Certainly there’s an allure to working outside the office—at least for some remote workers. Freedom seems to be the primary benefit cited. But as the workforce moves ever more toward office-less workers, a growing number are finding there are more drawbacks than benefits to being able to work in your bathrobe.
The Harvard Business Review recently published a study that quizzed more than 1,100 workers, 600 of whom spend part or all of their workday at a remote location, about their experience with this model.
“Overall, remote employees may enjoy the freedom to live and work where they please, but working through and with others becomes more challenging,” said co-authors David Maxfield and Joseph Genny, both of whom have written extensively on business performance issues. “They report that workplace politics are more pervasive and difficult, and when conflicts arise they have a harder time resolving them. When remote members of a team encountered common workplace challenges, 84 percent said the concern dragged on for a few days or more, while 47 percent admitted to letting it drag on for weeks or more.”
Remote working be a drag in more ways than one. Remote employees are more likely than office workers to believe that:
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Colleagues do not fight for their priorities
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Colleagues stab them in the back
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Co-workers make project changes that affect them without telling them
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Other workers lobby against their interests with eachother
One might expect the authors to recommend putting an end to remote working. Far from it. First, plenty of studies confirm that the trend toward more remote and freelance workers is too strong to fight. Second, there’s value in the model.
“While managers may be tempted to respond to these findings by ending remote work programs and bringing everyone back to the office, we don’t recommend that. Instead, they should encourage habits that lead to feeling of trust, connection, and shared purpose,” the authors conclude.
The survey asked respondents to identify best practices managers can adopt to improve relations with and the productivity of remote workers. In a nutshell, they are:
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More frequent check-ins with remote workers
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Use existing technology to create face-to-face and voice-to-voice discussion opportunities
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Communicate very clearly with remote workers, including improving listening skills
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Communicate expectations even more clearly
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Be available to communicate with the remote worker on her or his schedule
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Work harder to develop strong relationships with remote workers
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Prioritize relationships
"Our research shows that a lack of close contact with people inhibits the formation of trust, connection, and mutual purpose — three ingredients of a healthy social system," the authorw wrote. "However, managers who practice these seven types of intentional behaviors can increase the likelihood that 'out of sight' does not lead to being left out."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
