The switch went off suddenly mid-March, we need to turn it on as soon as possible.
This crisis revealed a lot of facts, real and virtual. Some companies were ready to work remotely right away.
Did it work? yes, because we have the whole infrastructure to do so in a normal situation. Is this the way we really need to work ? Not really. I read a post of someone picturing his 12-year old daughter working for school in front of her iMac with the following comment: "My daughter can work remotely, why won't companies let their staff do so?" My answer is: "will you keep your daughter home forever because she can work from home?".
A company is not just individuals working each on their side, answering emails or chats on instant messengers. Doing so leads to misunderstandings, mistakes, lack of responsiveness or understanding of messages.
In a live situation, we walk a few steps and talk to each other, in a virtual environment we do not always dare to call or create a meeting.
A company is a vision and a team movement, a social place and the last thing we need is to de-humanize this environment.
Turn the switch on, the life of before was really fine.