By: Adewumi Adedayo, Lagos State, Nigeria.

For a long time now, the concept of work or job has revolved around the office—workspace aimed to centralise staff and the job they do. Traditionally, the office has done so many things for employees, such as fostering relationship-building between employees, tangible exposure to workplace culture, and a chance to exact professional identities through resourceful office patterns. 

Many companies have had the opinion that staff productivity is better when working from the office. 

But the outbreak of COVID-19 forced a rethink. Now, remote work and hybrid work is what some corporate organisations imbibes.

Some companies have gone a bit further to do away with the office entirely, using the idea of distributed work. 

Remote work, Office work, and Hybrid work model

Remote work is predominantly work-related and it means an adaptable or flexible work style where employees can do their jobs somewhere else without going to the office. 

Office work refers to the physical association of employees where employees share a physical space and interact with each other. 

Both remote and office workers need greater approval of tools and new processes that mirror the physical work environment. 

A trend among some companies is that some of them are going for the hybrid method of remote work. Staff can work remotely for some days, but may be needed to work at the office two or three times a week. 

Speaking with Bisola, an Auditor and a hybrid worker, on how being a hybrid worker has changed her understanding of how time works, said she prefers the hybrid model which is working both at home and at the office.

“This is because even though I love working from home because of traffic, I’m also a shy person and my office is a shared space, I really don’t like that. I’m more productive when I’m in my own space than when I’m seeing faces. 

“I prefer hybrid also because my type of work requires teamwork, you can’t work in isolation, so when you resume work at the office, it’s easy to relate questions and resolve it quickly. 

“The balance to it is that there will be days when you go to the office and when you can work from home and be focused.”

Also, recently, Elon Musk tweeted, “Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers.” 

This is to show that hybrid work combines both remote and office work together. This is to show that rather than being at home fully and in isolation (which could be detrimental to mental health), you still get to meet colleagues one or two times a week and interact. This is not totally eradicating office spaces and it’s also not entirely embracing remote work. 

Before now, like five years ago, no one envisaged a remote workplace. Working remotely has, in the past, had poor standing; it was available only in special cases to accommodate families in special cases, but lately, companies and businesses are choosing remote work strategies. 

While many employers are of the opinion that their staff would be undoubtedly distracted at home, where their superiors would not be able to monitor or supervise them, remote work also has its own advantages. For example, it can help prevent the spread of diseases, better work balance, help companies protect public health, and avoid lost productivity.

The present condition of remote work and hybrid work in Nigeria

Due to the advancement in technology (Internet access), working with technology has been recognized in many offices, both in Nigeria and overseas. 

Remote work is sometimes not done completely from home, staff could turn to coffee shops, reading spaces, among others to continue their profession.

In Nigeria, remote work blew up during the pandemic (COVID-19) season when people were forced to stay at home and businesses had to continue, that was why teleconferencing, like Zoom, happened and grew its revenue because so many people had to meet their colleagues, even in the comfort of their home.

On the other hand, many companies have opposed this work trend for different reasons as to them, it presents some complexities. Some fear lack of productivity and accountability in some employees, while others have not capitalised in tele-conferencing or tele working to enable remote workers.

Also, some other companies have chosen a hybrid policy in the remote workforce whereby some will work from home for a few days in a week or a week, etc.

Speaking with Adewumi, Mr Adeleke, said the impact of COVID19 pandemic forced many organisations to work remotely, which enabled the employees to work from home, but the prevalence of remote work varies across organisations. 

He said, “I read somewhere sometime that 18% of people work remotely. Those that earn the most even work remotely. “The Human Resource (HR) department in Nigeria need to unlearn the traditional HR approach because there’s is a fight between the talent available. Some of the organisations in America are approaching the talents we have in Nigeria. I think Nigeria needs to begin to work towards policies that could encourage remote work and hybrid working. 

“Some of the roles and talents, talent manager need to begin to look into remote working and comply with international standards.”

He added that there are several softwares that measures KPI by task, not by resuming in the morning and closing late. 

He said, “Those who stay in Lagos will relate better because it’s almost impossible to be in Lagos and not be caught up in traffic. 

“Not everyone is caught out for that hustle which is the reason why HRs, Talent managers really need to begin to opt for remote working or hybrid work till some of our infrastructure can support complete remote working. “

As remote work comes, is it obtainable in every sector?

Due to the fact that remote work refers exclusively to the setting or position, some kind of work and work schedule can be grouped as remote work. For instance, remote work can either be part-time or full-time and they can have impermanent schedules. Examples include freelance companies, some media organisations like radio, television, print media, among others.

However, not all organisations can adopt the remote work strategy. Pharmaceutical companies, Logistic services, Entrepreneurial work fit into operations that need physical presence of most of their employees at their various units.

Is it possible to be productive and effective, working remotely?

Few years ago, most employers would have rejected the idea of remote working. How can staff be productive and efficient, while working from home when they are not being supervised?

To understand better how effective remote work is, an interview was conducted with a remote worker.

In the case of Olusanya Akanmu, who is a remote worker, he said he finds it not so different from being physically present in the office. 

He said, “On most days, I’m at my desk from 7 am to 4 pm to address daily tasks. The great part about remote work is its flexibility. I get to avoid the time-wasting elements of work such as transportation to the office, unnecessary errands, and office chatters. Because I can focus on my work on time, remote work gives me the opportunity to take on other freelance projects. 

Speaking on if he is productive working from home, he said it is. 

“There could be distractions actually because you’re at home and not in a “serious environment.” For instance, you may be tempted to sleep, watch TV or do something that can impede your productivity.

“For me, the key is discipline plus I created a workspace that makes me “feel at work.”

The global workspace is too young for us to adopt remote work completely, but we could make an effort to take on hybrid working, and from there see how it goes. As much as working at the office is effective and productive, there are some workplaces that don’t require full-time employees, such that there can be times when people can come to work for a number of days and work from home for other days. Why don’t we try this new trend and see the effects?