Professor Markus Biehl has been partially working from home for years.
Prior to COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic, Biehl, who teaches at the Schulich School of Business, would travel to campus a few days a week to teach and work from home on the other days, where he would perform tasks such as conducting research.
Biehl said he thinks a similar model will be ideal for many sectors looking to have more of their employees working from home in the future.
“I really enjoyed the mix of working from home and going to work because it gave me both the social interaction, which is very energizing, but also the intense focus time, which you need to be productive on projects,” he said.
John Trougakos, an associate professor at University of Toronto, who is an expert in organizational management, agrees that a hybrid model will likely become more common for many sectors moving forward.
“Ideally, in my mind, once we pass the medical crisis, this could be a great opportunity for companies to shorten work days or shorten the number of days that people have to come in. It could help a lot of issues like commute issues across the country that we face,” he said.
From an organization perspective, Trougakos said this means employers will have to reinvent work models and clearly communicate job expectations to their employees.
When it comes to working from home, he said a lot of employers’ discomfort has traditionally stemmed from the fact that they often have a difficult time measuring the productivity of their employees.
“Part of that may come down to some sort of improved means of evaluating performance or looking for more objective means of performance evaluation,” he added.
Trougakos said with regards to home life, once the pandemic is over and kids are back in school, working from home will likely be easier to manage for many and will consist of a lot less juggling.
That being said, Trougakos added that it’s important that people who are working from home to learn to separate home and work time — and living and working spaces — in order to be their most productive selves.
This could mean anything from communicating clearly to those you live with about your work expectations for the day, to having a specific chair you sit in to delineate your work space, he added.
Carolyn Levy, president of technologies for job consulting firm Randstad Canada, said when certain workplaces do begin to open back up to employees, organizations will have many factors to consider in terms of employees’ comfort in returning to an office environment, as well as the benefits of permanently offering more opportunities for remote work.
But she added this will present employers with a unique opportunity to use a human-forward approach to tailor work schedules right down to each individual's needs.
She said this also means organizations will have to look at not necessarily spending less, but spending differently.
“It’s recognizing how much more may need to be invested into having the right technology that enables a virtual connection, or spending more time upscaling leadership to ensure that they’ve got the skills to lead remote teams,” Levy said
She added that a large part of leadership in the future will be centred on how to maintain company culture while working remotely, which largely revolves around sufficient communication.
“It’s about communicating how each step in your process winds back to what your value is,” she said. “And then working past just the vision and saying what’s the real purpose of what we are trying to do.”
Professor Markus Biehl has been partially working from home for years.
Prior to COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic, Biehl, who teaches at the Schulich School of Business, would travel to campus a few days a week to teach and work from home on the other days, where he would perform tasks such as conducting research.
Biehl said he thinks a similar model will be ideal for many sectors looking to have more of their employees working from home in the future.
“I really enjoyed the mix of working from home and going to work because it gave me both the social interaction, which is very energizing, but also the intense focus time, which you need to be productive on projects,” he said.
John Trougakos, an associate professor at University of Toronto, who is an expert in organizational management, agrees that a hybrid model will likely become more common for many sectors moving forward.
“Ideally, in my mind, once we pass the medical crisis, this could be a great opportunity for companies to shorten work days or shorten the number of days that people have to come in. It could help a lot of issues like commute issues across the country that we face,” he said.
From an organization perspective, Trougakos said this means employers will have to reinvent work models and clearly communicate job expectations to their employees.
When it comes to working from home, he said a lot of employers’ discomfort has traditionally stemmed from the fact that they often have a difficult time measuring the productivity of their employees.
“Part of that may come down to some sort of improved means of evaluating performance or looking for more objective means of performance evaluation,” he added.
Trougakos said with regards to home life, once the pandemic is over and kids are back in school, working from home will likely be easier to manage for many and will consist of a lot less juggling.
That being said, Trougakos added that it’s important that people who are working from home to learn to separate home and work time — and living and working spaces — in order to be their most productive selves.
This could mean anything from communicating clearly to those you live with about your work expectations for the day, to having a specific chair you sit in to delineate your work space, he added.
Carolyn Levy, president of technologies for job consulting firm Randstad Canada, said when certain workplaces do begin to open back up to employees, organizations will have many factors to consider in terms of employees’ comfort in returning to an office environment, as well as the benefits of permanently offering more opportunities for remote work.
But she added this will present employers with a unique opportunity to use a human-forward approach to tailor work schedules right down to each individual's needs.
She said this also means organizations will have to look at not necessarily spending less, but spending differently.
“It’s recognizing how much more may need to be invested into having the right technology that enables a virtual connection, or spending more time upscaling leadership to ensure that they’ve got the skills to lead remote teams,” Levy said
She added that a large part of leadership in the future will be centred on how to maintain company culture while working remotely, which largely revolves around sufficient communication.
“It’s about communicating how each step in your process winds back to what your value is,” she said. “And then working past just the vision and saying what’s the real purpose of what we are trying to do.”
Professor Markus Biehl has been partially working from home for years.
Prior to COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic, Biehl, who teaches at the Schulich School of Business, would travel to campus a few days a week to teach and work from home on the other days, where he would perform tasks such as conducting research.
Biehl said he thinks a similar model will be ideal for many sectors looking to have more of their employees working from home in the future.
“I really enjoyed the mix of working from home and going to work because it gave me both the social interaction, which is very energizing, but also the intense focus time, which you need to be productive on projects,” he said.
John Trougakos, an associate professor at University of Toronto, who is an expert in organizational management, agrees that a hybrid model will likely become more common for many sectors moving forward.
“Ideally, in my mind, once we pass the medical crisis, this could be a great opportunity for companies to shorten work days or shorten the number of days that people have to come in. It could help a lot of issues like commute issues across the country that we face,” he said.
From an organization perspective, Trougakos said this means employers will have to reinvent work models and clearly communicate job expectations to their employees.
When it comes to working from home, he said a lot of employers’ discomfort has traditionally stemmed from the fact that they often have a difficult time measuring the productivity of their employees.
“Part of that may come down to some sort of improved means of evaluating performance or looking for more objective means of performance evaluation,” he added.
Trougakos said with regards to home life, once the pandemic is over and kids are back in school, working from home will likely be easier to manage for many and will consist of a lot less juggling.
That being said, Trougakos added that it’s important that people who are working from home to learn to separate home and work time — and living and working spaces — in order to be their most productive selves.
This could mean anything from communicating clearly to those you live with about your work expectations for the day, to having a specific chair you sit in to delineate your work space, he added.
Carolyn Levy, president of technologies for job consulting firm Randstad Canada, said when certain workplaces do begin to open back up to employees, organizations will have many factors to consider in terms of employees’ comfort in returning to an office environment, as well as the benefits of permanently offering more opportunities for remote work.
But she added this will present employers with a unique opportunity to use a human-forward approach to tailor work schedules right down to each individual's needs.
She said this also means organizations will have to look at not necessarily spending less, but spending differently.
“It’s recognizing how much more may need to be invested into having the right technology that enables a virtual connection, or spending more time upscaling leadership to ensure that they’ve got the skills to lead remote teams,” Levy said
She added that a large part of leadership in the future will be centred on how to maintain company culture while working remotely, which largely revolves around sufficient communication.
“It’s about communicating how each step in your process winds back to what your value is,” she said. “And then working past just the vision and saying what’s the real purpose of what we are trying to do.”