Remote working is a challenge for many organisations. It is generally a tool, process and cultural challenge. In the current crisis many organisations providing tools to support remote work are pushing their products as enables - which makes total sense. However, it is usually in the latter, the true value lies. Utilising the Corona outbreak, as a means to jumpstart or push cultural could make sense.
The first time I encountered the concept of Remote Working was in the early 90s. The idea that you could sit and work in your cottage in the mountains seemed ludicrous. Over time the concept has of course gotten a strong foothold in people's minds and organisations. Whatever the driver for doing this, whether it’s economics, sustainability, the shift has slowly moved to a concept of doing all or some of the work remotely.
I believe Remote work can be viewed in two ways. Either it is the individual that is working (or studying) physically distant from an organisational center. But it could also be a group of people formally disconnected from an organisational center. A common hurdle has for a long time been “We don’t have the tools for it”. It may have been a valid excuse before, but not so much nowadays. However, it’s not so much the tools like the remote working culture that is the real barrier. If the norm is to be at the office, the remote worker will always be an outlier. In virtual organisations that I’ve come across over the years, this is usually not an issue. In these instances, the remote working culture is an integral part of the workplace.
Changing a workplace (culture) is Hard! There are methods and tools to use but it will still take time. If there isn’t an external factor, a common enemy that will force us to change. The current pandemic (that some researchers have been preparing for, for years) is just that kind of driver. Workplaces are closing, the use of video conferences are skyrocketing, and very much like people are preparing their physical spaces at home to function as a decent work environment (personally I’m working from the kitchen table). But even after the pandemic has passed, changes will need to be made. A pending recession will again call for a need of changing the ways we work, and adopt a remote working culture.
In the Media and Entertainment sector specifically, the shift to remote workflows have emerged by utilising better connection throughput and cloud solutions. There are tools, such as Accurate Video and others, that are inherently suitable for Remote Work. By using these tools but also approaching workflows in new ways your business will be aptly prepared.
The current COVID19 outbreak is devastating for countries, businesses, individuals and even society in general. However, we should try to make the best out of it. The shift to remote workflows has already begun and the current situation is not the reason to start looking in that direction but rather use the pandemic, to initiate change and to prepare for a new future once we are on the other side.
Johan is a Sales Manager who works at Accurate Video a cloud native service that enables remote workflow collaboration for the media and entertainment industry. Johan can be reached at johan.bergstrom@codemill.se.