The fact that technology makes it easier working from home or away from the office is undeniable. Video conferencing tools like Skype, work-based chats like Slack, not to mention good old email allow employees to be always in touch. Since remote work is becoming increasingly popular, many companies choose to tackle the challenge of building better tools for working on the go. Somerville-based Owl Labs, for example, just launched an IoT-powered remote conferencing device that aims to improve the quality of video calls.
However, having plenty of tools that allow remote work is not enough. There are still questions - mostly related to the company culture - that need to be answered. What are the pros and cons of remote working? What is the best way to let employees and managers embrace remote work? Is there a line of business that doesn't work well remotely?
To address all these questions, BostInno decided to host a discussion as part of its State of Innovation: WorkXPlay Series, a trio of events around scaling a business and building great corporate culture. For the second event of the series, four panelists and around 150 participants gathered at Convene's downtown space at One Boston Place for a night of chatting, networking and delicious food and wine.
Here's a video that highlights a few moments of the event:
The four panelists - Joyce Bromberg from Convene, Stefania Mallett from ezCater, Michael Affronti from Fuze and David McFarlane from Litmus - were all from companies based in Boston, Cambridge or NYC that have embraced a remote work culture.
For example, McFarlande said that when Litmus employees have a meeting and at least one cannot come to the office, the whole meeting is hosted in a video conference, so no one feels different. Teams at Fuze are encouraged to keep the camera on, so people can see each other when they work, according to Affronti. Mallet said that ezCater offers employees complete flexibility: if they want to work from home three days and come to the office in Downtown Crossing twice a week, they can. She pointed out that this setting is particularly effective for stay-at-home moms; when they're provided with a right amount of flexibility, they can reenter the workforce sooner.
"Trust is an important part of this," said McFarlane. "The more you can do asynchronously, the more people can participate."
But remote work is not for everybody. Some managers complain that it interferes with their willingness to engage employees; some other people, simply, tend to feel lonely at home and need the buzz of the office and the companionship of other people to be productive. Also, remote work can have a negative impact on what Bromberg called "generative work." When people are trying to build something new together, remote work can have a negative impact.
A right balance between in-office work and remote work may be a solution. As Affronti pointed out, remote work "is not about 'I want to work in my pajamas.' It's about 'I want to go on a 3-day weekend and not feel disconnected.'"
The next event of BostInno's State of Innovation "WorkXPlay" Series will be tonight. Make sure you grab your tickets here.
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