DXC Leading Edge Senior Researcher & Advisor Dr. Alex Kokkonen, alongside Researcher & Advisor Krzysztof Daniel, co-authored a paper on how remote working can boost productivity and offer costs-savings.

"Remote work is different from in-office work — it is not just about the network, a camera or a microphone," they state.

Getting information requires effort. Managers cannot easily inspect work, and they cannot directly intervene - states the paper. "Employees mix work and personal life as they see fit, and they become more individual in their behaviors about how to accomplish their work — which may be seen as less professional," they suggest.

"In addition, a remote environment tests trust. While trust between leadership, managers and employees is fundamental to collaboration in an organization, working remotely exacerbates trust issues. In-office colleagues may perceive remote colleagues as less trustworthy; the in-office workers haven’t had the opportunity to get to know the remote workers, and don’t see them putting in the hours and effort."

Recruiting best talent from anywhere in the world

But the real revolution, the paper cites, is triggered by an almost invisible change: an employee can apply to any remote-friendly company, not just companies that are in reasonable proximity. That means that the most attractive companies can recruit the best talent from around the world.

Enabling remote working

According to Alex and Chris, remote work requires finding what practices will help accomplish goals in a different and remote environment. Yet, this can prove difficult - and so four steps are suggested to enable change:  

• Send the right message
  The most effective way to communicate your intention to embrace remote work is for executives to start working remotely themselves, immediately. 
   
• Automate feedback loops
  Remote communication is too expensive to repeatedly ask for progress reports. Bind your strategy to key performance indicators (KPI) and automate the measurements.
   
• Empower your management team
  First, managers must be able to choose the approach that is best suited to their work. They are the experts on their environment, so the best approach is to avoid mandating a single set policy. Instead, relax policies that force employees to either be in the office or work completely remotely.
   
• Empower the workforce
  To empower the remote workforce, it is important to teach time management, embrace knowledge management and provide a good work environment.

Working remotely using best practices 

Concluding the paper, Alex and Chris state: "It is clear that substantial ongoing research is still needed to identify the full set of remote equivalents of in-office management and work practices. But before that happens, you should already be working remotely using the best practices you can find."

Read the full DXC paper here. 

Solving pressing business issues 

Dr. Alex Kokkonen works with customers via research-led advisory interventions to help solve some of their most pressing business issues. 

With over 25 years of experience, Dr. Alex Kokkonen brings extensive international and multi-industry experience from working in a variety of multi-disciplinary leadership positions and diverse cultural settings for major blue-chip companies. She has driven IT and business research concepts into business transformations and holds two doctorates, one in IT and one in business.

Prior to joining DXC Technology, Dr. Alex Kokkonen held a variety of leadership roles, most recently in KPMG’s CIO Advisory and Technology Enablement practice.

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