💻 Remote Work Acceptance and Inclusion

Remote Acceptance and Inclusion

Two weeks ago WebMD’s parent company, Internet Brands, issued a video call back to the office and the internet popped OFF.

Here are just a few of the problematic moments in their video:

• A sales pitch for in-person work that includes imagery of free coffee and snacks in a fluorescently lit office

• Mocking remote workers implying they all work in their underwear

• Not-so-subtle threats (see quote below) and flashing “we mean business” and “don’t mess with us” on the last screen.

Watch the since-deleted video below. Seems like satire. It’s not. Wish it was.

Cringe warning in effect.

It’s not just Internet Brands that are destroying employee morale, 99% of companies with return-to-office mandates saw a drop in employee satisfaction. Yet calls to the office aren’t slowing - IBM issued the ultimatum to their managers just this past week. The divide in remote work acceptance and enablement is growing.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the attributes that define where companies fall on the remote work scale.

Inspired by and including information from Automattic’s Remote Work Framework.

1. Onsite

   • In-office work only - if you’re not there, you’re not working

   • Synchronous work and communication

   • High value in face time

   • Risks: Tribal knowledge, low-trust environments (activity monitoring), valuing presenteeism over outputs

2. Remote OK

   • Office presence is the norm but working remotely is an option in unique circumstances (illness, appointment days, bad weather, etc.)

   • There is usually a remote work policy in place that outlines when and how it’s acceptable

   • Risks: Inabilities to fully perform duties when out of the office can hinder both individual and team performance. Playing “catch up” when back in the office is a detractor from being remote in the first place.

3. Remote Enabled

   • Hybrid environment with both onsite and remote work in a flexible manner

   • Tools to enable remote working are provided. Remote work stipends for equipment, software, training, etc.

   • Attempts to recreate the office online

   • Risks: Unbalanced experiences. Ex. If 4/5 workers are in the office and have a meeting in a conference room, the fifth worker on speakerphone may not have an equal contribution or understanding.

4. Remote First

   • Likely no central office but occasional in-person meetings, coworking sessions, or offsites may take place

   • Asynchronous collaboration is possible

   • All work processes and documentation live online and remote experience is prioritized. Ex. If 4/5 workers are in the office but 1 is remote, all workers take the call from their individual computers instead of a conference room to level the playing field.

   • Risks: 

5. Fully Distributed

   • No offices anywhere

   • Fully distributed teams tend to be more global and favor asynchronous collaboration

   • High-trust environment - measures performance in output

   • Risks: Isolation and loneliness. Being remote eliminates the ability to bump into each other and converse about non-work topics. Creating culture and relationships needs to be very intentional to avoid only speaking to colleagues when you need something from them.

It’s interesting to think about the amount of movement most companies have gone through on this scale and the sheer change management required to change the way we work consistently. Workers have whiplash.

I tried to visualize the change and how some companies may have moved through the scale in the past 5 years.

I’d love to know, where does your company fall on the scale? How often have you shifted? Reply to this email and let me know - I’ll share the results.