Remote working could become ‘new normal’
Pandemic’s effects on offices could linger
On March 17, the Progress Fund, a nonprofit lender to small businesses, convened a board meeting at its Greensburg conference room.
Concerns about the fast-spreading COVID-19 virus had already prompted many companies to ask employees to work from home, and Gov. Tom Wolf was urging nonessential businesses to close.
Because it’s a banking enterprise deemed essential by the state, Progress Fund’s small staff of five is authorized to continue operations from its office on West Pittsburgh Street. Three directors phoned in for the mid-March board meeting, and those who showed up “bumped shoulders and got to business,” said David Kahley, president and CEO of the fund.
They also nibbled on pastries from the White Rabbit Cafe and Patisserie — a Progress Fund borrower which, at that point, had closed its dine-in facilities under advisories to stop the virus transmission, but still offered takeout.
“We wanted to spend a little money with them,” Mr. Kahley said.
As a strong proponent of in-person team collaboration, he was gratified some board directors came to the office for the meeting.
“Quite frankly, I think we need the energy of others in the room,” he said. “We get a lot more than we admit from the strength of the group.”
For millions of enterprises now operating with remote workers, the notion that business is best accomplished in a central office is undergoing an abrupt and unexpected test.
With laptops, smartphones and all kinds of virtual meeting technology linking workers and their managers, some businesses are discovering they may not need as much up-close-and-personal interaction as they once thought.
“This is a moment in time we’re going through that’s very unusual,” said Rachel Gogos, owner of brandiD, a digital marketing firm she’s run out of her Peters home for 11 years.
“We may go back to normal, or there could be a new normal.”
For business leaders who have
been reluctant to implement work-from-home policies, “This has sort of forced their hand,” Ms. Gogos said. “And I’m hoping a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised.”
Ms. Gogos, who formerly worked in marketing for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and in the office of thenBoston Mayor Thomas Menino, believes there’s value added from interacting in person and engaging in “that human contact” such as a handshake (in the precoronavirus era).
But for her current business, she rarely has to meet with anyone face-to-face.
Her team is scattered around the country and they serve clients worldwide.
“People are surprised by how much we collaborate and talk on a virtual network,” she said.
When she has to have a “difficult conversation” with a colleague or client about a budget or other sensitive issue — something typically dealt with behind closed doors in a traditional office setting — she picks up the phone or does a one-onone video call rather than send an email.
“I want them to see my face, and I want to see their reaction,” Ms. Gogos said. “I don’t want a written conversation to be misinterpreted.”
Forced family togetherness
For the past couple of weeks, Ms. Gogos’ new reality has been dealing with technology glitches as systems become overtaxed by so many people working from home and students trying to access online classes.
She uses Zoom for video conferences. During the first week that most workers were telecommuting, “it kept dropping off 30 to 40 minutes into a call,” she said.
She’s also adapting to having her daughters, Alexa Kartofilis, 12, and Zoe Kartofilis, 14, in the house all day.
Her husband, Dino Kartofilis, a civil engineer and senior leader for a construction company, is also working from home much of the time.
During a recent video call that Ms. Gogos convened with her business team, Alexa popped into the home office unexpectedly. She suggested her daughter approach the computer screen and say hello to her colleagues.
It served as a good lesson about what goes on in mom’s office, Ms. Gogos said.
“She knew I did video calls, but for the first time, she saw other people in the room. This is giving everybody’s kids a better opportunity to understand the work their parents do.”
To minimize daily disruptions to her work while the family hunkers down at home, Ms. Gogos has been drafting schedules on Sunday nights that include school lessons, exercise and chores.
Though her daughters are old enough to do those things without constant supervision, “I need to help them stay on task,” she said. “Alexa has been spending time online looking for puppies. So that’s where the distraction comes in for me.”
In normal times — when entire families aren’t sheltering in place — Ms. Gogos said working from home can be extremely efficient if managers provide frameworks for checking in and communicating with their teams.
“It’s up to leaders to provide structure,” she said.
A Harris Poll survey conducted earlier this month for job and recruiting site Glassdoor found 60% of employees in the U.S. were confident they can efficiently do their job remotely.
Of the nearly 1,000 survey participants, 50% said they would be equally or more productive working from home.
Asked about challenges of working remotely, respondents mentioned watching TV, stress about managing child care and lack of human interaction.
Serving the clients
At the Progress Fund, employees for years have been provided flexibility to work remotely when needed, Mr. Kahley said.
There are benefits to telecommuting, he acknowledged — including the fact that traditional offices come with their own set of distractions.
“Sometimes half of Mondays are taken up by everybody talking about the Sunday football game,” he said.
A reason the fund is maintaining office hours during the pandemic is that much of its business requires original paper documents and signatures.
“We don’t want to leave our clients in the lurch,” he said.
Those working on site are taking precautions against the virus by “washing hands a lot” and practicing social distancing.
As for the White Rabbit, the nearby cafe that Mr. Kahley likes to patronize, it closed March 21, two days after Mr. Wolf ordered all “non-life-sustaining” businesses to shut down.
It will be on hiatus “until everything gets back to normal,” according to a post on its website.