WFA according to HBR
>>Even the esteemed Harvard Business Review falls into the trap of confusing remote working with work from anywhere. But in the rapidly evolving world of remote working, ‘Our Work from Anywhere Future’ is still an excellent primer for those on all sides of the discussion.<<
When the Harvard Business Review publishes an article, people listen. In the article ‘Our Work from Anywhere Future; best practices for all-remote companies’, the author Raj Chowdhury provides a comprehensive overview of remote working. It’s evolution, the benefits and the challenges.
In the words of Raj Choudhury…
“The pandemic has hastened a rise in remote working for knowledge-based organizations. This has notable benefits: Companies can save on real estate costs, hire and utilize talent globally, mitigate immigration issues, and experience productivity gains, while workers can enjoy geographic flexibility. At the same time, concerns include how to communicate across time zones, share knowledge that isn’t yet codified, socialize virtually and prevent professional isolation, protect client data, and avoid slacking. Research into work-from-anywhere (WFA) organizations and groups that include the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Tata Consultancy Services, and GitLab (the world’s largest all-remote company) highlights best practices and can help leaders decide whether remote work is right for their organizations.”
I’d hesitate to call it a remote playbook, but it’s certainly a remote primer and a must read.
In my opinion the author does what many are doing as our ways and places of working continue to evolve, he confuses Work From Anywhere (WFA) with Remote Working. For me, WFA is a subset of Remote Working, but you don’t need to be a digital nomad moving between cities and countries exploring, learning, and taking advantage of life with a laptop and mobile phone. Remote working can as easily be someone working from home on a regular basis, or someone who works from ‘third spaces’, using different environments to spark creativity and drive personal productivity.
Bottom line, remote working - including work from anywhere - will be a powerful and influential way of working, and this article provides some excellent analysis, tips and thinking that will help you understand how you will make it work for you, and for your employer.