Choosing to work in the office or remotely

I had a great conversation with a leader last week who was struggling with how to balance their staff working in the office or remotely.  Her challenge was she had many customer-facing roles that required them to be available to clients in person whilst having other staff that were in roles that did not require them to be in the office.

When the global pandemic hit, some futurists predicted that this would be the end of work as we know it and that offices in the cities would be closed and everyone would work from home.  Of course, that is not what is happening now.  Many leaders are looking at how to make the transition back to the office and find out how to enable a flexible workplace to allow for some remote work as well.

Whilst researching the 2nd edition of my Leadership Hacks book I found that some industries were not suited for remote work.  These included work function roles in the following areas:

• Customer facing roles including:
• retail sales & services (providing goods and services to customers) 
• leisure and travel (restaurants, airline counters, hotels)
• personal care (hair salons, gyms, physiotherapists)
• Patient facing roles
• Production, manufacturing and warehousing
• Transportation (air, sea, rail, trucking)
• Mechanical repair and maintenance
• Building and construction
• Farming & agriculture
• Education & schooling

So what industries are suited for Remote work?  Primarily Computer-based office work which could include:

• Administration and back-office functions
• Scientific and environmental research services
• Architectural and surveying services
• Engineering consulting services
• Financial and investment services
• Insurance services
• Legal services
• Accounting services
• IT Services
• Management consulting services
• Advertising and market research services
• Call centres
• Government agencies

The research (& most employees) tell us that they do prefer to spend time in the office as well to increase collaboration and teamwork as well as experience the sense of belonging.  What they want is the flexibility to work from home in a remote fashion at other times. 

If you would like to gather some insights from the research of my next book and can’t wait for it, click here and we will find a time for me to share a few strategies with you that can assist you in making the successful transition to a hybrid workplace.

If you would like to see some amazing women (& men) speakers at the Future of Leadership and support Hands Across the Water, please click here to find out more and join us at one of the events across Australia occurring in May.  I will be speaking in Adelaide and Perth so it will be great to see some of my clients and friends that I have missed during the lockdowns.  Use the Promo code GETINEARLY to receive 10% off.