How Remote Work is Disrupting Innovation

Over the past year, the novel coronavirus has caused a massive disruption in how we work. Through some research produced by Statista, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, 17% of organizations supported a fully remote-style work environment and following the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 that number shot up to 44%! Of course, we’ve seen this massive shift around us. Even if you yourself are not working remotely, you’re undoubtedly aware of many friends and family members who are now working remotely for the foreseeable future. and based on employee and organizational sentiment, it seems that both employees and organizations are embracing this new remote-based workforce. So, what does this mean for the future of how organizations operate and collaborate with third-party mobile app development organizations to meet their innovation and growth targets.

Remote Collaboration

First and foremost, this new remote-based work environment is highly dependent on effective remote collaboration and effective remote collaboration is going to mean different things depending on the type of organization. Some roles, for example development teams or inside sales representatives are going to make an easy transition as most of their work is done on their computer. Where as other roles, such as those tied to manufacturing or in-person interactions are going to require more technological-support and remote collaboration technology to bridge the gap as they move to remote style roles. One of the most pressing issues for organizations as the adopt this remote-focused work is to ensure their employees have the proper collaboration platforms, tools and strategies in place to ensure this seamless transition. If organizations can meet this challenge, they have an incredible opportunity for growth and innovation.

Global Workforce

World Global Ecology International Meeting Unity Learning Concept

A major benefit of this new remote-style workforce is that employers can now field employees from around the world. Before, employers only had access to qualified employees local to their office, or those willing to relocate. This, of course, had profound effects on the hiring pool for that organization. If that organization happened to be located in a city without a qualified candidate for the role, it could take weeks or even months to find the right person for the role. Now, with this shift to remote-based employment, organizations can find that ideal candidate based on qualifications rather than candidates that are local to the office.  

Innovation Through an Expanded Global Workforce

This access to a larger more diverse candidate pool can allow organizations to push innovation by allowing organizations to find the right candidate for the role that aligns with their unique organizational goals. Here, this widening of the candidate pool gives employers a better chance of putting the right people in the right places leading to a more innovative workforce. 

Employee Flexibility

Employee flexibility is another great aspect of remote work for both the employer and the employee. Today, a resounding number of employees are expressing that flexibility in where they work has provided them much higher levels of job satisfaction. A recent study presented by Owl Labs supports this claim showing that across the board, employees are much happier today having this flexibility in work style. So, what does this mean about the future of organizations in how they continue to bring new solutions and products to the workplace? Well, it turns out that happier employees are more effective employees.

Innovation Through Flexibility

Recent data surrounding employee happiness and productivity show a resounding correlation. In fact, happy employees are found to be 12% more production and have 65% more energy in comparison to unhappy employees. So, if remote work flexibility is leading to employee happiness, it’s safe to say that this new remote-style work is positioned to drive innovation and create more effective and happy work environments.   

Employer Cost Optimization

Another major benefit for organizations in driving innovation around remote work is the cost optimization organizations have access to by reducing their physical office footprint. Consider that as employees move to remote work, organizations have the opportunity to greatly downsize on their physical offices. By downsizing on physical offices, organizations have the opportunity to reinvest that money saved in office space into their most important asset, their people. 

Imagine a future-state where funds that were dedicated to a physical office are redirected to investing in their employees and research and development. At the end of the day, based on the information we’ve uncovered by this point, doesn’t a physical office seem like a misuse of 

Organization Collaboration

As organizations embrace this growing global workforce, we’re also finding an expansion in collaboration between organizations. What we’re seeing here is that organizations are more willing to trust critical aspects of their organization with third-party organizations. Whether it’s trusting a third-party organization with development or HR, we’re finding that today’s businesses are gaining immense value in working with third-party organizations to handle these critical aspects of their business. 

Here, organizations are able to keep a lean core team, while leveraging a third-party organization to offer services in the area that the third-party organization focuses on. The reason why this is so critically important, is that organizations can partner with these third-party organizations that are well respected, and highly experienced in their respective field.

 To build on this, organizations are actually finding that they can save money through these partnerships by removing the need to scale up internal resources and maintain the high cost of labor for these high value dynamic teams. If you’re looking for a local app development organization to fit this bill, consider reaching out to us today.

What has your recent experience been related to moving to remote work? Let us know in the comments below!