After Years of Remote Work: What's Working, What We Missed, and What Needs to Change

The Remote Work Pivot Point: Where We've Come From and Where We Go Next

We are now a few years into our remote work experiment and while the remote work honeymoon period has faded, its benefits still shine. Unparalleled flexibility remains a gift, but increasing downsides have surfaced over time. Isolation drags even the most extroverted. Connection takes concerted effort. Engagement suffers without in-person collaboration. What first felt like freedom from commuting and flexibility has lost its shine. Zoom fatigue is real. Loneliness abounds. Engagement wanes. Turns out, humans aren’t meant to stare at screens in isolation forever. Even Zoom, the company who's growth was rooted in remote work, is starting a return to office campaign.

So, what have we actually learned about leading distributed teams? What’s working well that we should continue? And what needs to evolve? While the transition has brought undeniable benefits, it has also shed light on areas that demand our attention.

Flexible working arrangements are critical for making the workforce happier, healthier, and more engaged long term. However, the organizations of a few years ago are not prepared for this change, and now is the time for us to change the way we work and drastically shift our mindset and approach to leadership, management, and team delivery for remote work to become the norm in a way that still builds community and delivers value to our customers.

Companies and employees play a role in both the perks and pitfalls. Leaders must humanize remote work, not just digitize it. Employees should speak up about struggles and propose solutions. Because at its best, remote work allows fantastic work-life integration. With empathy on both sides, we can thoughtfully shape the next evolution — where flexibility remains while nurturing human bonds and culture. The magic is still there, if we create space for it. This new frontier continues to unfold.

In this article, we delve into what's working with remote work, what we might be missing, and the changes needed to make remote work a sustainable and thriving model, including:

• The positive aspects of remote work
• Why remote work is falling short of the dream
• Approaches for rethinking remote work through connections, better leadership, and higher performance

Remote work has proven to be a catalyst for positive change.

The remote work revolution has unlocked newfound flexibility, autonomy, and work-life integration that has made many healthier and happier. Eliminating commute stress and giving back hours of time has allowed people to invest in self-care, passions, and family. Remote workers report exercising more and improving sleep habits. They've discovered more stimulating hobbies. Caregivers have cherished being there for their kids' milestones. The comforts of home and flexible scheduling reduce anxiety. With geographic tethers cut, people have explored new places and lifestyles aligned with their priorities. The benefits absolutely extend beyond reduced transmission of illness—they’ve revealed whole new ways of living and working centered on freedom, flexibility and fulfillment. Remote work has enabled:

1. Flexibility and Commute Reduction: Remote work has granted individuals greater control over their schedules, enabling the opportunity for a healthier alignment between professional and personal life.
2. Access to a Global Talent: Organizations can tap into a diverse talent pool from around the world, fostering innovation and fresh perspectives and workers have been able to expand their access to new jobs from different markets, helping people find roles they didn't have access to before.
3. Cost Savings: Both employees and employers benefit from reduced commuting costs, office expenses, and overheads.
4. Environmental Impact: With fewer commuters and less office consumption, remote work has a positive impact on carbon emissions and environmental sustainability.
5. Business Tool Innovation: With new working arrangements, new technology and tools have helped scale and automate more of our work. While we all have a love/hate relationship with our productivity tools, when done right they are a true asset to delivery.

While remote work has brought about positive changes, there are areas that warrant a closer look.

Many employees would rather get a new job than return back to the office, yet, there are undeniable drawbacks that have become more apparent as remote work extends longer term. The constant isolation that comes from working remotely day after day can take a serious toll over time, often leading to increased feelings of loneliness and disconnection, especially for extroverted employees seeking more social stimulation. Building and maintaining connections with colleagues requires so much more ongoing effort and intention virtually compared to the natural bonds that form spending time together face to face. Collaboration inevitably suffers without the spontaneous energy, rapid problem-solving, and innovative brainstorming sessions that unfold organically when working alongside others in person.

Lack of regular face time and informal interactions can cloud communication, make reading personalities and social cues more challenging, and hinder relationship building between team members. Boundaries between work and personal life often start to blur as the two realities merge into one, frequently leading to an unhealthy "always on" mentality when you live where you work. An out of sight, out of mind tendency emerges causing anxieties about being forgotten or overlooked when not physically present with leadership or peers.

Unclear expectations frequently arise around core working hours, availability windows, and appropriate contact modes when working distributed. While the flexibility of remote work proves invaluable for many professionals, most also dearly miss the energy, camaraderie, sense of belonging and built-in structure that office environments naturally provide day to day.

For a growing number, the accumulating downsides and costs of sustained remote work have increasingly not felt worth it over the long term.

Additionally, remote work also introduces major challenges from a business, managerial and leadership lens. Sustaining company culture, norms and connection becomes exponentially harder without daily in-person touchpoints. Collaboration, innovation, and productivity face friction without the energy and serendipity of the office. Leaders are struggling to communicate transparently, provide aircover, coach remotely, and spot morale issues. Onboarding and integrating new employees smoothly is drastically harder through screens alone. Schedule coordination across global time zones proves complex. Even with more metrics available, it can be tricky evaluating work and productivity remotely. And managers untrained in remote leadership often default to old playbooks of micromanagement and surveillance, damaging trust and morale.

While remote flexibility provides many advantages, sustaining business performance, culture and team cohesion virtually has tested organizations unlike anything before.

Rethinking Hybrid Work and Re-invigorating our Work Life

So, what can we actually do about it? What solutions and changes can we make to make sure our people are

There are 3 keys that I think we need to improve to make our work situation more sustainable:

1. Building better connections
2. Changing our approach to leadership and management
3. Redefining employee expectations and delivery

1. Building Meaningful Connections through Remote Work

Building meaningful connections at work holds profound significance for both individual fulfillment and organizational success. Studies consistently underline the pivotal role of social interactions in enhancing job satisfaction, productivity, and overall well-being. A Harvard Business Review report revealed that employees who have strong social connections at work are not only more engaged but also demonstrate a higher level of performance. Additionally, Gallup research found that having a best friend at work can boost engagement levels by up to 50%. Such connections foster a positive work environment where employees feel valued, supported, and motivated, ultimately leading to increased job satisfaction and reduced turnover rates.

In remote work, the challenge lies in replicating the depth of these connections in a digital landscape. Virtual coffee breaks, team-building exercises, and non-work-related video chats provide avenues for personal interactions that transcend professional conversations, but I find that these in reality tend to miss the mark, especially for the more introverted crowd.

What I see work best is changing the way we recognize and show gratitude for other's accomplishments and efforts to deliver great work and rally around our organizations successes and shared mission to build relationships. 

What does this look like?

Recognition needs to happen more than on a yearly basis during our performance reviews. Creating a way for real time recognition and celebration of success between peers and management is essential. Many tools are out there right now trying to solve this problem like Nectar, WorkTango, and Assembly that can help with ongoing review, feedback, and celebration of our people. When you cheer others on, that can grow meaningful relationships between those that don't work together often. We strive for achievement, and recognition can help make sure we are on the right track.

Showcasing our work is another great way to build relationships. We want people to be proud of what they do, so giving them a chance to demo and share their work is a great way for people to show off and meet new folks while showcasing the value they provide. The more you demo and showcase what is happening, the more the collective network of the organization will find common ground and shared interests, helping build stronger cross-team relationships.

Lastly, people grow their relationships with others when they solve complex challenges as a team. Use problem solving and innovation time to help employees across the organization work to solve your toughest challenges together. By rallying around business objectives and the shared mission of the organization, you can build a workforce remotely that cares deeply about the success of the company while also building powerful and sustainable networks with one another through empowerment.

Building strong remote relationships is more than virtual happy hours and coffee chats - put your people in a place to be successful and collaborative, and strong relationships will flourish!

2. We Need Better Approaches To Leadership and Delivery

If your organization is failing to deliver well in a remote environment, look at your leadership, not at your people. Your leaders and subsequently your management style sets the tone for how your people will engage, deliver, and create a culture of success at work.

The problem is, the people we have in those positions likely haven't been trained or don't have the experience to lead a hybrid workforce the same way they lead an in person one.

The processes and hierarchy we had in place may not apply. So what can we do to change our approach?

Your Goals and Strategy Need to be More Transparent than Ever.

When we have shared alignment and goals, our people are going to find more purpose and connection to their work. Our remote workforce at times can feel like we are just doing our tasks at hand, without any connection to the greater mission.

As leaders, we need to be more transparent and decisive about our goals and our strategy than ever before. We need to share the reasons for our decisions and how we are succeeding toward our goals better than we ever have. When we achieve great things, we need to reward people appropriately for being a part of that journey as well.

Our strategy should be highly visible - that doesn't mean it can't change, but we should make the journey clear and update it as often as we need to.

And along the way, we need to give our people a chance to review and ask questions on our goals and strategy through feedback loops that are actually heard.

Performance Management Needs to Evolve

Remote performance management requires a nuanced and adaptable approach to effectively guide and support remote teams. Beyond traditional metrics and assessments, a more holistic and unique approach can empower remote employees for success. Regular one-on-one video check-ins provide an open space for transparent communication, discussing challenges, and setting goals. Embracing innovative tools for tracking progress and aligning performance with organizational goals ensures that remote performance management remains agile and adaptive to changing circumstances.

How can we make performance management better remotely?

• Master better one on ones with your people. They are now the most important part of management and leadership in a remote workplace.
• Your focus as a manager needs to be on outcomes, not on outputs. Help set delivery goals with your teams and people, and support them along the way. This means you shouldn't micro manage their time. Feedback should be about results-oriented approaches, not if someone was online or not during their lunch break.
• Build a more robust performance framework that helps your people get feedback from their customers, team members, clients, etc. As a manager, you can't have eyes and ears everywhere, and your people want freedom and autonomy. So put regular practices in place for feedback and performance measures that don't make your people feel micromanaged.

Change Your Approach to Employee Satisfaction and Growth

Our approach to people management and growth has to adapt with the times. While in person, we left it mainly up to individuals to build bonds across teams, find mentors, and build a strong relationship with their peers and bosses. Now, its not as easy. Here are 3 things that I think can revolutionize and empower employees to grow remotely:

1. Managers and Leaders Need to be More Available - Use a Calendly or other tool to create 15 minute blocks where your people can reach out and schedule time with you. Keep those blocks free and clear no matter what. When issues arise, people need to "stop by your desk" like they would in the office days. As a leader, I think open access is critical. Stop issues and challenges before they get too big, and be a voice for your people.
2. Create Mentorship Frameworks - Our managers are being asked to do too many things that can be conflicting. They are expected to grow their people, act as a coach, and get results delivered for the organization. I think that sets employees and management up for failure. People need three things to grow: Clear direction on what they need to accomplish, mentorship and coaching, and clarity on policies and guidelines to align to company culture and policies. So, create these networks! New and existing employees should have access to a group of mentors that they can reasonably ask questions on coaching or policy without fear of impacting their professional development. Build a strong network of mentorship opportunities, and your people will shine.
3. Create Transparent Objectives for Promotions and Employee Growth - STOP making promotion cycles this black box of politics. Promotions should be based off of simple, objective measurements. If your company performs at a certain level, you meet specific goals and challenges, and you meet the criteria for the next level, that should be that! In a remote world, lack of objective measurement I think stifles opportunity for those that are struggling to form the relationships or network while not in person. Every performance conversation should get right to the end goal. Stop asking for feedback, and start building a specific plan for promotion or growth with your people.

3. Remote Work Still Means Performing at a High Level

Lastly, with more freedom for the remote workforce comes more autonomy, and our employees need to use that autonomy to deliver better, not disappear into the shadows. In this article we discussed building better relationships for your people, and building better leadership and management approaches from there. Now, it is time for the employees and contributors to take responsibility and deliver incredible results!

So, how can you as a contributor perform your best when remote?

1. Over communicate what you are working on: Team members should make it a habit to provide regular updates on their projects, tasks, and milestones. This not only keeps teammates informed but also showcases transparency, commitment, and accountability. Overcommunication minimizes ambiguity and aligns the team's understanding, contributing to a cohesive and efficient workflow. By consistently sharing progress and challenges, remote workers ensure that their efforts are aligned with the team's goals, leading to more effective performance.
2. Learn how to ask for feedback in a timely manner: In a virtual setting, casual interactions that facilitate spontaneous feedback might be rare. You should proactively seek feedback on your work, whether through scheduled check-ins or by initiating discussions about your projects. Timely feedback not only helps in course correction but also displays an eagerness for improvement and growth. This willingness to receive input demonstrates adaptability and a commitment to self-development, both of which are crucial for sustained success in remote work.
3. Be the best listener and embrace curiosity: Listening better and asking insightful questions is a hallmark of exceptional remote performers. Since remote interactions can lack the depth of face-to-face conversations, it's essential to actively engage in discussions and ask pertinent questions that showcase a deep understanding of the subject matter. By doing so, you not only demonstrate your commitment but also glean valuable insights from your peers and leaders. Effective listening, combined with thoughtful questioning, fosters robust communication, strengthens relationships, and aids in making well-informed decisions.

Ultimately, the shift to remote work necessitates a culture of accountability where individuals take pride in our responsibilities and outcomes. As we exercise autonomy, we not only contribute to the success of the organization but also enhance our pride in our personal professional growth and development.

Where Do We Go From Here?

A few years into the remote work revolution, it's clear that while the model holds great potential, it's not without its challenges. Remote work has reshaped how we work and opened up a world of possibilities, but it also demands continuous adaptation.

Some organizations are going to demand that people go back into the office for fear they cannot adapt their model enough to keep up with a changing workforce. Long term, I think that businesses will need to be able to adopt their model and achieve the benefits of the global workforce. Those that can be agile in their approach and see their employees grow and succeed will have significant advantages over those who don't, but it takes a transformation of our management practices, strategy, and policy to make a remote workforce work for everyone.

What do you think?