文/卡拉·L.米勒 譯/張梓晴

By Karla L. Miller

I used to fit my life around my job.Now I’m accustomed to fitting my job into my life.

2 Two years of working remotely has caused that shift, and I don’t know if I’m even able to go back to the way I juggled work and life before. I guarantee I’m not the only person feeling that way.

3 According to the Pew Research Center, only 23 percent of workers in jobs that could be done from home were frequently working remotely before the coronavirus pandemic. During the pandemic, that number peaked at 71 percent and is currently at 59 percent.While a majority of those workers early in the pandemic said they were working from home because their offices were closed, the proportion has flipped, and now the majority say they’re working from home because they want to. Remote work has evolved from a rare ad-hoc accommodation to a preferred way of life.

4 Of course, certain concerns about the downsides of remote work keep surfacing.

我過(guò)去總是在工作中生活。但現(xiàn)在我更習(xí)慣于在生活中工作。

2 兩年的遠(yuǎn)程辦公促成了這一轉(zhuǎn)變，我甚至不知道自己能否再次像之前那樣兼顧工作和生活。我敢保證我不是唯一有這種感覺(jué)的人。

3 根據(jù)皮尤研究中心的數(shù)據(jù)，在新冠疫情之前，可以在家完成工作的人，只有23%經(jīng)常性地遠(yuǎn)程辦公。疫情期間，這個(gè)數(shù)字達(dá)到了71%的峰值，而目前為59%。雖然他們其中的大部分人在疫情初期表示，他們?cè)诩夜ぷ魇且驗(yàn)檗k公室關(guān)閉，但是這個(gè)比例反過(guò)來(lái)了，現(xiàn)在大部分人說(shuō)他們?cè)诩夜ぷ魇且驗(yàn)橄朐诩夜ぷ?。遠(yuǎn)程辦公已經(jīng)從一種少見(jiàn)的臨時(shí)通融方案演變?yōu)橐环N首選的生活方式。

4 當(dāng)然，對(duì)遠(yuǎn)程辦公弊端的擔(dān)憂(yōu)也不斷浮現(xiàn)。

Remote work makes it too hard to manage and measure performance.

5 As with most managerial challenges, the solution comes down to training. In a report for the New America Better Life Lab, formerjournalist Brigid Schulte, author of “Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love,and Play When No One Has the Time,”offers an extensively researched toolkit to help managers and businesses adapt to a “corona-normal” way of work that is effective and equitable.

6 Instead of focusing on employee—face time and attendance—Schulte says managers need to be trained to focus on performanceto measure performance. As we’re learning from discussions of shorter workweeks, time spent on the clock is not necessarily the most accurate indicator of productivity. “This is a pivotal moment for business executives,organizational leaders, and managers to reimagine work,” says Schulte.

In-person work is crucial for facilitating random encounters that lead to innovation.

7 It may seem that inspiration, like lightning, strikes unpredictably. But there are ways to create favorable conditions for inspiration besides physically herding everyone into one location for days on end and hoping for sparks.

遠(yuǎn)程辦公讓績(jī)效難以管理和衡量。

5 和大多數(shù)管理難題一樣，最終的解決方案還是培訓(xùn)。前《華盛頓郵報(bào)》記者布里吉德·舒爾特，同時(shí)也是《不堪重負(fù)：如何在有限的時(shí)間里好好工作、戀愛(ài)和玩?！返淖髡?，在為新美國(guó)美好生活實(shí)驗(yàn)室撰寫(xiě)的一份報(bào)告中提出了一套經(jīng)過(guò)廣泛研究的方法，幫助管理者和企業(yè)適應(yīng)一種公正有效的“新冠常態(tài)”工作方式。

6 舒爾特認(rèn)為管理者需要接受培訓(xùn)，把衡量績(jī)效的關(guān)注重點(diǎn)放在員工的產(chǎn)出，而不是員工的投入——坐班時(shí)間和出勤。正如我們從縮短一周工作時(shí)間的討論中了解到的，工作時(shí)長(zhǎng)不一定是衡量生產(chǎn)力最準(zhǔn)確的指標(biāo)。“對(duì)于企業(yè)高管、組織領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和管理者來(lái)說(shuō)，這是重構(gòu)工作的關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻?！笔鏍柼卣f(shuō)道。

到崗工作是促使創(chuàng)新靈感迸發(fā)的關(guān)鍵。

7 靈感似乎像閃電一樣，突如其來(lái)。但是除了讓所有人聚攏在一個(gè)地方一連幾天，還有一些方法可以為產(chǎn)生靈感創(chuàng)造有利條件。

8Defined, intentional brainstorming sessions with a structured agenda create space to focus and build on ideas that might otherwise flare out. Open chat time before or after virtual meetings offers everyone informal access to leaders. Internal communication channels and discussion boards like Slack can stand in as virtual hallways and water coolers. This opens the floor to everyone who has ideas—not justthosewith the loudest voicesor thechutzpahto buttonholeleadersin passing topitch their ideas.

Truly committed workers will want to return to the office. Those who don’t are less engaged or don’t want to work hard.

9 Multiple studies showing at-home workers put in more hours than they did at the office would suggest otherwise.

10 It’s not that people don’t want to work hard. It’s that they don’t want to work harder than is necessary to get the job done. Getting up early for work has a purpose if you’re speaking with people in a different time zone or if that’s when you’re at your sharpest. But having flexible hours serves a purpose, too: minimizing fatigue and schedule conflicts.

8 界定明確、有目的的頭腦風(fēng)暴加上條理清晰的議程可創(chuàng)造空間讓人集中捕捉和拓展可能轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝的種種點(diǎn)子。虛擬會(huì)議前后的開(kāi)放式聊天時(shí)間讓每個(gè)人都能以這種非正式的形式接觸到領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。內(nèi)部的溝通渠道和討論區(qū)（例如Slack）可以作為虛擬走廊和茶水間取代現(xiàn)實(shí)環(huán)境。這讓每個(gè)有想法的人都能自由發(fā)言——不只是那些嗓門(mén)最大或不管不顧攔著領(lǐng)導(dǎo)推銷(xiāo)自己想法的人。

真正盡心盡力的員工會(huì)想重返辦公室，而不想回辦公室的人沒(méi)有那么敬業(yè)或者不想努力工作。

9 多項(xiàng)研究表明，員工在家工作時(shí)投入的時(shí)間比他們?cè)谵k公室要多。

10 不是人們不想努力工作，而是只想付出必要的努力完成工作。如果你要和不同時(shí)區(qū)的人交談，或者早上是你頭腦最敏銳的時(shí)候，那么早起上班是有意義的。但是靈活的上班時(shí)間也有意義：最大程度地減少疲勞和日程沖突。

11 給工作施加無(wú)助于提高績(jī)效的不必要的設(shè)想和期望（通勤、早起、領(lǐng)帶、高跟鞋、無(wú)議程的周會(huì)）會(huì)削弱員工的積極性。

11 Tacking unnecessary constructsand expectations onto a job that do nothing to enhance performance (commute,early start time, neckties, high-heeled shoes, agenda-less weekly meetings) is what sapsengagement.

Hybrid workplaces create a multi-tier reward structure where in-person workers receive more opportunities than remote workers.

12 Not if you don’t let them. It’s true that promotions and opportunities are often heavily influenced by proximity bias and familiarity bias, relying on subjective measures like “visibility”and “cultural fit.” But that’s passive,lazy management. Good management means quantifying expectations, measuring output rather than input, and getting to know workers well enough to match them with appropriate projects and goals regardless of how often you see their faces.

13 Multi-tier structures already existed in the pre-pandemic office. Workers who were being talked over in meetings, subjected to microaggressions,or having their time and concentration hijacked by passersby were already at a functional disadvantage. Hybrid and remote work can help minimize those disruptions, and virtual interactions can help put workers on more equal footing.As Schulte puts it: “Everyone’s head is the same size in a virtual window.”

混合工作場(chǎng)所創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)多層級(jí)的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)結(jié)構(gòu)，到崗員工能比遠(yuǎn)程辦公的員工獲得更多的機(jī)會(huì)。

12 如果你不讓這樣的事情發(fā)生，就不會(huì)發(fā)生。確實(shí)，晉升和機(jī)會(huì)往往深受鄰近性偏見(jiàn)和熟悉度偏見(jiàn)的影響，依賴(lài)于主觀的評(píng)判標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，例如“可見(jiàn)度”和“文化契合度”。但這是被動(dòng)、懶惰的管理。良好的管理意味著量化期望，衡量員工的產(chǎn)出而不是投入，充分了解員工，使他們與合適的項(xiàng)目和目標(biāo)相匹配，不管你多久見(jiàn)到他們一次。

13 多層級(jí)的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)結(jié)構(gòu)在疫情前就存在于職場(chǎng)了。那些在會(huì)議上被討論、受到微歧視、時(shí)間和注意力被旁人占用的員工已經(jīng)處于工作劣勢(shì)?；旌虾瓦h(yuǎn)程辦公有助于最大程度地減少這些干擾，虛擬互動(dòng)有助于員工處于更平等的地位。正如舒爾特所說(shuō)：“在虛擬窗口中，每個(gè)人的頭像都是一樣的大小?！?/p>

Remote workers become disconnected from their colleagues.

14 Digital communication channels can compensate for much of the day-to-day hallway and water-cooler chatter, and they are accessible to everyone regardless of location, status, mobility or other obstacles. But they can’t provide the full 4D immersion of nonverbal human communication, and they don’t work as well for new hires who lack established connections.

15 Periodic, planned in-person gatherings (under coronavirus-safe conditions) can help revive or kick-start connections that solidify over time through follow-up conversations, collaborations and one-on-one meetups—much the same way pre-pandemic networking events and conventions did.

16 In many cases, the problems cited with remote work—“presenteeism,” inequality, disengagement, lack of visibility—existed with the in-person model.Remote work, properly implemented, is increasingly an essential feature of the workplace. We just need to learn to use it properly. ■

遠(yuǎn)程辦公者漸漸與同事脫節(jié)。

14 數(shù)字通信渠道可以很大程度上彌補(bǔ)無(wú)法在走廊和茶水間日常閑聊帶來(lái)的影響，而且每個(gè)人都可以使用，無(wú)論他們的位置、身份、活動(dòng)能力或者其他障礙如何。但是這些數(shù)字通信渠道無(wú)法提供人類(lèi)非語(yǔ)言交流的完整4D沉浸感，而且對(duì)尚未建立起人脈的新員工來(lái)說(shuō)不太管用。

15 定期、有計(jì)劃的面對(duì)面相聚（在保證防疫安全的情況下）有助于恢復(fù)或建立聯(lián)系，通過(guò)后續(xù)的對(duì)話(huà)、合作和一對(duì)一會(huì)面，隨著時(shí)間的推移，這些聯(lián)系得以鞏固——和疫情前的社交活動(dòng)和會(huì)議產(chǎn)生的效果幾乎一樣。

16 在很多情況下，針對(duì)遠(yuǎn)程辦公提到的問(wèn)題——“假性出勤”、不平等、不積極、缺乏可視性——在到崗工作中也存在。妥善執(zhí)行的遠(yuǎn)程辦公正在成為職場(chǎng)的基本特征。我們只需要學(xué)會(huì)正確地利用它。 □