A Better Approach to Remote Work Decisions
Stop the management power play and make it an operational decision
Welcome to the Gazebo! Grab a cup and join me for some tips to help you succeed at the intersection of management, communication, and technology.
This Week’s Summary:
Remote work is here to stay
Both employees and employers benefit from using remote work properly
Changing the media connection from in-person to electronic changes a lot
Most don’t understand the impact of the media change
Most jobs can be done with a mix of both remote and in-person
This is a risk management issue that must be addressed carefully
Use my communication method to find the right mix of job and person
If, like many, your organization is struggling to find the right remote work balance for its employees, this post and the ones that follow have a ready-made solution for you!
I recently had the opportunity to present at the Association for Business Communication Annual Conference on a topic that's close to my heart: remote work. I’ve been a remote worker for over 30 years at this point and would never go back to being in the office 100% of the time, and it bothers me that major companies are now forcing a return to the office on their employees. This is a mistake for many of the jobs in question and actually a hidden risk management issue waiting to bite them if they don’t handle it properly.
Image created by Ed Paulson using CoPilot in Windows 11.
Given the rapid changes in our work environments, I believe it's crucial to understand the organizational communication dynamics in play regarding remote work. Management needs to look for a way to make remote work a welcomed, integral part of daily business instead of a top-down imposed return-to-office mandate. Here's are some key points from my talk, that offer a useful approach to resolving the remote work issue in the right way for your organization. More details will be coming over the next few editions of The BizDoctor’s Gazebo newsletter and later in my “Beyond the Office” mini-book.
The Current Remote Work Landscape
Many major organizations like Chase, Amazon, and the federal government are pushing for a full return to the office.1 I think this is a significant mistake on their part that could cost them dearly down the road.
Remote work isn't a new concept; it's been around for a long time.2 I started remote working in 1988 and except for a few years in between, have been happily fully remote since. The desire to gain the freedoms of working remotely has been there for a long time, but communication technology limitations restricted the option to very specific types of jobs until the recent decade or so. Few companies and employees were willing to give it an earnest try. COVID-19 changed all that when it forced companies to invest in remote work infrastructure and training, and employees and managers adapted their lifestyles accordingly.
Some even moved to other states because technology made WHERE they did their job less important than HOW they did their job.
Now that the pandemic pressure is off, management is going back to its old ways, forcing employees to give up their remote work freedom and return to the office full-time. This is causing friction, and it should! People got accustomed to working remotely and adapted their lifestyle accordingly, and now they will not easily give up their remote work benefits. Some employees are even willing to switch jobs, take demotions and take pay cuts to maintain their remote work lifestyle. This is why remote work is not just an organizational communication topic but a risk management issue that will bite management in the future if they are not careful.
Interestingly, studies have shown that performance actually increased when everyone went remote. People used their commuting time for work and experienced fewer interruptions at home.
A McKinsey study found that remote work reduced attrition by 30%, increased performance, and resulted in happier employees.3
Relating Communication Technology to Remote Work
In its simplest form, what makes remote work different is the lack of physical presence. When you're not in the same room, the link between the sender and receiver of a message changes. In a face-to-face setting, you get immediate feedback from those receiving your message and can adjust your message accordingly to ensure that were properly understood. This interaction is harder to achieve through emails or text messages, which are considered "lean" media in media richness theory. Lean media doesn't provide the same level of information or instantaneous feedback as “richer” forms of communication like face-to-face interactions.
Media richness theory categorizes communication methods into five levels divided by the ability to receive feedback, the quality of the feedback, and the immediacy of that feedback. At Level I (the “leanest” media) are written reports with no interaction, followed by personal memos, emails, faxes, and texts. Most day-to-day communication happens at Level 3, which is email. However, email is not very rich in terms of media richness because it lacks immediate feedback and the feedback we do receive is limited to text only. The next richer level is the telephone where you get vocal inflection, and the “richest” form of communication is face-to-face, which is at level 5. It is important to note that video conferencing falls under Level 5 but is still considered remote because we are not physically in the same room.4
The problem with Media Richness Theory is that it is abstract and hard to apply in reality, which is why I developed the Paulson Media Matching Method.
My first exposure to media richness theory was in 1988 when organizational communication tools were limited by today’s standards. Even at that time, I knew that this method offered a powerful framework for analyzing my communication approach, and I have been using it ever since. It has always surprised me that it never caught on for daily use with others, and my continually applying it enabled me to add onto the initial foundation to create an actionable, more comprehensive framework that people can use to improve their own daily communications.
My method added key ingredients to media richness theory, making it more actionable.
By understanding the characteristics of the job, the people involved, and what's required for successful completion of their job, you can determine if a job can successfully be done remotely.
My Comm Method In Action - Parsing Out Level 5 For Remote Work
In the context of remote work, I divided Level 5 into multiple levels: video conferencing (the only remote option at this level) followed by in-person live presentations, face-to-face meetings, and interactive group meetings. This framework helps you deconstruct a job, and its requirements, based on its communication needs. If most of the job-related tasks can be done using video, email, teleconferencing, memos, and reports, then it doesn't matter if you're in the office or at home. However, if a face-to-face component is needed, then that person must be on-site. Some jobs are completely in person, such as a restaurant server, some can be done completely remotely, and most today and in the future will be successfully accomplished using a blend of the two.
Image created by and copyright 2024 by Ed Paulson. All rights reserved. From “Beyond the Office” to be published in December 2024.
Managers who “manage by walking around” might struggle with remote work because they can't monitor their employees by simply stopping by and checking in.5 They have likely not developed the management feedback and tracking mechanisms that allow them to monitor their folk’s performance without meeting with them in person.6 This in-person management approach becomes a risk issue as folks consider leaving a job for another with a remote option simply because the manager has refused to evolve.
The real shame of it all is that studies have shown that people appreciate working from home and make a point of performing well because they don't want to lose that privilege.
A great place to start determining how remote work fits into your organization is to take a realistic look at how your managers use (or don’t use) communication to manage their people and to look for ways to more effectively communicate to keep everything on track.
If Face-to-Face Feels Different, It’s Because It Is Different
Even in this remote communication intensive world, there is still a place for face-to-face communication. Studies show that face-to-face interactions engage more areas of the brain than those over video conference.7 When you meet someone online, only a small portion of your brain lights up, specifically the visual cortex. But in person, the whole brain lights up, which is beneficial for problem-solving, brainstorming, and dealing with ambiguous situations. This deeper connection also enhances online communication later on, making it richer and more effective.8
Image created by Ed Paulson using Copilot for Windows 11.
Prepare for the Future by Using Communication in the Right Way
If companies recognize that remote work is important and a risk management issue, they need to start preparing for it now. Who knows when the next pandemic will hit? Evaluating all these characteristics is a lot of work, but the benefits are substantial if the company can pull it off.
Over the next few weeks we will take a look at specific steps managers can take to move in the direction of a blended remote/in-office work environment.
Conclusion
Remote work is here to stay. Trying to make it go away will only lead to resistance from employees and increase attrition. Instead, companies should use a job analysis framework that everyone agrees on to determine the right balance of remote and in-office work. The Paulson Media Matching Method is a great way to determine this balance.
It also offers a framework with which management and their employees can discuss and negotiate the right mix of in-person and remote work to best ensure that the needs of the employee and the organization are met. More on that to come in future posts.
Have a great week and thanks for stopping by! ☮
P.S. It would be my pleasure to work with you applying these powerful concepts to your particular organization. Drop me an email at author@edpaulson.com or call me at 630.960.3299 USA to set up a time for us to talk in detail about your needs.
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BECOME MORE SUCCESSFUL THROUGH BETTER COMMUNICATION
LEARN A LIFETIME OF COMMUNICATION SECRETS BY READING ED’S “GETTING THROUGH” BOOK
Listen to Ed Paulson explain his latest book “Getting Through.”
(Short 3 minute video)
“Getting Through: A Systematic Approach To Being Understood” (ISBN: 9798987950807) is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers. It is only 130 pages long and can be read in just a few hours. Those few hours will change the way you communicate forever!
Getting Through: A Systematic Approach To Being Understood (ISBN: 9798987950807)
Copyright © 2024 by Ed Paulson. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-other-companies-return-to-office-mandate/
See my Substack post from Feb 19, 2024 for a little about my own remote work evolution story and more details on remote work.
NOTE: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/real-estate/our-insights/americans-are-embracing-flexible-work-and-they-want-more-of-it
Read my book “Getting Through: A Systematic Approach to Being Understood” (ISBN: 9798987950807) for a detailed coverage of media richness theory and my communication method.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_by_wandering_around
See my March 4, 2024 Substack post for more on management by walking around and its need for an upgrade.
See my March 11, 2024 Substack post for more about brain connections in person vs remote.
See my March 18, 2024 Substack post for more on how deeper communication is possible when there is an in-person history involved.
Excellent article on a very relevant topic, Ed. Like you, I started working remote ahead of the curve in my profession. When the pandemic hit, my clients were already used to meeting with me online. There are several ethical and privacy concerns that initially needed to be addressed. I found that specific training for working online was invaluable - particularly from an ethical perspective.
Thanks for writing an insightful, thought-provoking article.