Cathy Phillips, managing director at H&H agency, explores the arguments for and against working from home.

The debate over whether to return to the office rages on. In a recent survey by KPMG, it was revealed that 75% of CEOs predict people will have returned to the office full-time by 2026. Goldman Sachs and Netflix are just two companies that have said they’re already implementing an office-first policy.

And yet employees say they’re happier and more productive when they have a choice over where they work.

So why make the office compulsory?

Back in the noughties when open-plan offices were becoming more popular, it was assumed that the removal of spatial boundaries, like walls and cubicles, would naturally increase levels of interaction and collaboration.

The Royal Society proved this myth wrong in 2018, with a study that monitored the behaviours of employees at two organisations – before and after a switch from cubicle to open-plan office space. After the switch, face-to-face interaction fell by 72%. And despite colleagues being only a few feet apart, virtual interaction increased, with participants sending 56% more emails.

Rather than encouraging more in-person interaction and collaboration – the switch to open plan actually hampered it.

This was attributed to the fact that as humans, we seek psychological privacy. Open plan spaces cause us to mentally recreate physical boundaries in imaginative ways. Such as wearing headphones. Or getting our heads down to look extremely busy at our desks so that people don’t interrupt us.

This study also highlighted the fact that people choose to work virtually over face-to-face, even when they’re in the office. So, whether employees are working from home or in the office, a large proportion are virtual workers.  

So surely a focus on how to make virtual working more effective when it comes to productivity and collaboration is more constructive than simply removing the option to work remotely from people who find it hugely beneficial?

Virtual working requires different skill sets to face-to-face work

The term ‘virtual intelligence’ has been used by Forbes to describe the set of skills and behaviours that enable people to work effectively in a digital world. These are attributes that everyone can consciously improve.

The skill sets that contribute to virtual intelligence are ‘establishing rules of engagement’ and ‘building and maintaining trust’.

Rules of engagement define the agreed ways in which people connect virtually. What times of day, through which channels, for what purpose. How to clearly communicate availability, and protect downtime. What platforms and tools are available to meet the needs of any task, and how they are used consistently. Establishing these rules takes time and patience, due to diverse preferences. But once agreed, can make life so much smoother for everyone.

Building and maintaining trust takes two forms. Relational trust and competence-based trust. Relational trust comes from the belief that someone is looking out for your best interests. Competence-based trust comes from believing someone is capable and reliable.

These bonds are harder to build in a virtual working world as you can’t see someone actually doing their job, and there isn’t access to the usual body language cues and signals.

But it is still possible. For relational trust there need to be opportunities to connect socially in a virtual working world. To build competence-based trust people need to be transparent about what they’re working on and when it should be expected. Clear about when they’ll be available – and not. Timely with responses. And always do what they say they’re going to do. 

Making remote working work

Nurturing the ‘virtual intelligence’ of employees in our organisations may well address the issue with productivity and collaboration cited as the reason for an enforced return to the office for our biggest global brands.

By investing in these skill sets, working remotely could be just as, if not more productive than being in the office. And employees could still enjoy the incredible benefits that come with it.