Does remote work work?

LinkedIn was abuzz Saturday with commentary and condemnation of Nike’s CEO blaming remote work for their innovation slowdown.

Giving us a clear reminder that:

1. The “return to work” debate isn’t going anywhere

2. Some organizations are still struggling to build flexible, high performing cultures post-pandemic

I've written about remote work before (shoutout to Atlassian and their 1,000 days of remote work report). Today, I break down a few considerations that are missing from the return to work debate.

What’s missing?

There are a few components to the remote work conversation that need to be considered:

1. The first time fallacy

Somehow we’ve fallen into a trap of thinking that remote work is new. Global teams have been working remotely for decades. The first team I was ever on was global and I never met my colleagues in person. The majority of people I collaborated with on a daily basis worked from home even though they were near satellite offices. There are companies that are more remote-friendly than others, and this company definitely was. 

Why did this work back then? Our roles were clearly defined and we had online spaces for collaboration and connection that were far less distracting than tools like Slack are today.

2. Resourcing the operationalization of how work gets done

How work gets done has mostly been deemed “culture” and given to one of the most under- resourced groups in an organization to operationalize: HR. This is a massive undertaking that requires time, resources, and executive decision-making to get right. Again, Atlassian is leading the way here. 

It’s not that HR can’t do this. It’s that they haven’t been set-up for success when given this scope of work. And they’re being increasingly burned out enforcing policies that are made without theirs or employee input. 

3. It’s generational

The way I grew up working was very different from my parents or grandparents and very different from generations entering the workforce today. I learned to collaborate around a whiteboard in a conference room. Not on Zoom calls and direct messages. There was a tangibility to how ideas were made and roadblocks were addressed. All in a room. Together. 

2020 shattered that norm and illusion for most white collar workers in tech. We’ve now proven that we can learn and adapt to other ways of working, but those new ways for us, are the norm for incoming generations to the workforce.

A note on my experience

When people ask me whether I prefer in office or remote collaboration, I tell them the story of 2020. My kids were born 10 weeks early that year and spent a fair amount of time in the NICU. I had 12 weeks of parental leave and would have spent almost the entirety of my leave visiting them in the hospital and missing out on the at-home bonding that’s supposed to happen in that time.

I didn’t have to sacrifice my job or time with my kids in order to keep my job (and keep working at a high level). I truly don’t know how I would have done it without remote work.

Leadership lesson to take away

Leaders need to provide a hypothesis for why something is or isn’t working. But blame is lazy.  It’s much more effective to take accountability for what’s not working and work to right the ship through change management and thoroughly understanding what’s at play. If the true hypothesis is remote work is leading to less innovation, then as a leader, you need to go levels deeper to understand why.

👉 What makes a culture of innovation?

👉 How does innovation contribute to our success?

👉 Am I considering all of the factors at play in how work gets done

Use research and data to create your plan. Avoid leading with how you feel about the situation.