The secret to remote work | Friday.app

Remote work isn't actually about working from home

Posted by Luke Thomas

The hands-down, number one, best-of-the-best reason for running a remote team is the flexibility it affords everyone.

For many companies, it’s taken a global pandemic to realize that a flexible work environment is the future of work.

But not every company makes remote work, well, work well for their employees.

A classic mistake & how to avoid it

Some leaders that are new to running a remote team are making some common mistakes, like scheduling too many meetings on Zoom (Zoom fatigue is a real thing), an insistence on being on Slack from 9-to-5 and virtual office environments that require employees to be chained to their desk, even though they could easily get their work done in a time frame that is much better suited to their lifestyle. 

To establish a truly well-run remote team, you need to give your team the autonomy to work when they want, where they want and how they want.

Remote work is really about a more flexible working environment that integrates work & life

People do their best work in a variety of different ways and the beauty of a flexible work arrangement is that they can adapt their schedules to function at their most productive times.

If you’re offering a “flexible, work-from-home” environment but insisting people work from a typical 8-hour work day, you’re not creating a highly productive environment because each person is different. You’re just recreating the classic 9-to-5 and it’s much worse. No one likes to spend their entire day sitting on video calls at home.

Now this doesn’t mean everyone gets to go rogue and plan to work from 9pm to 5am, as this will lead to chaos. You need to establish lanes so that people can work on their own time but also establish time throughout their week to be available to work alongside their coworkers. It’s about finding a better balance.

To see the next remote work mental model, let's jump to the next principle, if it doesn't persist, it doesn't exist.

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