Designing a remote friendly workplace

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to improve their climate literacy so as to understand the projected impacts from the expanding climate crisis and how to adapt their workplaces in the face of these impacts.

A remote work friendly workplace doesn’t just happen. It must be DESIGNED. In our process we use the POST acronym as a foundation. Here is a high level look.

P = People (Your design process must have your people at its center. After all this is the workplace *they* are going to be working in. Take your people along with you as you digitally transform. Get their feedback. Involve them every step of the way)

O = Objectives (this can be as simple as “to have a highly efficient remote workforce”)

S = Strategy (How will you accomplish your objectives? This will likely involve ensuring that *everyone* in the team, including and especially the leadership have the necessary digital literacy and fluency in order to “work-out-loud” online. It may include digitizing certain processes. Understanding asynchronous work etc. There are lots of boxes to tick here!)

T = Tools (Now that you have clarity on all of the above you can select the right technology. Tools that your team buy-in to using or maybe using already!)

The mistake that many make is to jump to the “T” part of the equation. Although obviously important, this should not be your first port of call.