What do you think is the most challenging situation the global corporates face due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Work from Home (WFH) is an option most corporates are trying out. However, I and many would agree that the situation is becoming more challenging every day.
Now, people are also calling it Work from Anywhere (WFA). This is because we can also work from anywhere, not only from home.
Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, the Lumry Family Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School, is a proponent of “Work from Anywhere” (WFA).
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Why “Work from Home” (WFH) will continue post-pandemic and in the future
In a recently concluded job-research summit, it is found that people prefer “Work from Home” to work in an office environment.
- Most workers want WFH. It is found that more than 57 percent of Americans want WFH. Every 2 in 3 persons want WFH. Only the 3rd person want to go back to the traditional on-site office full-time.
- Productivity has shot up with WFH. Almost 60 percent feel the productivity has been better during the lockdowns. Only 14 percent feel that productivity has fallen during the lockdowns. The rest of the people think that productivity remains the same.
- The stigma of work has fallen sharply. Almost 65 percent feel WFH is more acceptable now. Only 7 percent of the people feel that the impact of WFH got worse.
- Technology is available to help. Almost every average worker has invested some money to enable the facilities required for WFH. In addition, there has been a rise in patents filed on technologies for WFH.
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The new “Work from Anywhere” (WFA) is the future
Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, the Lumry Family Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School, had strongly worked to conceive and promote the idea of “Work from Anywhere” (WFA).
During the last ten-plus years, Prof. Chowdhury was automatically exposed to the idea of “Work from Anywhere” by contributing to his academic and research work while visiting his parents living in India. He is deeply involved in carrying out further studies in collaborations with the industries.
“… 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 …”
Prithwiraj (Raj) Chowdhury, Harvard Business Review.
Even before 2020, the idea of “Work from Anywhere” (WFA) has been growing among knowledge work organizations. The evolving technologies and Internet connectivity were the ingredients that worked as the supportive factors for the WFA concept. However, a question was raised, “Is there any need to go to the office and do the work in the presence of all others?”
The COVID-19 pandemic created a situation to find an answer to the above question. The workforce was forced to contribute their share of their official duty responsibilities remotely from their respective homes. Thus, the feasibility of “Work from Anywhere” was well-tested for almost fourteen months or more.
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Conclusion
The COVID-19 lockdowns gave the awkward opportunity to test the feasibility of the “Work from Home” (WFH) and, more appropriately, the “Work from Anywhere” (WFA) option for most office works. In some cases, WFH and WFA are not going to serve — these are the manufacturing industries. Otherwise, a hybrid WFH/WFA plus onsite work will be the future of work.
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Cross-references
- Prithwiraj (Raj) Chowdhury, “Our Work-from-Anywhere Future,” https://hbr.org/2020/11/our-work-from-anywhere-future
- Job Research Summit — a report of the World Economic Forum, https://twitter.com/wef/status/1399425587802947584
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#workfromhome #workfromanywhere #remotework #
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