As we can see all around us, the current coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is creating a work from home revolution which is sending thousands and millions of employees around the world to basically work from their living rooms. However, remote working is nothing new. This COVID-19 pandemic has only raised the rate. Even before the coronavirus hit us, the number of white-collar employees seeking or opting for work from home was steadily rising. As the internet got faster and the online tools got better, the corporate workforce had started agreeing that working remotely allowed them to restore their coveted work-life balance. Hence, the top PGDM colleges in Delhi were already training their students to manage the work from home culture. The reality is that this trend has arrived earlier than previously anticipated.
Only a few will return to offices post coronavirus
The pandemic is showing companies and employees alike that certain jobs can be done remotely. And the benefits are available to both sides. Employees, for instance, have reported staying “happier” while working remotely as the reduced travel time has increased their daily family time and the increased flexibility has benefited their personal lives. Companies, at the same time, stated that hiring remote workers helped reduce their operating costs per employee and additionally brought in more cultural diversity to their teams as employees can now join from any geographic location without any restrictions. The situation therefore seems to be a win-win situation.
But working from home does not work without proper management
To illustrate this point, it would be apt to quote an example: A Chinese travel company called Ctrip recently said that it saved almost $1,000 per employee by sending a few of their employees to work from home. The productivity and well-being of these workers increased as well. But when they rolled the scheme out for the entire agency, the business collapsed like a house made of cards. This is what happened.
The employees of Ctrip started suffering from loneliness. And, without much human interaction, their productivity started suffering.
Globally too, work from home employees have often complained about being shunned away from professional opportunities.
Managers have also found it difficult to collaborate continuously with remote workers and have often felt the need to enforce office attendance.
The challenges are real. And they will not go away even when the coronavirus does. While companies will continue to want to hire remote workers and employees will grab the given opportunities, the onus will ultimately come down to the managers to close the loopholes and make the sides meet. This is what the top B-schools in Delhi NCR will prepare you for – viz., the work for home culture that will strengthen its grip post the coronavirus.
How to prepare for the work from home culture?
Presently, as a student of management, you will have to get accustomed to a few trends and pick up a few skills. This decade, all companies for sure will look for managers with work-from-home management experience. You will naturally have to prepare on these lines and focus on the following areas:
Firstly, practice inclusivity over virtual communication channels. If your team members are bound to feel neglected while working from home, it is your responsibility to make them feel included in the project. You must sharpen your video calling skills. You must learn how to get an informal discussion going over online channels. You must think of the best ways to replicate the physical office environment on to the digital world.
Secondly, you must place remote working productivity skills in your bag. This will help you in two ways. If you are sent home during a crisis to work from home, you can successfully maintain your own productivity. And you can also guide your team as a manager to increase their efficiency as well. The corporate world has spent the last century researching about on-premise productivity. Remote working productivity is currently a rare skill.
And thirdly, you must develop proficiency in online management tools. It can be Microsoft Office over the Cloud or Enterprise Resource Planning Software that most companies use. Your arsenal of technical skills that allow companies to go remote will determine the value of your candidature. In the bid to play catch up, not many companies will look to spend time behind training. So, if you come with the required skills, you will be the manager that everyone will want to hire.
It goes without saying, only the best PGDM colleges like Asian Business School (ABS) in Delhi NCR’s Noida will complement your work from home training and prepare you for the economy that will follow this pandemic. In fact, the Asian Business School already teaches the remote working nuances to its students as its entrepreneurial curriculum includes remote employee management as a strategy to build a business with limited resources. The adaptive ethos of ABS will also kick in here as the B-school is bound to train its aspiring managers around the current coronavirus crisis and make them job-ready despite the market condition. Far-sightedness and rationality are the keys here. The work culture will always change. It is all about how well you adapt.