Author: Carol Farrish

As the nature of work changes, leaders must adapt, but they often lack the mindset and experience to embrace change. The move to remote work, the concern with work-life balance, the reality of an inclusive workforce, and the rise of AI pose new challenges that call for new leadership styles. The world of work has changed drastically since COVID, as workplace trends brewing for years came to the surface and forced management to reconsider how things had always been done. Some leaders proved themselves adequate to the task of honestly evaluating policies and procedures to determine what was essential to…

What will happen in the world of remote work in 2024? The evidence is strong that employers will continue to insist that workers come back to the office. However, hybrid work will become more common, especially as companies figure out more effective ways to measure productivity. As Remote Work Authority celebrates its first year of web presence, we are focused on what’s ahead for remote work in 2024. Despite return-to-work (RTO) mandates and staunch opposition to remote work by some, experts predict increasing numbers of completely remote and hybrid workers in the year ahead. The State Of Remote Work Today…

Does working long hours mean that people are productive? Research says “No!” as workers burn out, can lose their focus, and may take longer to do work. Managers who impose mandatory overtime, especially for extended periods, risk burning out workers and tanking productivity. Maintaining work-life balance is now the mantra of many modern workers. The pandemic taught people that life is short and certainly too short to spend all the time working. Yet, those who have returned to the office may have gotten back into the pattern of working extra hours, while many who work at home never turn off…

Working abroad as a digital nomad continues to be a popular option for those who want to combine productive remote work with the opportunity to experience life in another culture. Becoming a successful digital nomad in 2024 requires considerable financial planning and careful choice of location. If 2024 is the year when you want to make big changes in your life, one way to start is to embrace the digital nomad lifestyle. Armed with enthusiasm, a job you can do remotely, and a love of travel, you can make a foreign country your home base for months or even years. Despite return-to-office mandates,…

While many workers love to work from home, not all can muster the discipline and self-control required to work out of the office. Merit-based flexibility grants more freedom to choose hours and work locations to those employees who consistently meet or exceed employers’ expectations. Remote work is effective in some companies for some types of jobs. Less than 40% of all jobs can effectively be performed remotely – just those employees whose job relies on the computer and does not need daily face-to-face contact with coworkers and customers qualify. Should all employees whose jobs meet these criteria be allowed to…

Productivity theater is a common workplace practice where employees prioritize performative work over tasks that drive business outcomes. They do work that makes them appear busy to please their boss or pass time. A performance management system properly identifies productive tasks and measures outcomes. The debate over remote work vs. working in the office is filled with ironies. One of the biggest is that bosses want workers back so that they can see them working, yet they want to see busyness and mistake it for productivity. They are unknowingly the ringmasters in productivity theater, a term that refers to the act of…

Some workers mandated to return to work prefer to work from home due to disabilities. When employers fail to make proper accommodations for workers with physical and mental disability or other barriers to in-office work, workers are filing discrimination lawsuits. Amid heated disputes over RTO mandates, some workers are claiming they need to work at home. When employers refuse to consider worker needs, many are turning to the court and filing discrimination lawsuits. Workers called back to work by employer return-to-office RTO mandates may or may not be happy about the request. Still, in October, 60% of temporarily remote workers…

Is it time to refresh or upgrade your home office equipment? Many items you need are deductible business expenses, but you might acquire some great tech items around the holidays as gifts. Just make sure to research what you want and pass along the proper specifications. As 2023 comes to a close, remote workers are looking ahead to a new work year as they assess the past one. Is it time to upgrade or refresh home office equipment? Having a reliable computer with adequate storage is crucial for work-at-home jobs. Is your current one trouble-free and fast enough for you to do your…

The remote work required by the pandemic eliminated the pre-COVID commute for many workers. Not all workers were able to do their jobs from home, but remote workers seldom had to leave home. The result was less traffic congestion, a faster commute for those who had to report to work, and declining ridership on public transit. Ditching the pre-COVID commute was, for many people, one of the greatest benefits of having to work from home during the pandemic. Especially for those who had long commutes in heavy traffic, removing the travel aspect of work offered an hour or two of extra…

Job cuffing is a slang term from the dating world that has recently been applied to those who keep jobs they don’t like through the winter before leaving for another position. Work attrition is costly, and employers who want a satisfied workforce can prevent job cuffing by making some changes in the workplace. Move over, quiet quitting! We’re entering the time of the year when that term becomes irrelevant as it is cuffing season. Some employees ready to move to a new job decide to stay put over the winter. Job listings are often low as many employers wait till the…