As we continue working remotely, office-based businesses are now considering long-term adjustments to their practices, but how do we get the right balance?

With this is mind it is important to consider that workers are falling roughly into three attitudinal pots:

  • Those who were fully office based pre-pandemic, who have not enjoyed working remotely and are clamouring to get back to their fixed 9-5 desk
  • Those who have experienced remote work for the first time, who love it, feel more productive, empowered and balanced, and would prefer not to return to the office for the most part
  • And those who recognise that there are times that working remotely suits them best and other times where they prefer to be physically around their co-workers in the office or workspace

If we are to start listening more to people’s needs and preferences the most likely outcome is a hybrid model, where some workers are office-based some or all of the time, and some are remote for the most part. The issue with this model is that it is the perfect breeding ground for proximity bias (the nemesis of remote workers), where those physically present feel more included, more part of the team and are favoured over their remote co-workers, who are in many ways, excluded.

Join Deborah Simmons, Director of Camino Insight to discover how by operating a remote by default policy, you can eradicate presenteeism and enable the seamless flow from office, to remote and back again, making physical location less of an obstacle and more of an additional benefit.

Deborah will discuss the principles & why it's so important for us to really understand how to make it work sustainably. Deborah will provide examples of what Remote by Default looks like with case studies of successful and unsuccessful remote working relationships.

 

 

Deborah is a highly experienced and future focused insight consultant. In 2013, following a number of years in agency and clientside marketing and research roles, Deborah set up Camino Insight with a view to focusing on the issues that are shaping our lifestyles.
Deborah’s interest in the future of work, community and urban design began in earnest when she swapped her ’regular’ life in London for a much less predicable life as a Digital Nomad. The challenges she faced when taking Camino on the road were echoed by so many of the other remote workers she met, that she decided to make this important area the focus of her work moving forward.
To expand her skillset and knowledge, Deborah conducted a self-funded year-long ethnographic study into the Digital Nomad movement #MyLifeAsADigitalNomad AKA #LocationIndependent. The intention of the study was to understand the motivations, needs, experiences and future of this growing audience, and the changing role of the workplace in facilitating these. Deborah has presented the findings of her study at conferences and coworking spaces, and her segmentation of Digital Nomad typologies has been used as a framework for an app designed to service this community. She continues to expand her knowledge in this area in order to be a resource for businesses and remote workers seeking to improve their quality of work and life.

Deborah Simmons
Founder & Director, Camino Insight

+447813 130558
deborah@caminoinsight.com
www.caminoinsight.com

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