The Five Levels of Remote Work
And why companies should not just stay remote after COVID-19, but take the shift to fully distributed work as strategic advantage.
Since COVID-19, nearly every company has faced remote working of parts of their teams or everyone. Remote work is often poorly understood and people experiencing work-from-home either to be merely allowed to work remotely, as an exception or because there is no other choice than to stay at home, because of Corona restrictions.
Instead, remote work should be understood as a strategy shift and once-in-a-lifetime chance for companies, if done right.
But to “use” remote work, companies need to understand different levels and concept of remote- or even fully distributed work. Good news: over the last years some companies already have put a lot of thoughts into the strategic options of remote work. That flattens the learning curve for all those newcomers since covid-19.
One of those companies is Stanwood, a German registered but fully remote software consulting and development agency. (I happen to work there by the way 😉) And of course, we share our experiences and knowledge with others in articles, speakings or workshops.
Another fully remote company is Automattic, the company behind WordPress — which powers 35% of all websites on the internet, Tumblr, WooCommerce and more. CEO Matt Mullenweg, shares in a podcast with renowned neuroscientist, philosopher and meditation teacher Sam Harris his five levels of remote work. Those five stages help to give structure to the definition of how you are doing remote work along with the strategic implications of why.
After reading those five levels, you will also understand why I also prefer to call it distributed work, rather than remote work.
All five levels differ by the grade of autonomy of an individual team member.
Level 1: Emergency mode
These are the companies that occasionally “allow” their workers to work from home, as an exception, because they “have to”: children are ill, corona restrictions in place, awaiting the plumber. The company has no plan or strategy for that and is not prepared (like everyone having powerful Internet, a mobile, rules for connectedness, remote-culture etc.). Most companies have been forced into remote work with COVID-19.
Level one companies are flying blind in that stage, and because they are unprepared, they see that as a temporary crisis.
And indeed: because they are not prepared at all, everything needs to be done for the first time, and all pitfalls are made over and over again: how do we connect with each other, has everyone a phone, computer, good wifi? How can we connect to company relevant data, what about security, privacy, workplace health regulations, insurance?
Mindset: let’s get through with that until it’s over and you can come back to work in the office.
Autonomy: no need to commute, and I might keep one of my eyes on my children, but basically have the same day as in the office. A lot of anxiety (is it ok that I took a day home office? What if they think that I actually don't work?).
Level 2: Playing office
In this stage, companies have accepted that remote work is not a temporary exception, but will stay for some time. They are open to it and start to see some benefits, like less calling in sick, a bigger pool for recruiting outside of the city the company happened to be, less need for expensive office rooms.
But as they don't know how to “do” remote, they copy existing routines and processes and try to copy them to the remote world. My heart flourishes when Mullenweg explains this with Marshall McLuhan’s Media Theory (Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man): new mediums initially copy the generation before. Like Radio — airing stage plays at the beginning; telephone — dial-in for opera performances; E-Mail — claiming to be a formal letter.
That's where companies use language like “telework” (One of my academic works, more than ten years ago, was actually called: “advantages of telework for knowledge-driven companies”). There is a “default mode”, that means working from 9–5, having the same meetings as before with also sometimes only some people being on a video call. Ninja tip: never ever do that! If you have one person calling in with video, do the same for all even if they are at the same location. Unless you do so, there will always be relevant side-communication and nonverbal expressions that the one not being present will not grasp, while the others do.
Managers get panic because they lose control and implement advanced tracking mechanisms like IP logging or taking screenshots of screens. Seriously: if you need to take screenshots of your employee's desktops to make sure they are working, you lost them long ago.
Mindset: Remote can work, but we keep our on-site rules and processes as they have been proven to be right for the last 50 years.
Autonomy: No need to ask for being “allowed” to work remote. Copying the 19th century model of working in a factory to knowledge work. Employees try to overcompensate their absence by being more visible, always communicating and chatting around to show “I’m here”. High degrees of paranoia as a result.
Level 3: Remote first = distributed
Companies begin to benefit from remote work. They cancel office contracts, invest in right tools and rework all of their processes. Like replacing meetings with text, shift to transparency and precise documentation.
New hardware like good MacBooks, headphones and microphones, right lightning conditions and ergonomic workplace conditions are setting better conditions. Software tools are replacing word documents and unnecessary calls. Using good conference call software feels natural (and I don't mean web-ex with that).
Companies realise that new skills are vital: express your thoughts, good writing, clear communication, be aware of the timing.
Trust and BeyondCorp (a model for shifting access controls from the network perimeter to individual users and devices) replace old security protocols (nobody feels eager to work after she has to start and re-configure her proprietary company VPN every single day), people work together on shared google documents that are getting live during calls, an open knowledge tool replaces hidden implicit knowledge, and process follow-ups get transparent and standard.
Mindset: there are no on-site workers that are treated differently than remote workers. That's why the company is distributed, not some are just working remote.
Autonomy: Work from wherever you like, but within the same timezone. Focus on your strengths but ask for help. Overcommunicate. Meet the whole company or your team in face-to-face every few months for building trust.
“Remote first isn’t the same as remote friendly or ability to work from home. Remote first is a whole new way to organize companies.”
Amir Salihefendic, CEO of Doist on Twitter
Level 4: Wherever, whenever.
This is where work gets truly asynchronous. You realise that you cannot judge based on tracked hours, so you judge on what people produce. Companies realise that most meetings don't produce output, so you don't need them. Status updates are given on a written and transparent basis, so everyone keeps updated — no need for a status update meeting.
Location and timezones don't make any difference: HR can start to hire the best, not just good ones that happen to live in the same location or timezone. Work can be done at the best productive hours, regardless of day or night.
Good handovers (also between timezones) are crucial, and asynchronous decision making will still be a challenge. But this will be the time for all formerly overseen individuals that could not perform bodily like everyone else: introverts, people with accessibility issues or night-owls.
Another level of benefit kicks in: people are unleashed from their dependency from managers. Without bosses hanging around, team members need to develop autonomous strategies for delivering output in the best possible way. “Hangarounders” will get noticed soon, so providing value is crucial. Whilst this can be a challenge for the individual, it is an enormous advantage for the company. And it's the opportunity to remove overcome management structures (management by the HIPPO — highest paid person’s opinion) and replace them with coaching and mentoring.
Mindset: People design their way of working themselves best. Provide tools, not orders.
Autonomy: Global freedom, uncaged work that is still focussed on the company goals.
“You tap into the global talent pool, the 99% of the world’s population and intelligence that doesn’t live near one of your legacy physical office locations. Employee retention goes way up, and you invest more in training and coaching.”
Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic
Level 5: Nirvana निर्वाण
In analogy to the Buddhhist concept of nirvāṇa, this stage is a high goal which you can hardly (or even never) reach, but where you should steer your action towards.
At this stage, individuals perform effortlessly effective. They do not form their life around the work or need to make cuts in decisions (either career or children, either high paying Europe or low income in Bali). Mental wellbeing, health and purpose is seamlessly included in work and whatever you do. People bring their best selfes to action and fun is part of every action.
Mindset: high value output is a natural outcome of un-caged work and goes side by side with healthy and mindful living.
Autonomy: Everyone is in full control of their own work environment.
Read further:
- TED Video: Check out Matt explaining his view on distributed work: and why it's good for business:
- Daniel H. Pink: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (English Edition)
- Simon Sinek: Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
