[CTQ Smartcast] How Remote Work Changed Work
If 2020 was when everyone went remote, 2021 will be about whether the pendulum swings back and by how much: return to offices, go hybrid, or stay remote.
In August 2020, we spoke to Monish Darda of Icertis, KS Prashant of IDeaS, and Nitin Deshpande of Evolent Health about drawing parallels from other worlds when it comes to remote work. In Part 2, we find out what they have learned since then, what has changed, and how they see the future of teams, collaboration, and engagement. They were in conversation with Harish and Ramanand.
Prefer an audio version? Listen below.
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Some of the things we spoke about:
Roles which have undergone a fundamental change
How physical offices spaces will change for good
The need to come up with new reasonable metrics to track work
How challenges and quality of work will drive employee satisfaction
How remote working brings meritocracy to the fore
Did remote work improve work-life balance?
Will workplaces flip? where work gets done at home and networking, culture, and fun happens at the office.
Some interesting ideas that came out of this discussion:
On what will keep good people with companies
“In the past, superficial things have been used to create great work environment: dancing classes, yoga classes, good meals outside. If remote working is here to stay, those paradigms will be challenged. If people have to be tied to a company, then it always has to be the quality of work, the excitement at work.
- K.S. Prashant, Managing Director, IDeaS
On what is likely to stay the same
People know now that working at home - working in an environment that you are comfortable with - works. That makes it almost impossible to get back to the pre-pandemic normal. It will always be hybrid.
- Monish Darda, Co-Founder, Icertis
And what will endure forever
The ‘Connect’ (with the company) is hard to recreate (in a remote setup). At the end of the day, I should be happy. You better give people good solid work so that they feel satisfied otherwise it doesn’t matter for them who they work for.
- Nitin Deshpande, President, Evolent Health
Also watch
Watch Part 1 of this discussion on Remote Work, where we draw parallels from other worlds.