home. As a business owner/manager, look at the facts. Remote workers do not need viruses in their webcams or tracking software recording every keystroke or lack there of. Remote workers are delivering above and beyond what office workers ever have. Be happy and take what they are delivering you…without distrusting them.
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