
<p>The pandemic forced hundreds of millions of people to work from home. For many people, remote work is a blessing that’s breaking corporate mindsets and inertia, while for many others, the transition from the office proves a bit difficult. Here’s a couple of tips for higher productivity.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Have backup tasks.</strong></h2>



<p>When working remotely, there will be situations where no one can help you when a problem or a hard decision emerges. This is especially so in asynchronous work across many time zones, or when your communications (email, Slack etc.) get in a queue and/or none of your colleagues are available online. It helps if you can refocus on secondary tasks whenever there is an impasse with the main one.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Create a comfortable space.</strong></h2>



<p>Everyone is unique and has a unique idea of their own perfect workspace. Some prefer to work in a horizontal position from the bed 🤔 while others might find standing great for sustained attention. Understanding your preferences and adjusting your workspace will really increase your well-being.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Turn on your camera.</strong></h2>



<p>There are many incentives to only turn on voice during online calls &#8211; a messy room, no makeup, or walking around the house or the kitchen to get something done. What turning the camera on helps with is staying connected (and a bit disciplined 😉) as you see your teammates facial expressions and gesticulation—this makes conversations more natural and improves communication. Regular face-to-face meetings can also make you feel less lonely during this crap time.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Be patient.&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>Adjusting to remote work, like to any new experience, takes time, especially under today’s Covid conditions. An initial decrease in productivity is temporal and later you will find out that the advantages of remote work outweigh the difficulties we go through at the start.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>COVID WFH ≠ Remote.&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>Realize that today&#8217;s conditions are not standard for remote work. Lockdowns of many “normal” facilities—offices, colocation/coworking offices, cafes &amp; restaurants, gyms, entertainment, and of schools (a tough one for many parents)—are making this a harsh, abnormal condition of working from home, including its toll on mental health.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Remote work under normal circumstances is a very enjoyable experience. We’ll get there soon in 2021 and look forward to the world-changing for the better by embracing the future of work.&nbsp;</p>



<p></p>



<p id="8e8c">Have a look at our tests at Gyfted @&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gyfted.me">https://www.gyfted.me</a>.</p>



<p class="has-text-align-right"><strong><em>Klara</em></strong></p>


Adjusting to remote during COVID


<p>Believe it or not, the pandemic hasn’t been the first instance of companies switching to <strong>work from home</strong> or a hybrid work model. In the United States alone, work from home rates have tripled over the last 30 years. From only 0.75% of American companies allowing for remote work in 1980, to 2.4% in 2010 &#8211; just imagine what this rate has been shifted to today.</p>



<p>Are you interested in knowing more about how <strong>remote work has benefited employees</strong> much earlier than before the beginning of the pandemic? This <a href="https://nbloom.people.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj4746/f/wfh.pdf" target="_blank" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">2014 Stanford University study</a> by prof Nicholas Bloom was based on a work from home experiment with <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/does-working-home-work-evidence-chinese-experiment" target="_blank" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Ctrip</a>, a 16,000-employee, NASDAQ-listed Chinese travel agency, where call center employees, who volunteered to work from home, were randomly assigned either to work from home or in the office for 9 months. Are you wondering what the benefits of work from home were for these employees?</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="here-are-the-results-in-a-nutshell"><strong>Here are the results in a nutshell:&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<ul><li>Fear of ‘‘shirking from home’’ is unfounded and the gains of learning and selection effects are significant when companies allow employees to benefit from modern management practices ie. working from home / remote work&nbsp;</li><li>The experiment was a success:&nbsp;</li><li>Home working led to a 13% performance increase, of which:&nbsp;<ul><li>9% was from working more minutes per shift — fewer breaks and sick days,&nbsp;</li><li>4% from more calls per minute — attributed to a quieter and more convenient working environment.</li></ul></li><li>Home workers reported improved work satisfaction and their attrition rates halved (!)&nbsp;</li><li>However, their promotion rate, conditional on performance, fell.&nbsp;</li><li>Ctrip rolled out the option to work from home to the entire firm&nbsp;</li><li>Ctrip allowed the experimental employees to reselect between the home and office, and over half of them switched, which led to the gains from work from home to almost double to 22%.&nbsp;</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="why-did-we-have-to-wait-until-covid-for-the-business-world-to-adopt-remote-and-work-from-home"><strong>Why did we have to wait until COVID for the ‘business world’ to adopt remote and work from home?</strong></h2>



<p>The entire world became a “Ctrip-like experiment” with no optionality but full-force. The pandemic forced this ‘experiment’ through (and we’re lucky it happened in 2020, not 1995 for example). But why were behaviors and attitudes so often held ‘against’ remote work and <a href="https://www.gyfted.me/blog/candidates/work-from-home-vs-office-4-ways-to-find-your-fit">work from home</a>? We’ll explore this later on our blog.&nbsp;</p>



<p>We are sure of this though — the next decade will see enormous global and structural changes impacting corporations, small and medium businesses, startups, tech ecosystems, cities, countries, migration and foreign direct investment. Skeptics will be proven wrong, and the “return to normal” will not fully materialize.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="will-you-benefit-from-work-from-home-adoption"><strong>Will you benefit from work from home adoption?</strong></h2>



<p>Internationally, work from home has continued to become more and more common. Whether you work in a country that possesses a strong economy, or living in a developing nation, there is now enough connectivity for you to leverage the benefits of work from home. Aside from this, the study did, however, note some negative attributes.</p>



<p>The 2014 Stanford study mentioned two major issues related to remote work. First, they questioned if the benefits of work from home are only produced if the management knows which strategies would produce the most <strong>productivity </strong>and performance. The researchers admitted that as of 2014, there was not enough evidence linked to the importance of having <strong>good management</strong>. In the case of Ctrip, the company’s managers did report their doubts that the younger workforce may find difficulty focusing and completing their workload without direct supervision.</p>



<p>Secondly, the study highlighted work from home producing obstacles from <strong>work-life balance</strong>. This factor is very controversial, though, since it just depends on the employee. Work from home may either improve someone’s work-life balance or significantly decrease it, depending on the type of work style one has. To actually determine how your work-life balance would be affected, we recommend taking a<strong><a href="https://www.gyfted.me/quiz-landing/work-culture-mindset"> </a></strong><a href="https://www.gyfted.me/quiz-landing/work-culture-mindset">work style assessment</a> which can analyze your <strong>work culture mindset</strong>.</p>



<p>Knowing your work style will allow you to <strong>identify your core strengths</strong> and traits in the professional setting. In case your employer gives you the option to work from home, work with a hybrid work style, or <strong>work all in-office</strong>, you will be able to relate your assessment results to this study and choose the most fitting option for you.</p>



<p>We hope you found the results of this study interesting &#8211; it was really “before it’s time” considering how popularized work from home has become now!</p>



<p><em>Roberto</em></p>


Research: 2014 work from home study proved benefits of remote work


<p>How is working from home in today’s COVID crisis different from “normal” remote work?<br>In several ways.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>What can’t we do in remote / work from home today?</strong></h2>



<p>We cannot really, or we can rarely:&nbsp;</p>



<ol><li>Travel across borders&nbsp;</li><li>Travel inside our borders (hotels/airbnb shut down)&nbsp;</li><li>Sit inside cafes &amp; restaurants&nbsp;</li><li>Hang out in bars&nbsp;</li><li>Party in clubs&nbsp;</li><li>Visit museums, entertainment venues&nbsp;</li><li>Go to gyms, exercise in many places&nbsp;</li><li>Go to spa/beauty salons&nbsp;</li><li>Visit family &amp; friends&nbsp;</li><li>Have our kids attend school&nbsp;</li><li>Attend university in-person&nbsp;</li></ol>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>What happens when we can do the above?&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>Well, life’s back to normal! We can stay healthier, more connected, enjoy ourselves better, be more social and relaxed. Remote work becomes easier when you can exercise easily in the AM or over lunch, when you can spend time with friends and more distant family easily in the evenings. When you can offload the stress and enjoy the beauty our planet and environments offer. Here’s just three examples.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Coworking remote communities</strong></h2>



<p>There’s major benefits of co-locating with other remote workers. No conflicts of interests and no office politics. Open cooperation. Brainstorming and idea generation across organizations becomes significantly easier. Only possible through remote and co-location. Hard nowadays, but this’ll be huge post-Covid. 😊</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>School</strong></h2>



<p>With no kids at home, productivity jumps up x-fold. Research has shown that …&nbsp;</p>



<ul><li><a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2020/03/30/productivity-pitfalls-working-home-age-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Remote/work from home parent productivity pitfall research</a> from Nick Bloom at Stanford University&nbsp;</li></ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Travel opportunities&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>This is a biggie for all you singles. 😎  <br><br>If time-zones work out, there’s amazing opportunities to work while traveling, combining the pleasurable with the productive, and there’s a bunch of startups and initiatives catering to this. <br><br>Check these out:&nbsp;</p>



<ul><li><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.remoteyear.com/" target="_blank">Remote Year</a> helps you plan your remote / digital nomad work and travel &#8211; cool startup ✈️&nbsp;</li><li><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.moversandshakas.org/" target="_blank">Hawaii’s Movers &amp; Shakas</a> remote travel program sponsors in exchange for skill development &#8211; sweet 🤙&nbsp;</li><li><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.portugalist.com/portugal-working-remotely/" target="_blank">Portugal</a> is active in welcoming remote workers to travel and set up there for work 🛬&nbsp;</li><li><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://nomadlist.com/" target="_blank">Nomad list</a> has an awesome list of places to work and colocate/colive with other remote work ‘digital nomads’ &#8211; the biggest digital nomad community in the world 🥳&nbsp;</li></ul>



<p>If your image of remote isn’t good &#8211; think about if you could do everything there is to do in &#8216;normal&#8217; times, while avoiding the commute and waste of time and resources just to be socially present in a company office. </p>



<p>There are huge benefits to collaboration, sharing ideas/knowledge and relationships in teams &#8211; which makes “pure” remote hard &#8211; we’ll write about this later.&nbsp;</p>



<p></p>



<p>Have a look at our remote &amp; personality assessments at <a href="https://www.gyfted.me/library" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.gyfted.me/all-tests</a> </p>



<p class="has-text-align-right"><strong><em>Robert</em></strong>&nbsp;</p>


COVID WFH = real Remote?

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