Remote Work Conversations
A data driven conversation starter
Anjeli Melwaney
Colophon Publication Remote Work Conversations Format A5, 98 pages Date 16th June, 2021 Author and Designer Anjeli Melwaney Cover Hardcover, Perfect Binding Paper Munken Design Kristall Rough True White 100gsm Typeface Poppins Regular, Bold and Extrabold Production Digital Printing & Reprographics, London College of Communication
Editor’s Note Remote work is a growing phenomenon that is evolving by the minute. There isn’t yet a defined structure, written ethics or concrete set of laws for working out of the “office.” However, due to Covid-19, nearly every industry has been forced to work from home. If you ask anyone what they think about working remotely, they will all have so many different things to say! I want to let these thoughts and ideas out in the open for people to ponder upon, like food for thought, if you will. I would hope that by having a look at some unexpected data results on how remote work has affected people’s business models and everyday schedules, it would prompt you to think about and form opinions on subject matters, thus contributing to the development of a concrete foundation for remote work. The idea is to simply...
In an era of technological hyperconnectivity and Covid-19, remote work is on the rise. What does this mean for our personal and professional lives? 4
Remote Work Conversations
Start a conversation...
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Contents
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Remote Work Conversations
Survey Analysis
A data report of an anonymous survey conducted looking into individual preferences while working remotely.
Sustainability Review
Business strategies used to assess the sustainability of remote work for the foreseeable future.
Case Studies
A hand-picked curation of companies and a look at their approaches towards remote work.
Health & Wellness
Recognizing the impact of remote work on our mental and physical heath, sleep and other important aspects of life.
Office Reimagined
Imagining contemporary designs of office spaces to support remote work and emerging work style trends.
Digital Infrastructure
Understanding the basic technological requirements of organizations to choose tool kits that support individual work styles.
Ethics & Morale
Making room for conversation with emphasis on the importance of ethics while working remotely.
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What is remote work? Remote Work is an umbrella term for an otherwise broader concept of working from anywhere beyond the boundaries of a traditional office space. This would encompass people who work from home, co-working spaces, cafes or any place outside the office. These people could be working remotely but are flexible with their time schedules, perhaps due to time differences or nature of work. In other cases, remote employees in close proximity to the office visit it from time to time, either at their convenience or during defined hours. These distinctions in remote work have brought forth more specific terms – Work From Home, Flexible Working and Telecommunication.
Who are knowledge workers? On a fundamental level, jobs are divided into two types – Front-line workers and Knowledge workers. Front-line workers directly provide services where needed like police officers, medical professionals and community workers. A knowledge workers’ job is to think and create results. In most cases, this is achieved through a device used by nearly every knowledge worker – the laptop. This conversation is with knowledge workers who are looking to broaden their understanding of this new and emerging work culture. I would hope that through grasping this series of data, it would help you form more informed decisions on the subject.
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Remote Work Conversations
Remote Work Structure
Remote Work Work that is done any place that is “out of office” is considered remote work. Partly Remote
OR
– Same city, periodic office visits – Dedicated hours
Fully Remote – Anywhere on the globe – Dedicated tasks
Work From Home
Telecommuting
Flexible Working
Knowledge workers that can work remotely from with fundamentally a desk, laptop and good Wi-Fi.
Employees that are always on the go and use telecommunication to stay in touch with their team.
Popularly used by teams that learn and work remotely across different locations or time zones.
Office
Home Cafe Co-working space
Stuck in a location
Travel for meetings, documentation, etc
9-hour work day
Flexible Schedule
Biggest advantage
Biggest advantage
Biggest advantage
Opportunity to create a unique environment and optimize managing responsibilities.
Independent schedules with opportunities for face to face interactions with teams.
Choose when, how and where you work to manage time for other spheres of life.
Audience
Audience
Audience
– Millenials, Gen-Z kids – CEOs on higher hierarchical levels – Students
– Sales Executives – Marketing Professionals – Customer Relationship Managers – Digital Nomads
Introduction
– Collaborators – Students – Designers – Developers – Others
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Remote Work Conversations
Survey Analysis A data report of an anonymous survey conducted looking into individual preferences while working remotely.
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An anonymous survey was conducted in May 2021 to gain perspective on the attitudes of young knowledge workers towards remote work. Take a look at the results!
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Remote Work Conversations
10 countries
70.4% 16.0% 5.3% 2.6% 2.0% 1.3% 0.6% 0.6% 0.6% 0.6%
India United Kingdom Hong Kong United States of America United Arab Emirates Canada Netherlands Australia Brazil South Africa
212 participants
Age 18–34 94.6% of the participants were in the age group of 18–34.
= 5 people
Survey Analysis
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Respondant Profile 212 knowledge workers were surveyed by Anjeli Melwaney in May 2021 as a part of her final major project at University of the Arts, London. Knowledge workers can be defined here as white collar workers who perform their jobs mainly from computers. This survey was conducted when most of the globe was locked down battling the Covid-19 pandemic, making most of the respondents remote employees at the time of participation. The participants were primarily from India, partially from London, Hong Kong and other parts of the world. Respondent’s industries were varied though the most popular amongst them were Media & Entertainment, IT and Design. How would you describe your position?
56%
56.0% 29.8% 14.2%
Employee Self-employed Entrepreneur
Through this book, we will be covering several topics concerning remote work paired with results from the survey which will serve as primary research supporting the subject matter.
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Remote Work Conversations
13 Industries
Media & Entertainment
18.3%
Design
17.4%
IT
15.5%
Finance
12.2%
Health & Wellness
10.3%
Education
7.0%
Manufacturing
5.6%
Retail
5.1%
Law
2.3%
Hospitality
2.3%
Real Estate
1.5%
Tourism
1.5%
Logistics
1%
Survey Analysis
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Remote Work Timeline
2019
2020
Have you had any experience of remote work prior to Covid-19?
Has Covid-19 forced you to work remotely?
56.6%
74.4%
56.6% 25.5% 17.9%
Significant experience
Overall, 74.6% of participants have had little to no experience of remote working prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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74.4% 25.6%
No experience at all A little bit of experience
Forced Not forced
74.4% of the respondents had been forced to work from home due to Covid-19.
Remote Work Conversations
v
2021
Did you know?
Do you think your company will continue to work remotely post pandemic?
Remote work gained popularity in early 2020 when Covid-19 was on the rise. The pandemic forced working from home on organizations and individuals that fundamentally couldn’t work remotely. Slowly, many began adapting to this work style, coming up with various strategies and variations of remote work to better suit their businesses.
46.2%
46.2% 34.0% 19.8%
Unlikely Likely Very likely
46.2% of people feel that their companies are unlikely to continue working remotely once the pandemic fades.
Survey Analysis
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The house is not designed for work.
Work From Home Struggles It seems to be that the most common struggle that people who are working from home face is distractions in the environment. They could be distracted by their pets, children, family or any other routine household management chores. This is an important reminder that having a quiet, distraction free workplace within a house is a luxury that not most have which emphasizes on the fact that the house is not designed with work in mind.
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Findings in the survey reveal that 3:5 employees improvise with their work corners at home which once again supports the speculation that the house is not exactly designed for individuals to work in. Many may not even have a desk or in some demographics, things as basic as a steady Wi-Fi connection and routers. Keeping this in mind, could demographics play a role in peoples adaptability towards remote work?
Remote Work Conversations
46.3% Distractions at home
44.8% Staying motivated
36.9% Communication
31.0% Unplugging after work
26.1% Loneliness
15.3% Finding reliable Wi-Fi Survey Analysis
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Are you comfortable? Or simply adjusting? In the survey, participants were asked if they had a dedicated workspace in their house that allowed them to work efficiently. 62.3% said that they improvise on the dining table. While this surely encourages us to have the right posture, it is not ergonomic and definitely cannot be a long term arrangement.
62.3%
62.3% 34.0%
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Improvise Dedicated workstation
Remote Work Conversations
You can’t be productive when you’re in pain.
– Susan Hallbeck
Ergonomic Considerations It’s imperative to have an ergonomic workspace that supports productivity as well as our physical health. Some companies have been known to allocate budgets for standing desks, comfortable chairs, printers, desktop systems and other essential workplace requirements that employees may need while working from home under unforeseen circumstances like this pandemic.
Survey Analysis
This is a great initiative by companies that brings light on an important point that employers should note – the home is not designed for work and so not all employees might have the adequate equipments that support their roles while working from home. It’s beneficial to have these considerations in place for employee wellness which will directly leads to optimum performance.
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You want to recognize that people have different preferences, and if you can make them happy while still getting your output, I don’t know what more any employer would want?
– Harshit Tahiliani
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Remote Work Conversations
Work is where the Wi-Fi is! There have been numerous talks about the financial expenses of remote work on things that would have otherwise been paid for by an employer. Things like heating, air conditioners, stationary and printers, when required. Most importantly though, we looked at the factor that directly supports and affects the output of work – fast and steady internet. In the survey, we asked respondents if their employers paid for their internet at least partially if not entirely.
Findings indicate that most employers do not pay for their employees internet. Many argue that it’s merely a shift in individual consumption patterns. Money not spent on transportation, lunches and formal attire can be re budgeted for other uses that support remote work. Even so, attempting a fair pay strategy for employers is trickier than it may seem.
Does your employer pay for your internet?
76.1%
76.1% 20.2% 3.7%
No Yes Partially
Survey Analysis
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Remote Work Conversations
Sustainability Review Business strategies used to assess the sustainability of remote work for the foreseeable future.
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Remote Work SWOT Analysis Undertaking a SWOT Analysis of remote work is an objective way that will help us better understand it’s sustainability for unique, individual business requirements. This methodology when paired with organizational goals can help form well-informed decisions for any business. Besides the SWOT analysis results, the greatest strength of any business is adaptability. Provisions have to be made to be able to continue uninterrupted work routines in an unexpected scenario. This can be achieved by adapting and creating new remote opportunities for collaboration amongst teams.
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Remote Work Conversations
S w O T
Strengths – Flexibility – Higher autonomy – Reduced expenses – Choice of environment – Geographic diversification
Weaknesses – Individual dependency – Challenges in fostering work culture – Lack of face-to-face interaction – Difficulty in networking and co-ordinating – Decline in shared learning
Opportunities – Better self-management skills – Improved work-life balance – Technical skill development – Online presence of your business – Lower carbon footprint
Threats – Lack of motivation or discipline – Distractions in the environment – Management crisis – Hardware challenges – Data Security
Sustainability Review
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Pros of working remotely – Flexibility – Location independence – Time efficiency – Avoided commute – Reduced expenses – Better household management – No micromanagement – Increased autonomy and personal control – Lower carbon footprint – Lower overhead costs – Better work-life harmony – Accessible pool of talent – Disaster preparedness and adaptability – Having an online presence
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Pros of working on-site – Face to face interaction – Collaboration – Better technical resources – Improved team morale –S tronger interpersonal relationships – Synchronous Schedules – Networking opportunities – Better Communication – Oversight of productivity – Controlled work environment – Reduced distractions – Employee visibility –B etter understanding of company values. – Visual cues – Community creation
Remote Work Conversations
Pros & Pros List Everything has it’s pros and cons. However, sometimes it’s better to focus on the silver linings instead of the disadvantages in order to gain perspective. Following that thought, here we have a pros and pros list on the benefits of working remotely along with the benefits of working on-site.
When separating the two options of work as one or the other, there are bound to be things that are better in the other which serves to be a disadvantage. For instance, collaboration is definitely better on-site but if you choose to work remotely, it’s a hit you would be willing to take if the pros outweigh it. However, this is if you choose to stick to one particular work style. So instead of it being one or the other, finding the right kind of hybrid work style that works for your business proves to be extremely beneficial.
Sustainability Review
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Work Commute
Travel Expense
One of the biggest benefits of remote work is escaping the commute. According to the survey, 41.7% people spend over 30 minutes just traveling to work one way. Additionally, 40.5% participants spend over 5k INR a month on their journey. It’s safe to say that people spend a significant amount of time and money everyday simply traveling to the office. If this can be avoided or even reduced in frequency, it could contribute to reducing our carbon footprint and improve the environmental challenges we are facing.
59.5%
59.5% 40.5%
Under ₹5k Over ₹5k
Travel Time
58.1%
58.1% 38.3% 3.6% According to a 2018 survey, transportation is responsible for 14% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Allowing 1,000 employees to work from home just two days per week would reduce annual commuting mileage by over 1 million miles, reducing the CO2e generated by staff commuting by 40%. Source: 2018, J. Sutton-Parker MBA Sustainability, “Information Technology (IT) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions,” PhD Research for University of Warwick Computer Science Department
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Remote Work Conversations
05 - 30 mins 30 - 1 hr Over 1.5 hrs
Even if remote work turns out to be less productive on some metrics than others, reducing carbon based emissions or the improving work-life balance could make up for it.
– Mark W
Sustainability Review
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What is the biggest benefit of working remotely? There are plenty of benefits of remote work like being able to work in pyjamas or having more time for oneself. However, the biggest benefit of working remotely that everyone seems to agree on is flexibility. It allows us more time at hand to divide between work, sleep and recreation.
Flexible schedule Spend time with family
31.1%
Location independence
22.2%
Cost saving
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34.0%
12.7%
Remote Work Conversations
Flexible Work
There seems to be a trend towards the higher end of this scale where people find remote work moderately to highly flexible. It’s no secret that remote work is a growing work style that now seems to be causing a ripple effect amongst employees. A May 2021 poll conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Bloomberg News says that 49% millenials and Gen-Z kids wouldn’t mind quitting the job if their employer wouldn’t offer them flexibility while working, at least to a certain extent.
10.4%
11.3%
14.6%
22.2%
11.3%
21.1%
2
2.4%
0%
1
4.7%
1.9%
How flexible do you find remote work?
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
This is a common sentiment, especially when there is a growing number of companies willing to offer flexibility. The common conjecture is that “They feel like we’re not working if they can’t see us” says Portia Twidt. Whereas in other cases, instead of a lack of trust, there is the desire to run a tight ship. This is where the importance of having ethics comes to play. Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan Chase & Co’s says that remote work doesn’t work “for those who want to hustle.”
Sustainability Review
33
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Remote Work Conversations
I think employees should be given the freedom to choose. They should be allowed to come to the office or work from home as and when they want as long as the work is done, because as important as I feel it is to visit workplaces and interact with people, it’s equally important for our employers to understand we too care about our work but there can be various situations. For instance, a woman on her periods should have the freedom to choose between visiting the office or being able to work from home. – Anonymous survey participant
Sustainability Review
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Remote Work Conversations
Case Studies A hand-picked curation of companies and a look at their approaches towards remote work.
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How are Tech Giants are adapting to Remote Work? Majority of Silicon Valley is putting in place long term remote work strategies for their employees. They say that remote work is not just possible, but is also becoming a preferable way of working. Here are some case studies of tech giants and their plans for the future of remote work.
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Microsoft
Deutsche Bank
Less than 50% work week is remote
50% employees will be remote
3-day remote work
As of June 2021, Microsoft has allowed most of it’s employees to work remotely for less than 50% of the work week.
Meanwhile, Facebook predicts that 50% of its employees could be working remotely in the next 5-10 years.
Frankfurt based, Deutsche Bank has decided to allow it’s employees remote work up to 3 days a week.
Remote Work Conversations
70%
of the workforce is expected to work remotely by
2025
Source: Enterprise Technology Research Covid-19 Survey
Work style choice for employees Twitter made a public announcement in May 2020 deciding to give it’s knowledge workers the choice of working from wherever they feel most productive, “forever.”
Coinbase
“Remote-first“ company Similarly, cryptocurrency giant Coinbase tags itself as a “remote-first” company allowing it’s employees the same choice many companies have begun to offer.
Case Studies
Shopify
Long-term remote work CEO of Shopify, Tobi Lutke said (May 2020) “As of today, Shopify is a digital by default company. We will keep our offices closed until 2021 so that we can rework them for this new reality. And after that, most will permanently work remotely. Office centricity is over.”
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Employee Count A visual demonstration of the employee count of the case study companies in an attempt to correlate whether company size has any impact on the it’s decision to work remotely.
Coinbase 1,249 employees (2020)
Twitter 5,500 employees (2020)
Shopify 7,000 employees (2020)
Facebook 58,604 employees (2020)
Deutsche Bank 78,000 employees (2021)
Microsoft 1,66,475 employees (2020)
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Remote Work Conversations
Products can sometimes get built in a matter of months but culture is built day by day, over years and decades!
– Mark Zuckerberg
Could company size impact the decision to go remote? Have you ever wondered if there is a difference in opinion towards remote work based on the size of a company? Are start ups more likely to prefer it? Will large scale organizations be the first to accommodate to this work style? Are mid-size companies looking to switch to remote work and rebudget their expenses on business development?
Case Studies
A visual representation of the cast study company’s employee count and the fact that they have all implemented some form of remote work suggests that employee count may not necessarily impact a company’s decision to work remotely. Though, it could determine which varied kind of remote work they would possibly adapt to.
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Let’s talk money! There have been several strategies implemented by companies to tackle the disruption of financial patterns caused by remote work. Microsoft has implemented a geo-pay scale that is formulated by the living expense of a demographic. CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has also released a mandate for employees to report if they move to lower cost cities, at which point their salary would be compensated. This is something that many have called unfair as both parties save money, yet generate revenue. So, why does somebody have to lose in a win-win situation? Of course, it’s not as simple as that. Let’s take a look at some data to gain perspective on current trends.
Though data reveals that people’s expenses have decreased since working remotely, it’s interesting to see that most of the respondent’s income remains the same. This results in them having more disposable income, which can be put to good use by saving for unprecedented circumstances in future. Another survey shows that US employers can save $30 billion a day by allowing their employees to work remotely. Nonetheless, there are several arguments against having an influx on disposable income.
Has your pay changed because of working remotely?
50.1%
Same as before
50.1% 20.7% 16.1% 13.1%
Fluctuating Income Increased Decreased
Have your expenses changed since you began working remotely?
76.1%
Source: Legal Job Site, (2020)
73.1% 18.4% 8.5%
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Remote Work Conversations
Decreased Same as before Increased
Location Liberation For organizations these days, the biggest boon of remote work in terms of human resources is having access to a pool of talent that would otherwise not have been accessible. This is a game changer for the job market! In the past, employers have had to settle for those employees that live in proximity of the office. Not anymore. So with this advantage for organizations along with the financial savings of implementing a geo-pay scale, it seems as though the win is a bit more in favour of organisations. Employees have argued and questioned the integrity of geo-pay with another important matter brought to light. Is remote work a privilege or a right? CEO of Gitlab Sid Sijbrandij says, “As remote or distributed workplaces continue to take hold and grow across all industries, location based compensation gaps will narrow”.
Case Studies
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Is remote work a privilege or a right? Companies are looking at remote work as a perk they can offer employees in exchange for pay cuts and holidays. This raises a question many are asking... Is remote work a privilege or a right? Lizzie Benton from Liberty Mind says, “To class working from home as a privilege, is to class choice as a privilege. Freedom of choice is not a privilege; it is a human right.”
On the other hand, in late 2020, Deutsche Bank proposed a 5% “privilege tax” for remote workers arguing that remote workers contribute less to the economy and receive direct financial savings by lesser commutes, clothes and lunches. The bank proposed a similar tax of 5% for employers based on the lower overhead savings that companies may incur by hiring remote workers.
18.4%
16.0% 14.6%
12.7% 11.8%
9.9%
5.7% 4.7%
4.2%
1.9% 1
2
3
4
5
6
On a scale of 1–10, respondents were asked how much they like working remotely? Findings indicate a trend towards people liking remote work. 44
Remote Work Conversations
7
8
9
10
The money is aimed at subsidizing higher wages for low-income workers and grants for employees whose job roles don’t allow them to work remotely. According to a Deutsche Bank research report, these tax proceeds could raise up to £6.9 billion a year in the U.K. and $48 billion in the U.S.
In my opinion, remote work is neither a privilege nor a right. It’s simply a condition of employment. Not all jobs can be performed remotely. If one’s job allows them to work remotely and if it may be that working remotely boosts employee output which in turn generates better business, remote work is simply a smart employment condition.
Case Studies
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Many companies are seen paying their employees a lesser salary for working remotely. I don’t think that’s right because salary is based on the value you add to the company. So, if an employee’s work remains unaffected by the place of work, neither should the salary.
– Anonymous survey participant
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Remote Work Conversations
Case Studies
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Remote Work Conversations A Spotify Podcast Remote Work Conversations is a series of podcasts on Spotify where Anjeli Melwaney talks to professionals from distinct industries about their experience of working remotely during Covid-19. There are also some interesting, informal conversations speculating the dynamics of remote work in the foreseeable future. Tune in by scanning the QR code and get insights on some interesting perspectives towards remote work.
Scan to listen
If you would like subtitles on the podcast, please open Spotify with Google Chrome and turn on Live Captions in Settings.
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Remote Work Conversations
Speakers
Harshit Tahiliani Investment Associate Kingfish Group USA
Harshit has been working remotely with his firm in the USA since before the pandemic. He shares with us his insights and experience on remote work with the distinction of being forced to work from home versus choosing to work remotely.
Himay Kotak Manufacturing Director Kleenage Products Pvt Ltd India
Himay shares with us his views on how remote work could possibly be implemented at manufacturing plants for non-production staff along with output automation and digitization.
Rutuja Kulkarni Mental Health Counsellor The HDFC School India
Rutuja addresses her thoughts on the effect of remote work on our mental and physical health, work-life harmony along with sleep while considering the basic humanistic needs of individuals.
Bodgan Raducu & Mehak Philip Designers GA Group, Rude United Kingdom
Bogdan imparts his knowledge on the implementation of a hybrid work model in his company and Mehak touches on the difference in attitudes towards remote work based on demographics.
Amrut Mehta Creative Director Little Italy India
Amrut talks about his strategies to tackle the challenges faced by the hospitality industry during Covid-19 when remote work was forced upon businesses that fundamentally cannot work remotely.
Case Studies
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50
Remote Work Conversations
Health & Wellness Recognizing the impact of remote work on our mental and physical heath, sleep and other aspects of life.
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Published in 1943, Maslow, an American psychologist shared his idea, highlighting the hierarchy of basic human needs in the order by which they need to be fulfilled. These needs are also met at your workplace. For instance, your foremost psychological needs are met by your employer through pay cheques and health insurance. The higher the employee feels on this hierarchical scale, the more likely they are to have optimum performance and be a strong asset to a company. You know what they say, take care of your employees and they will take care of your business.
Self Actualization
Self Esteem
Love & Belonging
Safety & Security
Psychological needs
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Remote Work Conversations
People are people first.
– Monica Kang
05.
Self Actualization Self-awareness and realisation of one’s potentials, achieved by a selected few.
04.
Self-Esteem With the below needs met, employees are likely to have high self-esteem and value their own work.
03.
Love & Belonging After feeling safe, employees seek their need for belonging by feeling valued part of a workplace community.
02.
Safety & Security Safety is met by strong HR laws and a sense of job security which results in higher motivation.
01.
Psychological Needs Psychological needs are fulfilled with regular pay cheques & health insurance for mental stability.
Health & Wellness
53
Screen Time 71.6% participants felt that their screen time has increased as a result of working from home. This is since face to face interactions have been replaced by Zoom calls and Google Hangouts. For leisure too, we use our screens to watch movies, play video games or even order groceries. This has resulted in us being in front of our screens for the most part of the day which puts strain on our eyes. Wouldn’t it be nice for us to consciously disassociate our free time from screens and focus on other recreational activities like spending time in nature, reading a book or picking up a hobby that doesn’t involve the screen.
One should be careful to not exploit their eyes. Not for work, not even for leisure.
– Harshit Tahiliani
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Remote Work Conversations
Protect your eyes Some preventive care for the eyes is to use eye-drops with consultation from an optician along with anti-blue glare spectacles that protect the eyes from harmful blue rays that screens emit. A digital detox is also recommended every once in a while.
How has your screen time been affected since working remotely?
71.6% 21.3% 7.1%
Health & Wellness
Increased Same Decreased
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Free time and Down time. What’s the difference? Free time is when you’re free from tasks, perhaps because you completed them, allowing you a little extra time at hand to spend at your leisure. However, Down time is when although you may still have things to do, you make the conscious decision to draw a boundary between you, your work and your screens. This is to focus on mental and physical well-being.
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The difference in these terms are an important distinction of the time that we spend not working. Down time is crucial to unwind, especially towards the end of the day to help our eyes settle down and prepare for sleep. As informed adults, we must value our own time and remember to not exploit our eyes.
Remote Work Conversations
How easily are you able to switch between work mode and rest mode? 1
3.8%
2
2.8%
3
4.2%
4
7.5%
5
13.2%
6
13.7%
7
14.2%
8
12.3%
9
10.4%
10
17.9%
Health & Wellness
57
58
Remote Work Conversations
I think people don’t realise how important time management is while working from home. It’s a comfortable feeling and so it becomes easy to procrastinate and waste more time than usual. It’s important to work on that so you have time for your hobbies too.
– Anonymous survey participant
Health & Wellness
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Could remote work have any effect on the quality of our sleep? Sleep is an important part of our daily routine that directly impacts mood and performance. In the survey, almost half (47.6%) of the participants felt that working remotely had affected their sleep. Some said that they found themselves having better quality and longer durations of sleep as a result of more time at hand. Others felt like they had trouble sleeping due to increased screen time, lack of physical activity and in some cases a blurred sense of boundary between personal life and work.
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Remote Work Conversations
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
Meditation Meditation is a highly recommended practice which has proven mental health benefits that include better focus, improved self-esteem and higher levels of tranquillity. Studies reveal that meditation reduces cortisol, the hormone associated with stress. It also increases the natural melatonin levels to help with more restful sleep. Companies like Google, LinkedIn and Unilever have taken a great initiative by providing their employees with a free subscription to Headspace, the meditation app as a part of contractual agreements. Their notion is to bring mindfulness to work and foster an environment where employees feel like they can give their best.
47.6%
47.6% of the participants surveyed felt a change in their sleep patterns since they began working remotely. Health & Wellness
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Working from Home or Living at Work? Striking a work-life balance is important, that’s what you hear almost everywhere! However, is achieving that balance really possible? Wanting to achieve balance means having to separate the two spheres of life from each other, which is not really possible. You are bound to have days when your personal life affects your output at work and vice versa. These parts of life naturally overlap. For instance, if you lose your job, it’s going to have a major impact on your life. Similarly, a family member being unwell is going to effect your work which leads many to believe that the concept of work-life balance may just be flawed. A better phrase could be work-life harmony or work-life integration.
I don’t like the phrase ‘Work-Life Balance.’ I think it’s misleading. I like the phrase ‘Work-Life Harmony.’ – Jeff Bezos
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Remote Work Conversations
Do you think you have a good work-life balance?
43.9%
43.9% 32.5% 23.6%
Yes Moderately No
How much time do you spend on physical activity each day?
42.9%
42.9% 35.5% 15.3% 6.3%
Physical Activity On a normal day pre-covid, one would have a lot more standing time, walking from one place to another, running errands, meeting friends but now with the rise of remote work and our dependence on technology, we are restricted by our wires, sitting in sustained postures for long periods of time. Naturally, this has caused our physical activity to drop, though few still make an effort to make sure their physical activity remains consistent despite any circumstance. Movement is necessary to avoid soreness and aches through the body. Don’t forget take short brisk walks during breaks and keep stretching. Physical activity as simple as walking increases heart rate, kick-starts metabolism and helps relieve stress.
Health & Wellness
30-60 mins >30 mins 1-2 hrs over 2 hrs
How has your physical activity changed since working remotely?
42.9%
42.9% 32.1% 25.0%
Decreased Increased Same
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Office Reimagined Imagining contemporary designs of office spaces to support remote work and emerging work style trends.
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THE FUTURE IS HYBRID! A global pandemic has made people realise that work can be done away from the office. We have learnt to be flexible with our routines and optimize productivity while breaking the barriers of distance through the support of advancing technology. After having spent over a year working remotely, a large sum of employees say that they want to return to the office, but not everyday. This has urged companies to rethink work patterns and come up with hybrid models for employees.
Onsite
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Remote Work Conversations
How to hybrid? On-site jobs and remote work sit at two ends of a spectrum. A hybrid work model is what you will find midway. Although this model has variations in itself that cater to the specific needs of different companies, a general understanding of the model is a combination of the two distinct work styles. A type of hybrid work model would encompass of a certain percentage of employees working remotely while the remaining employees work on-site. Another variance of this model is to have all employees work remotely, part of the time. This could mean that employees are free to work at the office too, perhaps to use the facilities or collaborate with teams. The days and time of this flexible arrangement could either be defined or left for personal choice.
Hybrid
Remote
Office Reimagined
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Office Redesign A workplace revolution is underway prompting us to rethink the way we use office space. Employers save overhead costs with flexible employee schedules and many are looking at reimagining the office to be a space that fosters collaborative and innovative work that cannot be achieved remotely. While offices cannot be eliminated entirely, they can be redesigned to better suit modernised needs and support hybrid work styles. People are looking for offices that are more digitally equipped and collaborative in nature but also quite informal in an attempt to trigger moments of serendipity.
Do you work from the same spot or do you like to keep changing your work corners?
52.4%
52.4% 31.7% 15.9%
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Constantly changing spots Sometimes change spots Dedicated spot
We asked the survey participants whether they like to changing corners while working or prefer to remain dedicated to a particular spot. This brings insights on whether individuals are looking for a change of environment while working.
Remote Work Conversations
Moments of serendipity
Affinity Distance
Casual collisions or moments of serendipity are unexpected informal moments with co-workers that prompt the best ideas. They come easily in person and are difficult to find on virtual interactions. Laszlo Bock, founder of Humu says that these moments of serendipity are the building blocks to innovation and in fact is what birthed Google News. Bock also talks about how low affinity distance is better achieved with co-workers in person, which inadvertently boosts innovation and vice versa.
Innovation
Affinity distance a sense of comfort with your peers to be able to unhesitatingly share with them a crazy idea you probably just had on the spot. Water cooler conversations are the best example to achieve low affinity distance.
Office Reimagined
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Are co-working spaces making a comeback? During the pandemic, many business let go of their office leases to save costs. As the pandemic fades, employers are looking at alternatives to equip their employees and co-working spaces are looking to capitalise on this change. They are the perfect solution for those employees looking for a place to catch up. Co-working spaces are also temporary arrangements which can work well for employers looking for short term solutions. Additionally, co-working spaces nurture communities which is something freelancers, students and even permanent remote workers are looking for.
We conducted a PESTLE analysis of WeWork, the co-working giant in an attempt to intricately try and decode the external factors that influence the company while they take business decisions.
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Remote Work Conversations
WeWork PESTLE Analysis
Political There doesn’t seem to be any political influence over WeWork.
Economical – Growing freelance market – Increasing remote work positions – An increase in individual disposable income Social – Opportunities for social interaction – Growing communities – Collaboration monopoly
Technological – Portable Hardware – Remote work tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, etc
Legal – Subletting legalities – Liability issues
P E S T L Office Reimagined
Environmental – Low resource cost with increased shared space – Digital centric workplace with low use of paper
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Remote Work Conversations
Digital Infrastructure Understanding the basic technological requirements of organizations to choose tool kits that support individual work styles.
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Formal Communication A crucial matter was drawn attention to in the survey when participants were asked about any remote work ethic they would like to talk about. Most mentioned the lack of mutual respect for personal boundaries and work hours. One of them even said, “Free does not mean available.” A good way to exercise maintaining a professional boundary with teams is to strictly adhere to a formal mode of communication using the various team communication tools available at our disposal.
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There has been a surge in daily active users on popular team communication tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack amongst others. We narrowed down the fundamental software requirements of remote teams in order to create a structure for new ideas that accommodate and support the advances in remote work.
Remote Work Conversations
Calendar
Software requirements Other than industry specific requirements, these are the basic software needs of a company in order to communicate effectively while working remotely.
Messaging
Collaborative Tools
Community
Video Conferencing
Data & Analytics
Technical Assistance
Digital Infrastructure
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Bridging the digital and the physical.
Communication Tools The most used platform of formal communication between individuals for professional work seems to be Whatsapp; a platform used ideally for informal and personal conversations. This indicates that many companies are yet to develop formal communication frameworks for their employees, not adhering to one of the most spoken of ethics of remote work – the boundary between personal and professional life. A formal mode of communication can be enforced with the strict use of centralised platforms amongst co-workers.
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Remote Work Conversations
1.1%
Telegram
1.1%
Amazon Chime
1.5%
Trello
1.5%
Cisco Webex
6.2%
Skype
8.1%
Slack
10.4%
Phone Call
15.1%
Zoom
15.8%
Google Meet / Hangouts
17.4%
Microsoft Teams
21.3%
Software Unity These online tools have been popular in supporting numerous business during the lockdowns of Covid-19. However, in most cases, they have all been different platforms that do not successfully sync into one ecosystem. This is something that Microsoft Teams is effectively accomplishing. Having an ecosystem is extremely beneficial with all your
various agendas in sync with one another. It becomes easier to manage and navigate through. Furthermore, while platform designs can be tailored to individual and organizational requirements, one wicked question still remains – how can we encourage people who are hesitant to participate and engage on these platforms?
Digital Infrastructure
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A Centralised Platform Proposal Inspired by my very own experience of remote learning as a student, I thought of proposing a centralised interface prototype that organisations could perhaps use in order to eliminate the use of third-party, decentralized applications.
The aim of this platform would be to create room for more interaction, engaging activities and informal conversation – which are key to developing better interpersonal relationships with co-workers. The concept surrounds creating an easy access shared space that keeps individuals engaged effortlessly, navigating through a spectrum of events and communities.
REC
Lobby
DND
Bulletin Board Calendar Studio Community Forums Analytics ONLINE
Technical Assitance FAQ Contact
Chat
Emoji
Friends
When you are in a studio, community or playing games, you will be classified as offline to others in the lobby.
Your community of friends for informal conversations.
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Remote Work Conversations
The most important and interactive place to meet new people and prompt a conversation.
Broadcasts of important announcements, reminders.
Your agenda of personal and shared tasks along with project management tools.
A series of virtual rooms for designated meetings or workshops.
Accessible cloud storage and document collaboration tools.
Games
Quiz nights, Crossword competitions, Chess matches along with other intellectually stimulating games catering to the focus of the organisation.
Brainstorm Room
A room with whiteboard, mind maps, post-its and all brainstorming essentials.
Bullpen
Talks, Films and more of a shared space, like a mini centralised Youtube... People could even go live like they do on Instagram.
A forum of shared ideas within the community like Medium.com.
Data and Analytics of screen time, output time and other industry specific statistics.
Digital Infrastructure
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Remote Work Conversations
Ethics & Morale Making room for conversation with emphasis on the importance of ethics while working remotely.
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Ethics and Morals. What’s the difference?
Right & Wrong
Ethics
While morals and ethics are closely related terms, they do have subtle noteworthy differences. Morals are personal opinions stemming from our value system, driven by the desire to be good. Ethics are a defined code of conduct that is thought to be correct behavior.
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Morals
However, something morally correct need not necessarily be ethically right and vice versa. To put this in perspective, while working remotely, your work ethic could be to contact co-workers strictly during work hours and only through formal modes of communication. Your moral could be honesty and accountability of time and tasks while communicating with your team.
Remote Work Conversations
Ethics
Morals
– Principles of conduct laid out by an organisation – Influenced by profession and industry – Caters to the survival of society – May very in different environments
–P rinciples of right and wrong based on personal judgement – Influenced by society, culture or religion – Caters to individual survival – Rarely change
Accountability It is crucial for us to have a strong moral ground that we work on. As we pivot towards remote work, focus is laid on work done rather than hours worked. This means that it is up to us as professionals to be responsible and accountable for our time and tasks.
Ethics & Morale
83
Tips to boost morale 1. Choose a dedicated workspace away from distractions like gadgets or pets. 2. Stick to a schedule and pretend like you’re still going to work by performing you daily morning routine. 3. Create rules for yourself on what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable during work hours, like checking social media or listening to music. 4. Learn to stop when the clock strikes the end of the day. It’s okay to put down work midway. This can help in getting you jump-started the next day. 5. Set boundaries with the people in your house or friends that contact you frequently during the day. 6. Create lists of daily reminders that will help you plan and organise your time. Ticking off completed tasks will also make you feel better about your day.
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Remote Work Conversations
Performance & Productivity
Where are you most productive?
As organisations shift focus to work done instead of hours worked, performance becomes the key attribute for judgement of efficiency. This is where giving people the choice to work from a location of their preference results in better productivity. When this is said, most people automatically assume that by giving employees the choice, they would choose working from home. It is important to remember that people’s preferences in many cases is also working from the office, or maybe even a library.
How self-motivated would you call yourself?
38.7% 37.7% 23.6%
Work from Office Hybrid Work Work from Home
Lack of choice There is a large number of people enjoying being able to work from their homes, perhaps with their loved ones around. But there are others who are being forced to work remotely because of the pandemic. The lack of choice could affect the performance of plenty employees. What can be done to boost morale during such unprecedented circumstances?
44.3%
44.3% 40.1% 15.6%
38.7%
Moderately Motivated Highly Motivated Unmotivated
Ethics & Morale
85
Casual Fridays or Google Hangouts? With culture come traditions that are important to lighten up the tone of the environment and help you get to know your team on a more personal level. Many workplaces have Casual Fridays which is when employees can come into the office in more relaxed attires than usual. With the pivot towards remote work that allows casual fridays everyday, how can such subtle informal activities be introduced on video conferencing platforms to strengthen interpersonal relationships while working remotely?
Here are a few remote team building ideas to strengthen interpersonal relationships amongst teams. Especially those teams that haven’t had the change to have any face to face interaction yet. Apart from these, there are plenty more fun ways to break the ice with your team while working remotely. Team building activities strengthen interpersonal relationships which result in better communication and understanding amongst employees. They also bring back water cooler conversations and moments of serendipity to the virtual world.
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18.9%
14.6%
4
5
6
7
8.5%
12.3%
3
9.9%
15.6%
2
4.2%
5.7%
1
7.1%
3.3%
How connected do you feel with your team while working remotely?
8
9
10 Remote Work Conversations
Team Bonding Activities
1.
Friday Failures
2. House Tour
“Friday Failures” is a proposed ritual for remote workers to get together and talk about their failures and learnings of the week in good spirit. This aims at engaging employees on an informal level and strengthen their interpersonal relationships while reflecting on their performance and potential. 3.
Virtual Escape Rooms
A fun way to get to know co-workers on a more personal level is to host a house tour event where individuals open their homes up to one another, showing off their favourite corners or hilarious arrangements. This could help create feelings of cohesiveness amongst teams. 4. Personal Trivia
Solving a virtual escape room with your co-workers can be an immersive and interactive experience. It’s also an opportunity to bond and learn about your remote team’s personalities while having fun! There are several platforms online that offer this service like ‘The Escape Game’s Remote Adventures’. 5.
A guessing game about individuals hobbies outside of work. This creates room for people find each other and bond over similar interests. A questionnaire can be sent out, asking people to write in their favourite artists, sport or anything else that people wouldn’t be hesitant to share.
Aliens have landed Aliens have landed on Earth but they don’t speak English. Choose 5 symbols or pictures that best describes your company to them. Creative problem solving encourages you to use your imagination and to better understand how you feel about the company culture.
Ethics & Morale
87
Mental Health Days An important point was brought to attention by one of the survey respondents about having Mental Health Days as a part of agreements with companies. Mental health is equally important as physical health, if not more. I would like to take this opportunity to raise awareness on the subject and break free from the taboo surrounding mental health. Mental Health Counsellor Rutuja Kulkarni says, “Your physical health is affected directly by your mental health”. As is productivity. So, it’s definitely advisable to allow employees paid mental health days, free from judgement in order for them to feel relaxed and bounce back to productivity upon their return.
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Remote Work Conversations
5
6
9.4%
3.3%
4
43.9%
12.3%
3
8.0%
4.2%
2
13.7%
1.4%
1
2.8%
We asked people what they thought about the idea of having 50 remote work days a year or 1 day of remote work per week. These numbers would vary according to industry needs however, having even one day of remote work as a part of our work week is a huge and unexpected shift from traditional working styles.
0.9%
How do you like the idea of having 50 remote work days a year? (approx 4pcm)
7
8
9
10
Do you want to continue working remotely? In the survey, 44.3% people said that they want to return to the office while 32.5% they would prefer working remotely. 23.2% said that they would want to work in an hybrid environment. This suggests that majority of the respondents prefer working remotely or having a hybrid work style rather than sticking to the traditional 5 days a week, 9 to 5. Though the number for people wanting to return to offices are considerably high too. Almost a fair fight.
44.3%
44.3% 32.5% 23.2%
On-site Remote Hybrid
Demographics There is speculation that demographics plays a role in the acceptance of remote work. There seems to be a trend directing towards first world countries embracing remote work to a larger extent when compared to third world countries. For instance, most businesses in India want to return to the office as normal once the threat of the pandemic subsides whereas in the United Kingdom, businesses are already developing remote work plans for the next 5-10 years.
Ethics & Morale
89
90
Remote Work Conversations
It’s imperative to remember that Covid-19 is a pandemic due to which remote work has been forced upon us. When given the choice to work remotely, our outlook could be different. Nevertheless, adapting to a hybrid model seems like a safe bet for knowledge workers in order to maintain uninterrupted work schedules during unexpected events, large or small. 91
Join the conversation... Is there anything about remote work that you would like to talk about?
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Remote Work Conversations
My favourite part about remote work is
.
Send us an email at ashanjellydesign@gmail.com Let’s get talking! @remoteworkconversations @ashanjellydesign Anjeli Melwaney 93
Acknowledgements I would like to thank my mentors – Ian Carr & Oliver Wrobel for their immense encouragement and guidance throughout this project. Further, I would also like to thank all the participants for sharing their views and contributing to this research. Additionally, I also thank you for reading this book and bringing life to my work. And last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents for blessing me with the privilege to able to work remotely during these difficult times. I hope that you enjoyed reading this publication and it gave you something to think about in terms of the way you work. Sending out heaps of good wishes, health and happiness to all of you! Stay safe.
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Remote work is a growing phenomenon that is evolving by the minute. There isn’t yet a defined structure, written ethics or concrete set of laws for working out of the “office.” However, due to Covid-19, nearly every industry has been forced to work from home. If you ask anyone what they think about working remotely, they will all have so many different things to say! I want to let these thoughts and ideas out in the open for you to ponder upon, like food for thought, if you will. I would hope that by having a look at some unexpected data results on how remote work has affected people’s business models and everyday schedules, it would prompt you to think about and form opinions on subject matters, thus contributing to the development of a concrete foundation for remote work. The idea is to simply, start a conversation!
Scan to listen to the podcasts. @remoteworkconversations @ashanjellydesign Anjeli Melwaney