Two years into the deadliest pandemic since the Spanish flu, every organisation all over the world – big or small – has had a taste of remote work. Some have gone on to adopt a remote or hybrid model full-time. Perhaps you’re a business that survived remote (or “office at home” masquerading as remote work). It’s 2022 now \u2013 you’re fatigued, concerned about revenues, or maybe you just want to get on with your life because, hey, let’s face it, Covid is here to stay. <\/p>\n
Some of the biggest names in business have been raising clarion calls about how remote will kill creativity and enterprise. “I am not a great fan of work from home at all,” Infosys founder Narayan Murthy recently declared at a tech summit. “When people work from home, that institutional culture will slowly become weaker and weaker”. Back in 2021, CRED founder Kunal Shah lamented on Twitter about young people in India missing out on building “real bonds. No social or network skills. Illusion of understanding and learning. No osmosis”. Oh, come now, CRED’s advertising campaigns are far smarter than this uninformed take.<\/p>\n
Major news outlets have also been churning out op-eds about how executives are keen on employees returning to the office. Governments have chimed in, too \u2013 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson being a key advocate of working from the office.<\/p>\n
All of these people would have you believe that remote is inherently evil and detrimental to the quality of work done. Therefore, it is an option only when no other is available.<\/p>\n
But NONE of this is true – whether you are a tiny 10-person outfit like Bee or a 10,000-person behemoth. Companies want people back in because it is easier for them. Every study conducted suggests that the majority of the workforce prefers remote. Companies could easily adopt a hybrid setting that takes care of those that want to get away from home – it doesn’t have to be this or that.<\/p>\n
In India, remote was never the go-to option. Most organisations simply moved their offices into their employees’ homes, bad habits and all. At least in the workplace, your day has a logical end. So, of course, it didn’t work. And as soon as the first and second waves waned, there began a mad scramble to get people back into their cubicles.<\/p>\n
But there are companies still keen to stay remote. Maybe yours is one of them, but you’re on the fence. You don’t know if it’s the right way to go; important people say it isn’t, and you have concerns about the challenges you might face. If this describes you, then this post is just for you. We’ve been doing remote since the time of Moses, and it wasn’t easy when we got started either. Our wins and losses, mountains we’ve climbed, mistakes we made, tears we’ve shed, aha moments – we’ll share them all with you as we go along.<\/p>\n