Companies Big and Small Can Benefit From a Clear Remote Work Strategy

As remote work evolves into a regular work mode that satisfies employment needs for both employer and employee, it is important for businesses to have a well-thought-out remote work strategy, says Timothy Golden, professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Golden, who teaches in the Lally School of Management, believes that creating the right norms and expectations from the start provides an important boost for achieving success in remote work.

“If these norms — informal and often unspoken expectations for how people should act and behave — are not set correctly right from the start, then remote work can be much more challenging than it needs to be,” Golden said.

In many companies, creating a position of a Chief Remote Officer (CRO) — a position similar to a CFO or COO but with a focus on leading remote work programs — can be a step toward future stability. According to Golden, other aspects to consider range from methods of employee communication and performance assessments, to the compatibility of a combination of hybrid, in-person, and remote work modes in the framework of an organizational business model.

Remote work and telecommuting have been the focus of Golden’s body of research for more than 20 years. He is available to discuss remote work strategies and other aspects of working from home from the business perspective as well as the viewpoint of the remote workers.