Rescue Boats: Remote Work

Times may come when businesses need to adopt remote work and install the required technologies to facilitate this. However, why telework? What are its guarantees and success indicators?
Corporates have adopted telework primarily to continue operations under the recent circumstances we were all affected by. We are living in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Everyone should measure his or her literacy based on the extent of his or her knowledge of the AI language, which is developing at an extraordinarily rapid pace. Everyone needs to align their area of specialization with this new language to save their future careers. How far world technology is taking us – and to what extent literacy indicators will change in the foreseeable future - is quite unpredictable.

It is quite certain that the number of people working remotely has soared globally during recent days. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has recommended that its staff in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East should work from home until April 10th. Likewise, Amazon has told its entire staff worldwide that whoever can work from home should do so until the end of March. Other technology corporations, like Twitter, Microsoft, and Apple, have asked their employees to work remotely. Tens of small businesses have also done so.
It is a temporary measure of course, dependent on the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Will companies, however, continue to adopt remote work permanently when they realize the enormous advantages of transferring employees from offices and students from schools and universities in dense cities to the digital world in the comfort of their homes? Will they notice the impact of this digital transformation on combating corruption, sparing citizens the effort of driving to government offices and waiting in long lines to complete their transactions and commuters saving time and money on transportation? My opinion is that all this is certainly possible through adopting technology such as AI and IoT in all government departments, educational institutes and companies.
This poses a significant question. Is human intervention necessary for actualizing this transformation? What about school exams that require scrutiny to ensure testing uniformity and integrity? What about live, corporate meetings to make key decisions! There are countless other relevant requirements. Here comes the role a company called “Spatial”.
This software company develops a system through which meetings can be held, using 3D holographic images, whether the meeting is in a certain city or several cities around the world. The 3D holograms of participants will appear in the same room and they can interact using the augmented reality glasses. This will guarantee full involvement in video conferences and will allow participants to have a more realistic, multi-angular experience. Many companies are now competing to produce this system, including “Google Classroom,” which helps teachers prepare and manage educational courses.

On another level, the COVID-19 crisis has unveiled challenges of remote work in digitally illiterate countries, especially the poorer segments of society that do not even have access to a computer, not to mention an internet connection. Some of them resort to national TV educational programmes as the only available substitute for remote classes. Work is ongoing around the world to push governments to go digital. Such governments are reliant on having digitally oriented citizens who can use such technology and leverage digital resources within their nations, including remote working within companies. When preparations have been completed, remote work will overtake traditional work approaches and become the norm, with workers providing services and engaging in communication through the medium of technology.  
An issue however with remote work is the distance it creates between people. Screens make us distant from one another, which is a problem as we are social beings that need physical interaction with one another. Can our old mindsets get accustomed to this new reality where isolation is the key feature? Even remote workers prefer not to stay at home for the whole day, even though life is technically easier and more comfortable in pajamas! This shortcoming can be made up for by occasional outings with close friends and can also be counterbalanced by spending quality time away from home.

Success in remote work is dependent on a number of factors: love of work, adaptability, ability to make choices, and arrangement and organization of work priorities. Readymade software customized for various business activities can help through forming online groups for work purposes, allowing the scheduling and dissemination of work based on business requirements.
Though remote work is not linked to an electronic system that measures working hours, productivity of online workers can be measured in different ways including task based monitoring. This will ensure the achievement of business goals and overcome the impediments of distance working in the absence of direct monitoring of working hours in the workplace. Implementing remote work with success will enable us to overcome many challenges in continuing operation during difficult circumstances and may be a practice that companies adopt long into the future due to its flexibility and the many advantages its brings.

Remote work is an activity that does not require dedicating fixed hours for work. It is a systematic, organized method, that is quite efficacious and has shown great promise to replace traditional work practices. It also builds technical capabilities and creates generations that possess the necessary skills and qualifications to provide for themselves in the growing digital economy. This is the rescue boat that will take us safely to the shores of the future in this century. It will not wait for us because we are unprepared. The boat is blowing its horns now and will unfold its sails. This is a boat we must get on with full conviction and readiness.
Remote work is no longer a nice to have. It is an essential capacity that all businesses and workers must build. Anyone who refuses to adapt to it now will lag far behind no matter how much effort one makes.