Remote vs. No-remote
Seems to be the trending question of 2021!
Year 2020, sadly COVID-19 pandemic year, has skyrocketed remote working shifting from office-based positions to home-based positions to historic levels never seen before.
Now, well-entered 2021, the general and positive view is that there is light at the end of the tunnel and the recovery to pre-COVID days is on track, eyeing somewhere in 2022.
Question is clear: Will remote working continue as it has been during the pandemic or will it be office-based as it was before COVID?
So far, from what I have read, people tend to have black/white positions. Some cases like Apple (Link), JP Morgan or Goldman Sacks (Link) have taken no-remote position approach for their employees. Others like Facebook have been very clear in remote working for the future (Link).
My view on this, far from a red or blue pill decision like Morpheus in Matrix (by the way first time I saw the movie was in religion class in School!), it’s a half-way approach between remote and no-remote.
Remote has clear and well-known advantages that listing them here will be redundant. But what about no-remote advantages? For sure, there are many but I want to focus in one only:
Real relationships. We are humans, we need to socialize, interact one to another, feel each other, … . This is our DNA. Like all the other mammals if we go to the deepest nature point.
With face-to-face relationships, we foment trust among our peers and colleagues, it generates Company culture, teamwork, real friendships. All this increases productivity. I am a believer of that.
In a face-to-face meeting, if they are remote, I agree that punctuality will improve, broader audience could join, even we could be attending several meetings at the same time! But what about body language, interactions, handshake, smells? We will never feel them in a videoconference the same manner we see them face-to-face. This for sure has a positive impact in decision-making, productivity and attention in meetings.
So all in all, I believe the solution is hybrid. We need to be ready to embrace remote advantages but also we should not forget the no-remote ones are very strong because they are part of our essence!
In my opinion, Companies and employees that go part-time remote/part-time no-remote, will be the ones truly leveraging on the benefits of the two working modalities.
Last but not least, remember that EngineeringNomads.tech is a marketplace for engineering employers and project managers that want to hire their engineering expertise in an hourly basis. In EngineeringNomads.tech you are allowed to work remote or no-remote (obviously depending on your location!). Platform is under construction and it will be ready very soon but an email to hello@engineeringnomads.tech will allow you to be up-to-date with the development.
Have a great week ahead!
