Covid-19 has provided a unique opportunity for everyone to take a moment and take stock of what is really important in life - our family, friends, and health. Many of the leading companies in the world already knew this, and have found that providing their employees with the right work/life balance, allowing them to spend more time with their family, providing breaks or facilities so they can focus on their health etc. yields better financial results. It is a true win: win. While it took a global pandemic for many other companies to realise this, I am confident that the cultural change we have seen towards more homeworking will continue once the lockdown is over.

One of the primary benefits of homeworking is its flexibility. Why should staff work 9-5 if they no longer have an office to travel to? This is where a shift in metrics is required. Too often we value human resources by the amount of time they contribute. We price a person's time by the hour. But surely the most important metric for an employee is their productivity, not how much time they spend? So, if productivity can be maintained or even improved with "non-standard" hours and unconventional workwear, why wouldn't you support it? Do not bring 19th century expectations into the 21st century workplace (especially considering the workplace is no longer a physical "place" anyway).

In summary, what needs to change?

1. Processes
2. People & Culture
3. Technology & Tools
4. Information

In the case of Covid-19, there simply wasn't time for any form of a change management plan, let alone time to evaluate the four main elements of change that would normally be considered. So where does that leave us? The only thing we can do is to look at what has changed and reflect on how to make the most of it. There isn't time for a change management project, but there is certainly time to change how we manage.

Tech is only part of the change

For many employers, the fact that their workforce can work from home - and still be productive - has been a revelation. But the fact that home working works is hardly news to anyone by now. What is new is that these same firms are now starting to realise they need to change how they manage their people too. The old "office approach" to management - and the many expectations that comes with it (9-5 hours, the perceived notion to always be busy etc.) - no longer work if no one is working from the office.

For some firms, the solution to managing a mobile workforce enabled by technology is more technology to monitor their productivity. Yet technology is only one of the four components of a change management plan as mentioned above. The thinking that more technology will ensure better management of remote workers is the wrong approach, and is borne out of old fashioned, almost Dickensian thinking. i.e. it is based on the assumption that this now "invisible" workforce will start slacking off because it doesn't have a boss physically standing over them. This approach simply takes the same 9-5 office mindset and attempts to apply it to homeworking. It will not work.

1.What kinds of rules and procedures do you think the managers should come up with? Why?

2.What risks will the company face if it establishes different procedures for different areas to deal with this sudden shift?