James Bowles hosted a panel of industry experts for a conversation on Working from Anywhere, how to support and secure your virtual workforce. The panel featured John Riordan, Director of Support at Shopify; Máire Sogabe, Cyber Security Leader; and Pete Rawlinson, CMO of Workvivo.
Across the session we examined the challenges and opportunities that working from anywhere creates for companies, individuals and government. The central question was simple: “is a fully remote office possible?” And if it is, how do you actually put it into practice?
It is an urgent question that businesses were asked without warning. Covid-19 pushed many organisations straight into the deep end of remote working. We compared the differences and difficulties companies may face through voices like John Riordan of Shopify, who has always operated a remote model, versus Pete Rawlinson, who has had to adapt to this ‘new normal’ and expects a hybrid model to become standard. Maire Sogabe also shared her perspective on culture and how to keep a strong company culture alive while working remotely.
We set out to find whether some businesses will ever return to the standard five-day office routine, what effect this pandemic will have on the office and which model will work best going forward. The shared view was that companies will need to adopt a new hybrid model to keep the very best talent, who now expect flexibility. A fully remote model can work and has worked – only time will tell how mainstream fully remote businesses become, with collaboration a major concern.
Panellists worked through many scenarios and took questions from the audience. A clear theme emerged right away: how companies will adapt to these new times and how they will preserve the culture they worked so hard to build. With physical interaction gone, how do you keep employees happy in this new environment and protect their day-to-day well-being? Culture matters enormously, and it calls for a new leadership style built around trust.
Elaine Deehan, a Leaders of Tech member and former panellist, raised an excellent question that sparked a big discussion. She asked about people just starting their careers with less workforce experience. The shared view was that building a strong network is essential! Networking is easier than ever thanks to access to groups, communities and leaders worldwide, so our advice is to get involved!
Tips include making time to reach out to people who can have a serious impact on your career. For leaders and managers, it is crucial to build this into each employee’s development plan and to coach, mentor and share tips and tricks on how to build a strong network!
A few highlights from the event:
"Culture is invisible in the workplace but you can feel it and if it is good it is smooth sailing” Máire Sogabe - Cyber Security Leader
"You don’t wish to go back to the office when you are deliberately remote, in a sense you’re not looking over the wall at what you had” John Riordan - Shopify Director of Support
"We’ll see a movement towards a hybrid model but face to face interactions can’t become an occasion" Pete Rawlinson - CMO of Workvivo
“Virtual culture happened overnight before companies had the chance to acclimatise”
“Trust in your workforce will become more important than ever, management must learn to adapt a new style and trust that their staff are doing all tasks at hand without overseeing it physically. The last thing you want when a manager calls is to feel dread”
I want to thank our excellent panellists for their time and for sharing their stories, insights and experience with our community – thanks to Máire Sogabe, Cyber Security leader, John Riordan of Shopify and Pete Rawlinson of Workvivo. A huge thanks as well to every attendee who took time out of their day to tune in. Thank you.
Here you can watch the full webinar