Podcast transcript: WFA and WFH

Mark Charles Felstead speaks to the founder of Kopus Jason Allan Scott about WFA and WFH and how venues can benefit from the new normal.

Mark, Jason can you tell me about Remote Work Trends & Stats for 2021:

Jason :The big remote work shift started in March 2020 when the Covid-19 mobility restrictions started all over the world. This is reflected in the YoY search trend of “work from home” queries in Google US, that grew +309% in March 2020 vs. 2019, or the “remote work” 3X growth in April 2020 vs. 2019.

Mark, "what is the difference between. WFH VS WFA"

Jason :For most companies the transition to remote work in 2020 was rather a restrictive “work from home” one (rather the usually flexible “work from anywhere” one that remote work offers) that they hadn’t been planning to do and because of this, were not actually ready for, didn’t have the communication or collaboration policies nor the tools in some cases, neither a “remote work culture” in place.

However, they were able to overcome these initial challenges and ended-up having an overall positive WFH experience and expect to continue working whether remotely or in a hybrid mode after Covid, as many well known companies like DropBox, Zillow and Spotify that have seen an opportunity in this shift.

Before 2020 a movement was brewing within knowledge-work organizations. Personal technology and digital connectivity had advanced so far and so fast that people had begun to ask, “Do we really need to be together, in an office, to do our work?” We got our answer during the pandemic lockdowns. We learned that a great many of us don’t in fact need to be colocated with colleagues on-site to do our jobs. Individuals, teams, entire workforces, can perform well while being entirely distributed—and they have.

Mark: So now we face new questions: Are all-remote or majority-remote organizations the future of knowledge work?

Is work from anywhere (WFA) here to stay?

Jason: Without question, the model offers notable benefits to companies and their employees. Organizations can reduce or eliminate real estate costs, hire and use talent globally while mitigating immigration issues, and, research indicates, perhaps enjoy productivity gains. Workers get geographic flexibility (that is, live where they prefer to), eliminate commutes, and report better work/life balance. However, concerns persist regarding how WFA affects communication, including brainstorming and problem-solving; knowledge sharing; socialization, camaraderie, and mentoring; performance evaluation and compensation; and data security and regulation.

MARK - Tell us something interesting about Remote Work for our listeners, is this a new phenomena ?> 

Jason: A large-scale transition from traditional, colocated work to remote work arguably began with the adoption of work-from-home (WFH) policies in the 1970s, as soaring gasoline prices caused by the 1973 OPEC oil embargo made commuting more expensive. Those policies allowed people to eschew physical offices in favor of their homes, coworking spaces, or other community locations, such as coffee shops and public libraries, for occasional days, on a regular part-time basis, or full-time, with the expectation that they would come into the office periodically. Workers were often also given control over their schedules, allowing them to make time for school pickups, errands, or midday exercise without being seen as shirking. They saved time by commuting less and tended to take fewer sick days.

Mark, what are the Benefits

Jason: I’ve spent the past five years studying the practices and productivity trends of WFA companies. The upsides—for individuals, companies, and society—are clear.

Let me outline them briefly.

For individuals.

One striking finding is how greatly workers benefit from these arrangements. Many told me that they regard the freedom to live anywhere in the world as an important plus. For those in dual-career situations, it eases the pain of looking for two jobs in a single location.  Others talked about proximity to medical care for children, accommodating their partners, and the ability to enjoy warmer weather, prettier views, and greater recreational opportunities. Millennials in particular seemed captivated by the idea that WFA would allow them to become “digital nomads,” traveling the world while still employed. Before the pandemic-related restrictions, some companies, such as Remote Year, were aiming to facilitate that lifestyle, and some countries, such as Estonia and Barbados, have created a new class of employment visa for such workers.

For organizations.

My research also uncovered ample organizational benefits from WFA programs. For example, they increase employee engagement—an important metric of success for any company. 

Work-from-anywhere may reverse the brain drain that can plague emerging markets.

Some gains generated by WFA are more obvious. For example, fewer in-office employees means smaller space requirements and reduced real estate costs.

WFA programs also hugely expand an organization’s potential talent pool to include workers tied to a location far from that of the company. 

For society.

WFA organizations have the potential to reverse the brain drain that often plagues emerging markets, small towns, and rural locations.

Remote work helps the environment as well. In 2018 alone commute time averaged 27.1 minutes each way, or about 4.5 hours a week in the USA alone. Eliminating that commute—particularly in places where most people commute by car—generates a significant reduction in emissions.

Mark: but what about the Concerns that come from WFH and WFA? 

Jason: The office—with its meeting rooms and break areas and opportunities for both formal and informal interaction—has been a way of life for so long that it’s hard to imagine getting rid of and legitimate hurdles exist to making all-remote work not only manageable but successful.

However, the Covid-19 all-remote experiment has taught many knowledge-work organizations and their employees that with time and attention, those concerns can be addressed. And in the companies I’ve studied, several best practices are emerging.

Mark: Tell me about the true benefits of offices, like communication, brainstorming, and problem-solving.

Jason: When workers are distributed, synchronous communication becomes more difficult. Tools such as Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts can help for those working in the same or similar time zones but not for those spread farther apart. WFA organizations must therefore get comfortable with asynchronous communication, whether through a Slack channel, a customized intracompany portal, or even a shared Google document in which geographically distributed team members write their questions and comments and trust that other team members in distant time zones will respond at the first opportunity. One benefit to this approach is that employees are more likely to share early-stage ideas, plans, and documents and to welcome early feedback; the pressure to present polished work is less than it would be in more formal, synchronous team meetings.

MARK: Ok, tell me abut what you and your team have been working on. Kopus?

Jason: Kopus also helps find, book and pay for remote work spaces. 

Mark, BUT jason, offices bring - Socialization, camaraderie, and mentoring.

Jason: Yes, a major worry, cited by managers and workers alike, is the potential for people to feel isolated socially and professionally, disconnected from colleagues and the company itself, particularly in organizations where some people are colocated and some are not. This was one of the reasons we created Kopus to help communities to fight loneliness and bring people together. 

Another solution to the socialization problem is to host “temporary colocation events,” inviting all workers to spend a few days with colleagues in person. WE. at Kopus, have build an event function into the app to address this. 

Mark, Felstead: But what about venues, and especially venues?"

Jason: Let me shoot through Kopus as a glance. What do we do?

• Make extra cash/profit from existing rent, staff, tables, chairs, and rooms
• Use an easy-to-use management and booking solution that allows you to turn any space into a flexible workspace. 
• Simply list your space with Kopus 
• Kopus allows remote workers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and digital nomads to find and book flexible workspaces in bars, restaurants, and cafes.
• You already have space, tables, chairs, and rooms. You are already paying rent. 
• Kopus allows you to consistently book your (spaces) as flexible workspaces to attract new clientele - the large and growing remote workforce.
• Data research shows that 99% of workers want to continue working remotely and flexibly after the pandemic. 
• Kopus allows the host to connect directly to these workers to provide a flexible workspace solution that makes it easy. 
• Easy to book, easy to pay for via our app. 

• MARK: But tell us how does it work?

Jason:

Each location has a dedicated account manager 

• Your account manager will talk with you to understand your space, your offerings, as well as any, upsells you could offer like unlimited coffee and/or tea and you will be listed on our app.
• Kopus workers will book and pay for your desk, chair and/or room via the app so they can turn up and get to work.
• Your Kopus bookings will automatically sync into a dedicated Google calendar so your staff knows who to expect and when. There is no complex training, onboarding, or tech expertise required. 
• Need to remove a booking? No problem. Your dedicated account manager is at the end of a chat box in our app. Real humans, no bots. Just send us your requests and we will manage the rest. 
• You set the price for your space, users pay via the app and we send you the profits each week. Friday is payday!

THAT IS KOPUS 

Thank you for having me, Mark,on such a great podcast -

look out for the whole show coming soon on apple here -