BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Trends Surrounding Remote Work As The New Default

Forbes Technology Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Jeff Shiner

Getty

The world's changed — we're just not sure how yet. But if there's one thing we can be certain about, it's uncertainty itself. As the ramifications of COVID-19 become clearer, we'll have no choice but to reassess our relationship with the planet — and each other. It may be that social distancing remains part of our routine for the foreseeable future and that measures will ebb and flow as needed.

We may have to accept a new baseline level of social distancing, a new normal in how we interact. When things do return to some semblance of normality, there'll still be the shadow of the chance of similar events to come. Here are some trends I've observed that will come into effect even after the pandemic is over.

Remote may not be the new absolute, but it will be the new default.

In my opinion, there will be new economics, modes of doing business and ways to think about work. There'll be more emphasis on staff well-being and sustainable long-termism. The machinery of doing business will depend less on face-to-face interaction. Remote may not be the new absolute, but it will be the new default. If it's any consolation, it was always going to happen.

Businesses have faced a reckoning thanks to the changes foisted upon them. Some have closed, many have downsized and more have cut costs. In these economics of uncertainty, the need for office space is under particular scrutiny — even the skeptics are seeing that remote work works.

The human cost of these events must not be overlooked. Their impact extends beyond the sobering mortality rates of COVID-19, to the recovering survivors and those who are out of work or facing reduced hours. If remote working is what gets people earning again, then in my opinion, businesses have an ethical duty to consider it.

Businesses will need to adapt, and stay adaptable.

Businesses are going to be forced to reconsider work-life balance as workers reconsider it for themselves. Some have been able to spend more time with family; others have become starkly aware of the difficulty in doing so. A silver-lining may be relaxed expectations about formality at work, from sweatpants to domestic Zoom interruptions. Greater awareness of mental health and well-being needs to prevail.

New employment opportunities will probably arise. Where alpha characters prevail in an office environment (and perhaps on Zoom), new ways of working can level the neurodiversity: The untapped potential of an army of introverts may yet be unlocked.

Businesses need to adapt, and stay adaptable. But they won't have to figure it all out for themselves. Apps that make remote work easier can help. From my observations, security versus ease of use will be a false dichotomy, unacceptable in the era of remote work. Robust security will be a prerequisite of the apps and services we choose. We won't ask, "Is it encrypted?" We'll ask, "With how many bits?"

Online attacks are already on the rise, and new threats targeting remote teams will emerge. Smart businesses need to develop robust processes to stay safe in the remote economy, and those processes can be woven into the fabric of day-to-day business.

Remote work has meant a change in how companies handle data: everything is digital, with the challenges and opportunities that entails. Workplace security will come to mean online security — not passcards and locked screens — and everyone will need a foundational awareness of encryption and verifying identity.

Companies should prioritize leadership over management.

Home-working will grow in popularity. The investment in the infrastructure of home-working has been made. Businesses can optimize from here on out, and companies may double-down on that investment by honing their remote workflows for both productivity and well-being. Empathetic employers can subject their team to only those video meetings that are genuinely needed, increasingly conscious of their emotional toll.

IT can be chosen by the people who use it — not mandated top-down. Many people will find their own ways of working, and successful businesses should accommodate them rather than shut them down, banishing the specter of so-called shadow IT.

Successful companies should prioritize leadership over management: removing red-tape and enabling talented individuals and creators to thrive, free from the tyranny of unnecessary processes.

And whether they continue to work remotely or not, companies will have seen benefits to remote-first working and adopt them as new standards. Companies should keep their digital kanbans, being more inclusive than sticky notes on a wall. They can also keep their daily stand-ups in Slack because then it doesn't matter if someone's running five minutes late. And team members won't feel excluded from a meeting when each one has a Zoom link by default.

And those workers who do return to the office will find a different environment, with less social space and fewer hot desks. If the predicted return of the cubicle comes good, many will probably choose to work from home when they can.

Ultimately, the successful businesses will be those best prepared for uncertainty — those that recognize that flexibility is a virtue and now, perhaps, the only viable option. And right now, flexibility means adopting remote work as the new default.

We won't bother to call it "remote" anymore. It'll just be what we call "work."

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?