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Why Remote Work Is So Hard – And How It Can Be Fixed
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Why Remote Work Is So Hard – And How It Can Be Fixed

The challenges aren’t just technological. They’re managerial.

Cal Newport
The New Yorker, 2020
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Managers mostly resisted the concept of remote work until the pandemic left bosses no choice but to embrace it. Businesses that sent employees home are still grappling with the disruption. Writing for The New Yorker, Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, lays out the issues facing firms in managing the mass migration to – and from – remote work. Despite losses in team cohesion and informal, in-person communication, remote work can yield satisfying results for everyone – if you pay attention to workflow issues.

Take-Aways

  • Technology, especially broadband internet and video streaming, made remote work a realistic possibility, yet business was slow to embrace it.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic made working from home necessary, but managers still worry about remote workers’ efficiency.
  • At the turn of the 20th century, manufacturers were reluctant to embrace the electric motor – a transforming technology – in their factories.

About the Author

Cal Newport, the best-selling author of So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World and Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, teaches computer science at Georgetown University.

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