A defining moment in business history

As COVID-19 becomes an increasing concern, the business world is becoming more and more impacted. The stock market is tumultuous, major conferences around the globe are being cancelled, and companies are restricting non-essential travel for their employees. All of this, of course, is in addition to more rigid remote work policies being put into place. For example, Apple’s relationship with its offices in China is so close that Apple typically shuttles about 50 executives back and forth between California and China every day—something they are no longer able to do given the cancellation of flights to China due to COVID-19.

So as a business leader, how do you address COVID-19 so that it doesn’t cause business disruption? It’s difficult when major events such as Google I/O, Facebook F8, GDC, Collision Toronto, and Mobile World Congress are being cancelled at an almost daily rate. However, there are proactive steps you can take to establish a COVID-19 readiness plan. Harvard Business Review has a very thoughtful article on this subject. Sequoia Capital has shared advice on dealing with business consequences with their portfolio company founders and CEOs.

With the global concern around COVID-19, if your organization is creating a more structured remote work policy for the first time, we have the answers you need in one place. These guidelines and best practices will also hold true for any situation (i.e. public transportation closures or strikes, weather, sickness, etc.) that may prevent or make in-office work difficult.

What is remote work? Remote work means the flexibility to work from anywhere outside the traditional office setting, whether due to travel or distance to the local office, or by choice. Employees who work remotely might do so 100% of the time or part of the time. Some companies maintain a team of remote or distributed workers, while others call upon a mix of office workers and remote workers.

Why does remote work matter?

Today, more companies are incorporating flexible jobs and remote work into their businesses as a response to the increasing distributed workforce. It’s no wonder the concept of remote––or flexible––work is on the rise.

Fuze’s report, Breaking Barriers 2020: How CIOs are Shaping the Future of Work found that 83% of workers feel they do not need to be in an office to be productive. Moreover, 60% of the App Generation (ages 15-18) and half of Millennials feel their smartphone and laptop are the only essential tools for getting their job done. And companies are listening. According to Global Workplace Analytics, 40% more of U.S. employers offer flexible or remote work options today than they did five years ago. Research from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy has found that employees become 13% more productive after working from home for an extended period of time.

You can learn more about the evolution of remote work here.

It’s not just about the technology, it’s about the culture

Remote-work preferences are creating a new work paradigm where employers must provide flexible work options to attract top talent and also acknowledge how and when employees work best.

That said, optimizing the performance of remote workers takes deliberate effort. At Fuze, we are huge proponents of practicing what we preach and have worked closely with our employees to create a positive and efficient remote work culture. The Fuze platform has played a critical role in creating seamless communications and frictionless, high-quality collaboration experiences across voice, video, and messaging regardless of location.

But the technology alone is not enough. To truly foster a culture of remote work, organizations need to pair technology with other key elements: