policy & reform
campusreview.com.au
Remote control
Will COVID-19 change
workplace practices forever?
Sarah Bankins interviewed by Wade Zaglas
W
hile some employees may have
been able to access work from
home (WFH) policies in the past,
the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that
almost everyone who can technically work
from home is currently doing so.
But how do people feel about this? And
will WFH practices become the norm for
many in the future?
Dr Sarah Bankins, a senior lecturer from
the Faculty of Business and Economics
at Macquarie University, wrote about this
recently for the university’s The Lighthouse
publication. She contends that, while
technologies such as Zoom, Google
Hangouts and Skype have existed for some
time and offer the workforce a way of
communicating that is functional, they are
10
far from perfect. Connectivity issues, slow
internet speeds and technical glitches can
impede businesses trying to communicate
on a regular basis.
Because it is too early to empirically
conclude what impacts WFH will have on
employees’ productivity and wellbeing,
Bankins says social media has helped to
identify three distinct types of people who
look at WFH in vastly different ways.
Some prefer working from the office
and having a clear demarcation between
work and home, as well as fewer or no
disruptions.
Others enjoy the flexibility of WFH and
the opportunity to be productive outside of
the traditional 9 to 5 working hours.
The third type “want the best of both
worlds”, and Bankins says these individuals
are probably in the majority.
Although many businesses will find it
difficult to move towards a WFH policy,
Bankins says that ongoing overheads such
as rent and electricity may push more
white-collar professionals such as lawyers,
accountants and other office workers to
reconsider their operational models.
Campus Review caught up with Bankins
to find out more about her thoughts on
working from home and the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
CR: You say in your article that even though
the technology to work from home has been
around for some time, it’s far from perfect.
Can you elaborate on that?
SB: Well, I think it’s important to bear in
mind that there are always going to be
pros and cons in how we use technology.
For example, the technology we use can
have limitations. Sometimes our internet
connections can be variable, and I’m sure
some of us have experienced this in our
work lives at the moment where Zoom or
Skype calls can get interrupted, screens
can freeze, and that can make calls and
meetings perhaps not as seamless as we
would like them to be.
But having said that, the range of
technologies and platforms that we have
to communicate and meet virtually has
certainly improved over the years. In the
current context, I think it’s fair to say that if
someone had never heard of or used Zoom
before, I’m pretty sure they know what it is
and have used it now.
So in using these technologies more,
I think many of us are probably pleasantly
surprised at their ease of use and their
different functionality and how they help
support effective meetings and collaboration
at a time when they really are our only way
of doing those things at the moment.
But I think it’s also important to
remember that using technology to
communicate is never going to be quite the
same as speaking to someone in person.
However, into the future, I think we’ll find