The IADS attended the following Vitra Session on 11 March 2021 which considered the pros and cons of working from home or returning to the office at a time when even large companies are polarised on the issue, some abandoning physical offices altogether while others put in place incentives to lure employees back to the office. What we at IADS have called “hybrid working”, Vitra label “distributed work” and make the point that if this model represents the future, then it needs serious reflection, innovative organisation and clear communication.

Vitra Session, 11 March 2021 on “distributed work”

What: A one-and-a-half-hour event by Vitra about “distributed work”, working from home, remote work, shifts in office work …

Why it is important: All companies are having to adapt to new work patterns and expectations as a result of covid.

Distributed work

Approaches to remote work appear to be quite varied: at one extreme, companies are encouraging employees to work from home and are actively reducing their office space; at the other extreme, companies are insisting that employees return to the office as soon as possible. Arguments exist to defend either position, but the consensus would appear to favour a “hybrid” version, with elements of remote and office work.

Only 10% of New Yorkers are apparently back in their offices so employers are using nurseries, free cab rides etc. to entice people back.

The problem with hybrid work is that it may come with some inequalities which leave some people out. Some categories of workers have no choice.

For Vitra, the work environment will influence us, whether this is at the office or at home. Therefore, it is important to take the challenges of hybrid work seriously and find pragmatic solutions. For example, planning the week ahead can be more important than it used to be. Also the facilities at work and at home need to be carefully thought out. Trust is easier maintain face-to-face and may erode at a distance.

There is a paradigm shift: we need to value people for their work and not for the time they spend doing it. It also requires a shift in leadership to give the right tone which employees will follow.

A tripartite discussion between Antje van Dewitz, CEO of Vaude, Professor Gianpiero Petriglieri of INSEAD, and Nora Fehlman from Vitra came to the conclusion that distributed work requires a clear an specific set of rules. In general, offices have not been designed for collaboration. Tools used at work today have changed. Whereas existing teams may work satisfactorily at a distance, interdisciplinary work is more complicated: silos need to be broken down which means the office dynamic needs changing.

The manager plays a key role, perhaps more so than the architecture or the environment of work. But distributed work represents an opportunity to be clear on the advantages of work from home and the advantages of work in the office. It has also opened people up to digital transformation. For example, going home at 5pm does not mean that work stops at 5pm.

Several changes will probably remain after covid:

• Communication is key. It should be regular. This will last after a return to “normal”.
• The importance of the role model, in particular in leadership.
• Consciously orchestrating work patters, such as harmonising home and work balance.

The authors of The Decision Book, Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschaeppeler explored what has changed in decision making with covid. When we have no access to comparable data and the impact of a decision is important, then we make what they call “hard choices” which have no definitive answer. In a remote setting with little contact with others, we are alone and those decisions become harder. While the consideration of risk is fairly well-known, under conditions of uncertainty we confront situations known as “black swans” such as Pearl Harbour or 9/11.

read also: leading teams digitally

Gill Parker and Colin Macgadie of BDG architecture and design used their experience to explore some of the lessons of covid for the creativity of a dispersed team. Lessons involve:

• More listening
• Less travel although face-to-face remains indispensable
• Fluid and flexible teams, a characteristic which may last after the pandemic

read also: can a dispersed team be creative?

Professor Gianpiero Petriglieri of INSEAD drew lessons from the session as a whole:

• Retention of employees and loyalty is not a question of rewards or money but, importantly, it is the promise of learning. Can this be retained in a remote context?
• We need to keep a broad focus on productivity and learning. This requires people to remain connected.

read also: Cultivating culture without the office ground

Vitra offered its own perspective through an e-paper on distributed work

read also: The e-paper about the future of shared spaces