With millions of folks suddenly working from home for the first time, some people are coming to a realization: They don't miss working in an office. It may be a small silver lining in the uncertain landscape of COVID-19, but it's something. If you're getting used to hanging with your dog and playing music through your home speakers from 9-5, we see you. If you've wondered, Well, why can't I keep working from home after COVID-19? then this post is for you. Chances are pretty good that there's a case to be made for you working from home after COVID-19.
1. Get ready to leverage your lockdown performance.
If you're lucky enough to have a gig at home during lockdown, we salute you. If you want to keep that job AND stay on the sofa post-COVID-19, we're here to help. First thing's first: treat this as a test run.
As a writer, I'm sometimes asked to turn in test pieces for gigs. Whether it's a writer's room in Berlin that wants a sample script episode about teenage werewolves (not the high point of my career) or WikiHow asking that I send them a sample how-to tip on tying a pair of shoelaces, I know that my work will be under the microscope. All that company really has to go on about how I'll fit their team is that quick little test script. If it hits, I'm in. You actually have a leg up from this. Your boss already hired you. Your work is solid. All you have to do is prove you can keep it that way in a new environment.
If you find yourself leaning into the remote work lifestyle, this is your perfect opportunity to prove you're up for it.
2. Anticipate the obstacles
What reservations should you expect from your employer? Here are some common managerial hesitations, how to prepare for them, and why you may be uniquely positioned to bypass them altogether:
Getting the ball rolling
It takes time and experimentation to learn new software and ways of working in a different environment. No lie there. Even if you already know everything about the logistics of working remotely in your field, it can still take time to get your personal workflow and mindset down for working at home.
Team Cohesion
If you work in an even mildly collaborative workspace, the nature of those collaborations are all going to change when you go remote. And that's not just about you personally. Your coworkers will likely have to make certain adjustments. Your connections and friendships in the office will change. This can make communications harder. That can impact results.
Productivity
Ah, the big kahuna. Of course the person or persons signing your checks will want to know you're not just slacking off with the clock running. How do they do that without the threat of leaning over your shoulder when you least expect it? Even the most relaxed bosses would not be doing their job well if they didn't take this question seriously. Trust is one thing. Zero accountability, however, is something else entirely.
Okay, let's tackle these.
Getting the ball rolling
Well, you kind of already got it going, didn't you? At the very least, you're a pro at video conferencing by now. You know your way around Zoom or whatever software your company decided to use for face-to-face digital meetings. That's going to come in handy.
Chek Creative has operated as a fully remote web development agency in Columbus for years. We've tried a lot of what's out there, and Zoom has always been one of our Top 5 Digital Tools for remote work. So we weren't surprised that everyone flocked to it in the current predicament. GitHub, the first tool on our list is geared specifically toward the web development industry, but the other four are universally useful. If you learn any of them, you can bring that to the negotiation table.
Do a little digging and get creative. Are there any other proven game changers as far as remote digital tools in your field? If you find something that would make you more effective, consider taking a course and getting certified through Coursera or Udemy.
Already being acquainted with how to work from home doesn't just mean you're up to speed and ready to hit the ground running (truthfully, a transition back to the office is more likely to waste company time). It also means that you've proven a degree of adaptability and reliability that should provide some peace of mind for your boss.
Team Cohesion
Again, your whole team has been getting used to remote life all at once. Sure, the cracks and potential issues may not have all shown yet, but you should have some idea of where any big issues lie. Also, even though it's unlikely your entire team will work from home after COVID-19, everyone will have learned a valuable lesson about what working remotely is like. Much like spending a summer or two in food service tends to make anyone a better tipper, so will your coworkers' experience out of the office make them more sensitive to what those working from home need in terms of updates, communications, etc. That can only help your team in terms of staying connected.
Also — this is a key point — while distance can make office relationships harder, it can definitely make them easier too. Not everyone works well together. That's just a fact, and we all know it. Creating a buffer for certain coworkers may actually contribute to increased productivity and morale all around.
Productivity
Noticing that you crank out better product reports in your PJs? Increased output and/or quality of work during the lockdown are great things to bring up to your boss when the time comes. Even if you haven't been quite as productive as you think you could be, you did only just get that ball rolling. Do you feel like you're settling into your groove now? Make it a conversation.
If you have reason to believe your work is improving and will continue to do so, share those reasons with the person signing your paycheck. Ultimately, they want the best out of you (and hopefully for you as well). Show how you'll deliver great results remotely, and you'll be making the decision easier for them.
As far as accountability goes, your track record will factor in. If you don't turn in work on time when you're at the office, convincing someone to let you do your thing with no oversight may be a hard sell. That said, there are plenty of time trackers and project management tools to keep remote workers on track. We use Harvest for time tracking, Basecamp for project accountability (they won us over from Trello for our specific needs, but both ares solid apps), and when it comes to keeping everyone in contact on resources and high-level strategy, we use Discourse to, well... to discourse. There are plenty of digital tools for keeping track of employees and monitoring what work is getting done. Still, the most important thing will be demonstrating trustworthiness in the first place.
3. Don't be afraid of a little compromise
Maybe there's an element or two of your job that you really can't deny requires a bit of in-person attention. That's okay! Address it. You might get what you want by presenting some alternatives.
So maybe you're needed in certain client meetings. Maybe your boss isn't comfortable with a fully remote situation. That's not the end of the world. How about proposing a few days a week to start? There may be more room for negotiation here than you think.
Take our team at Chek Creative, for instance. We're a remote web development company, but every Monday morning (obviously not during quarantine) we hop in our various vehicles and head over to COhatch (our fave network of coworking spaces). 99% of our work is done at home, so it's really kind of nice to be able to sit down for a half hour and have a coffee with the whole team. That weekly meeting is an easy way to touch base and deal with all our in-person needs for the week. It's a very small compromise, if you can even call it that. And even if you need to show up to your desk in a tie Monday through Wednesday, getting to work from home the rest of the week is probably a big leap from where you were in 2019.
The Bottomline
I happen to believe it's extremely rare to find someone who truly needs to be in an office the majority of the week. Working from home after COVID-19 ends is not some pipedream. Do the legwork for your employer. Show that you've considered the obstacles. Propose a situation that will benefit everyone. Keeping your work-from-home lifestyle after the pandemic is 100% possible. If you want to be that unshaven, robe-at-noon professional, now is probably the easiest time in modern history to make it happen.
