The recent situation has allowed most of us to reflect on how we work.
And the best part, more than 1/2 the population is working from home (WFH) at this moment while I am writing this article. A few weeks of working from home has convinced me that this would probably be the best time to reflect on the mode of working in Singapore as I understand that telecommuting has not been common in the past.
I understand that this would never be universal as remote working is obviously not applicable to all industries, but COVID-19 or not, we can clearly see that telecommuting may be alien to some of the folks here but it is clearly do-able (of course with strict discipline). After all, it's all about meeting key performance indicators (KPI) at the end of the day, onsite or offsite.
If we trace back to a report by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in 2018, we would also see tell tale signs that most of the working force in Singapore would prefer a flexible work time and this is indicative that remote working is here to stay as long as business go on as usual and all the mechanisms of the business is up and running, both front end and back end.
Remote working would also reduce the time spent on daily commute, giving you more time for family and business. And most importantly, we hear this phrase for the longest time ever - Happy workers are good workers! Who wouldn't like to focus on what they are doing best and in the ideal environment that they prefer. Indeed, this would also increase the productivity level as they can skip all the small talk and focus on what is really important.
Having said that, there is a minor percentage that prefers to socialize, mingle and gossip at the office pantry. They find it extremely difficult to work at home facing the lifeless screen from morning til late afternoon. Yes there are people who need constant human interaction through the day to keep them energized and they would find it a torture not to have such face to face interactions. But I am not proposing for a similar model as what we are facing now during Continuous Circuit Breaker (CCB)! 1-2 days working from home would suffice and I believe that this would be beneficial and productive for both company and employee.
And the best part, more than 1/2 the population is working from home (WFH) at this moment while I am writing this article. A few weeks of working from home has convinced me that this would probably be the best time to reflect on the mode of working in Singapore as I understand that telecommuting has not been common in the past.
I understand that this would never be universal as remote working is obviously not applicable to all industries, but COVID-19 or not, we can clearly see that telecommuting may be alien to some of the folks here but it is clearly do-able (of course with strict discipline). After all, it's all about meeting key performance indicators (KPI) at the end of the day, onsite or offsite.
If we trace back to a report by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in 2018, we would also see tell tale signs that most of the working force in Singapore would prefer a flexible work time and this is indicative that remote working is here to stay as long as business go on as usual and all the mechanisms of the business is up and running, both front end and back end.
Remote working would also reduce the time spent on daily commute, giving you more time for family and business. And most importantly, we hear this phrase for the longest time ever - Happy workers are good workers! Who wouldn't like to focus on what they are doing best and in the ideal environment that they prefer. Indeed, this would also increase the productivity level as they can skip all the small talk and focus on what is really important.
Having said that, there is a minor percentage that prefers to socialize, mingle and gossip at the office pantry. They find it extremely difficult to work at home facing the lifeless screen from morning til late afternoon. Yes there are people who need constant human interaction through the day to keep them energized and they would find it a torture not to have such face to face interactions. But I am not proposing for a similar model as what we are facing now during Continuous Circuit Breaker (CCB)! 1-2 days working from home would suffice and I believe that this would be beneficial and productive for both company and employee.
