Nobody doubts the impact that the Covid pandemic has had on workplace changes. Pre-March 2020, it was relatively unheard of for somebody to work from home (unless they were a remote worker). Then, the pandemic struck and suddenly you had no choice in a lot of professions.
What was interesting is that pre-Covid, employers could control every aspect of what an employee did – start and end times, place of work, the technology used – and even the website they could access. With a move overnight to a situation where around 78% of people have some level of home working, this level of employer policing was no longer as easy.
And what was the implication? Relatively nothing. Workers continued in the most part to be productive. To get things done. And in a lot of ways, they became happier. Happier at not having a two-hour round-trip commute, being able to roll out of bed into the “office” (also known as a dressing table, dining table, or in a lot of instances – at least early on – their lap.)
Whilst the remote/hybrid working move was relatively positive, it caused a period of pain for the majority of businesses.
But why?
Because the policing approach was not set up for it:
- Too many businesses were working with on-premises servers.
- Device management could not be done remotely.
- IT teams could not guarantee security levels could be maintained.
- Access to shared documents was not possible.
- “BYOD” (bring your own device) proved to be a nightmare.
- Video conferencing was not commonplace for most businesses. Zoom was barely a thing!
With that (and many more challenges) followed a frenzy. Money was thrown at potential solutions to see what would stick; an increased rise of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace licensing, device purchases left, right and centre. And cloud storage became a thing for traditional businesses.
Now, we know that not all solutions worked. And we know that businesses wasted money at a time of uncertainy. But nobody can blame them. What was the alternative? Go under?
Hindsight is a great thing, but nothing beats forward planning and future-proofing. The businesses already set up for remote/hybrid working set the pace within their sector specialties, and in most instances, would have reaped the rewards.
But the overwhelming positive across the board? Remote working works. Employees can be trusted to be away from their desks.
