I keep reading about organisations who plan big changes regarding remote work following the pandemic. Introducing hybrid/blended approaches, allowing employees to go entirely remote, drastically reducing office space.

But.....

I am also hearing another narrative too. Of managers telling employees not to bother making an application for flex or homeworking because they need to come back to the office. Of remote monitoring. Of managers making employees say on all-day Zoom calls with their cameras on.

'It might work for some but it won't work for our business / team / department' statements. Pressure right now on people who can easily work from home to go into an office, even in the middle of a lockdown.

I am hearing the old myths about flexible working, updated and recycled. There won't be some big homeworking / hybrid shift by chance. It will not arise naturally as a result of the pandemic.

It will take effort. It will need new policies, different ways of working, effective communications and new management techniques. It will require us to continue to challenge dated beliefs about work - maybe including some of our own.