april2021 - 34

BRIDGING THE GAP

What Is Your Long-Term
Remote Work Strategy?
WE SEE SIGNS of people returning to the office. You may connect via video conference
with a client, peer or solution provider and see their office space behind them rather than
a home office. Maybe you're back in the office yourself. It's not exactly a " return to normal "

JIM BOOMER, CPA.CITP

CEO, Boomer Consulting, Inc.
Director, Boomer Technology Circle™
jim.boomer@cpapracticeadvisor.com

but a gradual shift into the new future of work. And no matter where you're working as
you read this, we need a long-term strategy for remote work/work-from-home.
THE PANDEMIC ACCELLERATED AN EXISTING
TREND
Whatever your experience with
remote work or working from
home before 2020, the pandemic
certainly accelerated an existing
trend. According to Gallup, 39%
of employees worked remotely in
some capacity in 2012. By 2016,
that number had grown to 43%.
Another poll during the height of
restrictions on business and schools
showed that 51% of Americans were
working remotely 100% of the time.
While some people want to
return to the office, it's clear that
the work-from-home trend is here
to stay. When Gartner surveyed
127 company leaders, 82% of
respondents said they intend to
permit remote work at least some
of the time even after the pandemic,
and 47% said they intend to allow
people to work remotely fulltime going forward.
That requires a strategy
to set employees up for success with the right tools
and processes.

had sitting on their desks home.
They had to make it work. Now,
we've had a year to consider what
is and isn't working.
Here are the technology categories
you need to consider:
■ Remote access. Employees must
be able to easily access all the
applications, documents and data
they need to perform their jobs
effectively.
■ Workflow and project managem e n t . V i s i b i l it y i s c r uc i a l .
Cloud-based workflow and project
management applications provide
that visibility and allow people to

TECHNOLOGY
When firms were
forced to start
working from home
last year, many simply
had employees take
whatever technology they

APRIL 2021 ■

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keep track of tasks, projects and
deadlines.
■ Communication. Video conferencing applications and webcams
allow people to communicate as
effectively while working from
home as they do in the office.
You should also look into instant
messaging or chat tools to facilitate
quick conversations and team
building.

PROCESSES
Your firm has a stack of processes
that people use to get work done
daily. But how well do those processes work while your team is
remote?
We've talked to several firms
that realized their digital, paperless
processes had a few gaps when people
weren't in the office. Identify those
pain points, address them and ensure
everyone in the firm follows the
firm preference rather than their
individual preferences.

MANAGEMENT
AND LEADERSHIP
Technology and processes for remote
work are readily
available. The real
challenge tends
to be in management and leadership. When people
work remotely, they
can feel disconnected

from the firm and their coworkers.
Communication is crucial, and it
needs to be frequent, transparent
and a two-way street.
Schedule frequent, informal
check-ins with employees. Conduct
pulse surveys and allow people to
share concerns and ask questions.
Pay attention to techno-stress in
your team. Many people have been
living in front of a screen for the
past year. They're overwhelmed by
the blurring of work and home and
feel like they have to be available
24/7. Make sure they're taking time
off, even if they're not actually going
on vacation. Leaders need to model
this behavior in order to ensure their
teams prioritize their physical and
mental well-being.
Enabling remote work for the long
haul isn't as simple as letting people
choose whether to return to the office
or continue working from home. You
have to consider your firm's goals,
organizational culture, technology,
processes and mindsets. Evaluating
these areas will help you create a
sustainable work-from-home culture
in which people can do their jobs
efficiently and bring their best selves
to work wherever they are. ■

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april2021

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