That Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the workplace is beyond dispute.  For instance, researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) reveal that Australians have lost 167 hours’ worth of work between March and October due to the pandemic. This equates to over $5,000 each, and $47 billion for the economy as a whole.

The period has been defined by a wholesale reversal to remote working as offices are shuttered to try and limit the spread of the virus.  Historically, a key concern regarding remote working is that it comes with a decline in productivity, as employees who are no longer within sight of their boss slack off.

Of course, that is largely a baseless concern, and indeed new research from Wharton highlights that across the economy, productivity has actually remained stable during the pandemic, with productivity even increasing in many companies.  This has come, however, at a cost to innovation, which the researchers suggest has suffered a decline during the pandemic.

Uncertain times

The researchers highlight that organizations are largely hunkering down during the pandemic, and as such are not only spending less but also taking fewer risks.  They argue that the newly remote working may also be struggling to achieve the kind of collaboration that is so often the bedrock of innovation, with the various digital tools we have deployed failing to adequately replicate the physical melting pots of the modern workplace.

“It’s a challenge to feel connected, confident and communicate effectively with the team, and we know from a lot of research that creativity and innovation largely happen through collaboration,” the researchers explain.

The research was conducted in partnership with Microsoft and the Boston Consulting Group, and involved 9,000 managers and employees from firms across 15 European countries.  The results reveal that just 15% of the organizations had flexible working policies in place before the pandemic, but by the summer, this had leapt to 76%.  What’s more, 88% said that they expected remote working to form a greater part of a more hybrid form of working in future.

“Given that context, we tried to see what were some of the benefits and what were some of the challenges, and how workers adjusted to those challenges,” the researchers say.

Productive working

Perhaps the most important finding from the data is that remote working does not result in productivity declining.  Indeed, for many, the remote environment has made them more productive because they’re better able to craft an environment that works for them.  This extends to things like the choice of work attire, the availability of pets, and the ability to personalize their workplace entirely.

“Employees can really focus; they can be comfortable in their own setting,” the researchers say. “They’re gaining things like less commute time, not having to get ready or dressed up for work. A lot of those factors, just the comfort and casualness of working from home, came through [in the survey].”

Indeed, for those without children, there was a significant boost to their productivity simply because they weren’t disrupted as often as they would ordinarily be in the office.  A reduction in meetings, the removal from the open office environment, and so on all contribute to a gradual drain on our productivity.  Of course, a child-free environment isn’t something all employees have, and this has to be countered with those who have also had to homeschool children while schools have been shut.

Innovation drain

The researchers also suggest, however, that innovation has suffered during the pandemic, although this may equally be due to the drastic nature of the time that has forced so many to pare back to the very basics rather than worrying about experimentation and innovation.  Nonetheless, the researchers propose a number of steps managers can take to promote innovation among their remote workforce.

Firstly, they advocate that employees need the right kind of tools to collaborate virtually. This is perhaps not surprising given the involvement in the research of Microsoft, and so the second tip is arguably more interesting, in that they recommend employees are trained to work well remotely.

They argue that this is not an inherent skill, and that some support can go a long way towards helping people to be as productive as they can be.  This is backed up by data from the study, which showed that training was a significant factor in the effectiveness of employees, both in their core role and in terms of collaborating with others.

They also recommend establishing regular means of connecting with the team, and then to work on maintaining those routines, even in the midst of change and disruption.  The data found that those managers who used things like one-on-one reviews and brainstorming sessions were better able to transfer to remote working during the pandemic.

Ultimately, remote working is a new experience for many employees and employers alike, so perhaps the key takeaway from the research is that we should not be too worried if we haven’t gotten things right straight away.  This period should be viewed as much for the learning opportunity it provides as we adapt to the rapidly changing landscape we find ourselves in.

“This experiment that was forced upon us is showing that employees are able to be productive, and there are some things they really enjoy about that autonomy, so that trust is something organizations should really increase,” the researchers conclude. “At the same time, [they should be] developing the capabilities to maintain good collaboration in this remote working environment, because flexibility for individuals obviously can create some collaboration challenges as well.”