Unstructured remote working a recipe for failure

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.

Most companies have been thrust into remote working with no preparation and are attempting to do the best they can with no formal structure. This is NOT sustainable.

If anywhere work is not officially formalized a return to the office is inevitable.

What is meant by DESIGNING a flexible remote work workplace? In a nutshell, it means taking a systematic and methodical approach to creating an environment that fully supports anywhere work.

In my experience, many teams spend a disproportionate time on the technology. Although very important it is only ONE of the elements. When we DESIGN these environments THE most important element are the PEOPLE who will be anywhere working. What is their level of digital literacy and fluency? What are ALL the challenges they will face working from anywhere?

We also spend A LOT of time with the leadership team. The reality is if a leadership team is not 100% committed to the process, being prepared to lead from the front, learning the skills to effectively communicate and collaborate digitally, the project will fail.

Any team wanting to work from anywhere permanently MUST do the work required to cross ALL the t’s and dot all the i’s.