Who you work with is more important than where

We know that the pandemic changed how and where we work.

Many companies have changed their policies on remote work, allowing people to come back to the office or continue remote work or some combination of both.

Given that new reality, there’s an accompanying discussion about the productivity of remote workers. It’s something we’ve been talking about at FiveFour and in our conversations with clients.

There’s quite a lot of research coming out on this topic. And the truth is that it’s probably an evolving situation as business and the workplace continue to adapt.

I know that my thinking has also evolved. Remote work is a more tenable prospect for the people I work with.

So, I was reassured with a tidbit in an article by Marcus Buckingham of ADP Research Institute – People + Performance.

I’ve mentioned Buckingham before as he’s a leading writer and researcher in the world of employee engagement. This article, published by MIT Sloan Management Review, is titled “The Top 10 Findings on Resilience and Engagement.”

You can read the entire article here.

The findings were based on a global study of resilience and engagement, which surveyed more than 26,000 people in 25 countries. The purpose of the study was to identify ways for business leaders to stay engaged and resilient during difficult times and how to build those traits in their employees.

There’s a lot of interesting information but one of the ten points addressed remote work.

“Office space isn’t essential,” Buckingham wrote.

The survey found that even before the pandemic, the most engaged workers were those who worked remotely four days a week and in the office one day a week.

Twenty percent of virtual workers were fully engaged in 2020, and 18 percent were highly resilient, according to the study.  In comparison, just 11 percent of office workers were fully engaged, and 9 percent were highly resilient.

That probably goes against pre-pandemic conventional thinking and doesn’t apply to every business situation. But it fits with a lot of what I’m seeing on the ground today.

And it goes to the core principles at FiveFour. The highest-performing companies work in a culture that stresses teamwork and a shared sense of purpose.

“How the work is done and with whom people work are both important,” Buckingham writes. “But organizations can stop worrying about whether virtual work is detrimental to teamwork. Feeling like part of a team is a state of mind, not a state of place. Engagement and resilience are about who you work with, not where you’re working.”

Well put.

Book a call and we can talk more about how to build a culture of teamwork in your company.