Working from home has certainly its advantages when it comes to concentrating on tasks and working efficiently, step by step.  That sounds wonderful and promising. But is it all just another ploy to save costs?

„We’ll have to try it out and see if it work? But what happens if it doesn’t work? Will we then be seen as old-fashioned and out of touch? It’s best to seek support right away to deal with it successfully. There are plenty of specialists on the market who can help.“

These are just a few of the thoughts going through minds of entrepreneurs‘ right now in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis.

Home office for everyone

In May 2020, Facebook and Google announced that all employees would continue to work from home until the end of the year – Twitter has even gone even further. After the crisis, employees will be allowed to work from home permanently if they are in a role that allows it and they wist to do so. (according to the short message service Twitter).

These actions are now seen as revolutionary – but are they really?

Abolition of working from home

In 2016, the following headline appeared in the all media outlets: Yahoo abruptly abolishes working from home for all employees. The media called it a „leadership failure.“ At the time, CEO Marissa Mayer justified the decision at the time by saying that employees had to be physically present at the company in order to work successfully with others for the good of the company.

But what is the right way to keep up with the times in terms of modern working environments?

5 key questions for home office Working

Below are my 5 key questions for companies deciding whether or not to introduce permanent homeworking:

• Which roles, tasks and activities enable employees to work from home? Is the equipment available to enable efficient and productive home working from home on a permanent basis?
• What is the corporate culture of my company? Does it support remote working/team management?
• Which ag groups are represented in my company and what are my employees‘ life situations? Is remote working currently important or does teamwork take precedence?
• What tools have I provided my managers with to enable to lead their teams remotely?
• Are processes digitised to such an extent that it is possible to work from home on a permanently?

And now?

As an entrepreneur, if I would advocate such a mode of flexible working if I could answer all these questions in a way that working from home make sense. However, if I have any doubts, I would avoid it for the time being and focus on my „problem areas„.

Even at the gym, you sometimes need a personal trainer to design an effective workout programme tailored to your body.

I see it in the same way in companies – on the one hand, management needs a strategy and measures for management to be able to work flexibly, and on the other hand, employees often need support to work efficiently and successfully from home, but this support must be tailored to the individual.