The fuss about achieving results in the world of remote working - An Opinion

I see too many articles on virtual leadership or engaging employees in the current situation where org has no other option but to allow every employee to work remotely. I think this situation is enforcing us towards creating a culture of TRUST within an organization.

More than a decade back when projects were executed in sequential phases of the waterfall model, that was a phase where plans were made and followed strictly without deviations, there use to be a manager who will make sure no deviations happens. That phase of the software industry resulted in more a 'directing' approach in managing employees or decision making but later came Agile which moved us towards being flexible in planning and also it made decision making more team-centric rather than a person or role centric.

At the same time, the young generation which is also called Generation Z expects leaders to share is honesty. This goes hand in hand with clear communication and transparency throughout an organization. Generation Z of the workforce doesn't have a mindset that works very well in directing approach.

The software development cycle transition was nothing more than making a shift towards trusting teams as a whole rather than on one person who holds a position or role. As the organizations are becoming matured in Agile implementations, at the same time, there comes a concept of shared workspaces, flexible seating for employees or working remotely. This all is leading towards an industry where TRUST is becoming paramount because without TRUST all this is not going to provide its benefits or I would say all this can't work without TRUST part of the culture. I mean if you want to be a matured agile organization than you are bound to TRUST your teams for making decisions. Unless you have a team that is self-driven you can't have good output in general because decision making is becoming more a team thing.

The current situation of lockdown is going to help in making this shift faster in organizations throughout the world. It will shake up the old mindset where one needs to consistently monitor employees to make sure output is achieved. I also read some news on google where organizations are spending a good amount of money these days in buying spying software to track employee productivity. I mean, if any organization which wants to be Agile has to understand that without TRUST it can't happen in real sense. Agile needs a mindset and this mindset is not only for teams but for leadership as well.

If there are too many things happening in your organization right now and there is a sense of fear or un-comfort related to employees productivity and too many calls/discussions happening to make sure results are achieved, it implies that the culture of the organization needs to change and leaders should evaluate if TRUST is missing in the culture. This is the time that helps in understanding what kind of organization you have built. If you have TRUST as part of your organization values then have you really upheld your own values or not. The organizations that have created a culture of TRUST in the past will sail through these times without getting impacted but others will take a hit.

Overall, these times will shake up the old mindset of close monitoring and we will eventually move towards an industry that will have less toxic work environments in the future.