What can we learn from our sudden shift to working from home?
When change is forced upon us, especially when it’s change we’ve wanted but not believed was possible then we are naturally sceptical, possibly even defensive. But recent times have pushed organisations into transforming quickly and whilst under pressure. Now the dust is settling, what can we learn from our recent forced experiment?
Think back: New Year 2020 saw an unfolding situation being reported from China. We were heavily risk planning with clients anticipating a need to test out business continuity plans, change ways of working, and stop non-essential change initiatives. By mid-March, almost overnight in a lot of cases, companies moved their entire back office to work from home 100%. After many years of saying that working from home was not to be ‘the norm’, was not productive and they essentially did not trust their teams to stay focused.
Of course, working from home does not work for all – those with no dedicated workspace, with childcare issues, with impacts on mental health. But this crisis has proven for a lot of people and organisations that working from home can work and can be productive. Perhaps a remote model has created a base for your team or your organisation to become more agile?
Before you revert to old habits, we need to ask what we can learn. Consider: will the previous ways of working still be the most effective? Can we keep the best outcomes of our recent forced experiment?
Many business leaders have wanted to be more agile for years, with promises to deliver change, and therefore return on investment, fast. But those leaders have often been the barrier to the Agile Principles, instilling a hierarchical culture with directives given to staff and power retained in the management structures, versus self-organising teams who take accountability and have devolved power to deliver the work. Those same leaders have demanded on site, co-located working and not tolerated remote collaborative working due, largely, to a lack of trust in remote working and a scepticism of the technology.
Organisations that have started to see a better way of doing things have an opportunity to achieve significant change – creating more empowered teams through trust and devolved power; and collaborative, self-organising teams not waiting for constant direction. The reality is we should not assume the old ways of working will still be effective, those old comfort zones might even feel a bit uncomfortable now.
As for technology, the online conferencing facilities used anywhere from the office to government briefings to newsrooms to galleries and comedy clubs in the last three months has shown us that the technology is out there and more than capable of delivering what we need to stay connected. Conference calls and technology have also helped to flatten that leadership hierarchy and shift the work culture. Everyone has an equal voice when everyone is on a call, versus a meeting being dominated by the physical room attendees that not everyone on the phone can hear or cannot read the room to know when to interject. We are also more relaxed and informal in our home environments.
Have you carried out a lessons learned retrospective with your team or your leadership team to find out what has worked or what has been an additional challenge for you and your colleagues? And considered what you want to take forward?
There will be many agility improvements to capitalise on, improvements in productivity, reduced operating costs, enhanced well-being, better work culture. Where these exist there’s potential competitive advantage to be gained, applying lessons learned effectively will see some organisations realising these benefits whilst others will feel further behind.
If you need any help in drawing out lessons learned or planning the next steps, we can help.
