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Attributable to Rachel Mooney, Chief People and Culture Officer and Alastair Pooley, Chief Information Officer at Snow Software:

• If working remotely becomes working from anywhere, or some sort of hybrid workplace, what will organisations need to consider?
Rachel Mooney: “We need to consider hybrid because of the demands of individual roles. Different type of work (even down to the task level) has its optimal environment, e.g. reflective work requiring concentration for longer periods of time works better in a private space with minimum interruptions, whereas generating ideas or working across multiple perspectives works best in person with other people contributing. At Snow, we will be striving to provide the right environment for the role. This will involve working from anywhere and working from a Snow office as needed.”

Alastair Pooley: “The big question is how to you manage the mixed scenario when only some people are physically present. With everyone remote it’s a leveller – everyone has to work hard to communicate. However with a hybrid workplace there is a risk that those who are remote on a particular day end up excluded. On-premise employees may end up receiving preferential treatment simply because managers can see them and what they are doing all day, while remote staff may not be able to prove themselves. Organisations will need to think about how they can measure performance by output, how they will encourage communication and what technology is available in the offices to bring remote workers into meetings and discussions.”

• What might stop people from working remotely?
Rachel Mooney: “Other than the individual demands of the role, we see two things emerging. Personal preference where some people just enjoy the energy of being in an office more than being at home and secondly, people’s set up at home. For individuals who have a desk, a quiet room and privacy, working from home can be wonderful. For others who share a living space with mates or who have a busy and noisy household, working from home can be unproductive and frustrating.”
Alastair Pooley: “The lack of social contact, the fear of missing out on key information and the challenge of your contribution not being recognised could all drive people away from remote work.”

• How can organisations manage risk for remote/hybrid workers?
Alastair Pooley: “The loss of many of the normal security controls such as firewall and network security require an increased focus on endpoint security and the use of strong identity controls. Zero Trust security, an approach which combines both of these elements has become a really popular approach for remote workers as it makes fundamental assumption that you are not trusted until you can provide proof. That proof is about a strong sign-on process using more than one factor and by providing the state of the device you are connecting from.”

• What are the top three things to consider when working remotely?
Rachel Mooney: “Having the right set up so that you can work comfortably from a physical perspective. It is also important that you are doing tasks that can be done remotely and the load on you to ‘make it work’ isn’t too excessive. Lastly, it is crucial that people feel connected to the work community and feel like they belong. This is harder to do remotely, but is critical for everyone and a key part of any line managers role in the future.”

Alastair Pooley: “Communication tops the list - how will you collaborate and engage with other employees? Organisations need to invest in this area and ensure their staff can be productive. Second is security, how have you changed your approach and re-evaluated your security. Third is how will you try to build your organisation culture to promote engagement with the employees – I’d add this is not an easy challenge to solve.”

• A year on since the first UK lockdown, what has changed? And what should organisations be doing to prepare for hybrid (mix of remote and in-office) working to become the norm?
Rachel Mooney: “For Snow, trust in each other has grown as we have all worked together to keep customers and or business healthy and stable. This trust has translated into more flexible working for people and great appreciation for the work others do across the company. Our psychological boundaries around what is and isn’t to be talked about with colleagues has changed – now we talk about our mental health and wellness. We are better at expressing our needs around connection with each other and we are more articulate about the role of belonging in job satisfaction. I see these as all very positive things, but they have been born out of a very tough experience for people where resilience has been sorely tested.”

Alastair Pooley: “Remote work is here to stay, people and organisations have proved it can work and after such an extended period it’s hard to see everyone returning to the office five days a week. With that in mind, organisations should be thinking about how they can deliver a hybrid working scenario tackling the challenges of performance management, communication and culture.”