I never quite got it why up until recently we had to work in a very specific, enclosed, space during a very specific interval of time and why that was considered so important and relevant. I remember how on my first day at a new job I left the office at 6 and a senior colleague was outraged and called me back. I was confused, because I had finished my work and the work day was supposed to end at 6. But there are always unwritten rules around such things.

Different times now. The way we work is changing fast, faster during the pandemic, transforming permanently into a flexible working style where what matter most are your results and other things like cross-collaboration and learning as a team and individually, being agile and innovative, doing a meaningful work for you and for the bigger world that we are part of. Being seen when you flash your access card at the elevator does not matter anymore.

It’s not even a story of trust here, it’s more about focusing on the outcomes of one’s work instead of focusing on one’s physical presence in the office. The transition is difficult, but let’s be honest: we know who actually works and who just pretends. And if we don’t trust the people that they are actually doing their jobs, how come we trust them to speak in the name of our companies, sign contracts, have the company’s money in their hands and so on? Maybe it’s not about trust at all, it’s about the false sense of control when we see with our own eyes something and mistaken it for being the real thing. We see it, so it must be real. We see them, so they must be working. And then something happens and we don’t see them physically for months, but they are still working. Amazing and outrageous, indeed.

What’s your experience with remote working?