Lockdown remote work ≠ Planned remote work

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.

Let me explain. When a company has the luxury of time to PLAN a transition to remote working, several boxes would have been ticked before going live:

✅ Leadership learnt how to lead a remote working team
✅ Remote work culture clearly understood (eg asynchronous working)
✅ Team virtual work skills (#digitalliteracy) gaps understood and filled
✅ Well designed office in the cloud (#digitalworkplace) deployed
✅ Trials done (eg one department has worked 1 or 2 days out of office and then 1 week per month – challenges identified and fixed)
✅ Change management strategy in place for company wide rollout.

LOCKDOWN REMOTE WORKING

Announcement made that country is going to go into lockdown in 4 days time.

Chaos.

Schools close. Everyone is confined to the home. Spouses have to both figure out how to work from home with infant care or home schooling duties combined. Bits and pieces work but generally productivity takes a hit as everyone tries to figure out how to get work done and how to communicate and collaborate with colleagues. Large doses of frustration all round.

Leadership: “You see, we have been right all along, remote working just doesn’t work! It’s ineffective, just look at this mess!”

Lockdown remote work ≠ Planned remote work