Should Teams Continue Working Remotely After the Pandemic?
We recently asked AgileMentors community members their stance on the topic of remote work. The question, “Should teams continue working remotely after the pandemic?” generated a lot of responses from many different perspectives. Here’s a summary of that conversation.
Remote Work is Here to Stay
A member from Illinois thinks that 100 percent remote work has been effective at her company. She said, “I truly believe that because our full organization is running (and loving!) the Scrum framework, it has allowed us to have a smooth transition to the new ‘normal’. With trust and transparency at our forefront, the teams have been amazing working together internally and for the clients we service. So now, it’s less of a conversation for us of where we work from because we all have a shared understanding of the work we want to produce.”
A member from Australia seems to agree that remote work can be done effectively. “I think many businesses and teams have proven over the last few months that they can successfully deliver whilst working remotely. I work in an environment where working from home for part of the working week has been supported for many years,” she said. “Just because we CAN go back into the office full time (whenever that may be), doesn’t necessarily mean we Should,” she added.
We Need to Return to the Office
An agile coach from California shared, “I see a lot of opportunity for companies to shed massive amounts of overhead. My recent client had an extraordinarily expensive lease on a modern state-of-the-art four-story building with an on-site barista, video games, hip/trendy furniture, refrigerators full of free food and snacks, yoga classes and more that can all be shed. But the agilist in me (individuals and interactions over processes and tools) believes that all of this remote/distributed work is sub-optimal,” he said.
A Scrum Master, also from California, stood firmly on the side of the person working. He said, “I’m incredibly against work from home. Although we can use video cameras to improve verbal communication, the company has not yet mandated their use. Much of the time is simply spent typing back and forth, which is a massive waste of time over a verbal conversation. Separation of work/home life is really tough, and I’ve noticed all the hours increasing for everyone. Nope. Tons of other reasons that this isn’t helpful. I realize many companies are looking at the bottom line, but until they pay me for my home as part of their office expenses, it’s not going to happen.”
A Hybrid Approach May Be Best
An agile coach from Texas felt torn on this issue. “We had three types of teams pre-pandemic. Teams where everyone was co-located. Teams where members were in different offices, each office co-located. And teams where everyone was remote,” she said.
“So, there are pros and cons to both. Whatever the teams decide, I think collaboration & communication should be the top priority with solid (real) working agreements. And, I think companies which decide to go full remote need to invest in tooling to help. Getting people together, even yearly, will help build that trust and foster relationship, across time zones,” she said.
An agile coach from Rhode Island suggested a hybrid approach. “I like the idea of a few days in the office and few at home. I would hope a team could work it out. Something like the whole team needs to be in the office Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but team members could work from home on Monday and Friday if they wanted to,” she said.
To join the conversation and to be mentored by more than 4,000 agile practitioners from around the globe, join the AgileMentors Community. Visit https://www.agilementors.com for more information on membership.