Agile work kills

Robert Rodriguez is a master (together with Quentin Tarantino) of modern exploitation films. A film genre that, setting aside artistic values, highlights violent scenes and offers viewers a raw vision of reality.

Yes, but what does Rodriguez have to do with remote work? Let me explain. You must, however, keep in mind the scene from the film Machete in which, emerging from a massive explosion, the assassin on a motorcycle slaughters his enemies with a machine gun. Machete kills. It was precisely this improbable scene that came to my mind when I read that remote work kills.

Is company culture in danger?

The first reports of the “heinous crimes” committed by remote work come from across the ocean, specifically from the USA, where the suspect goes by the name remote work. After all, the post-pandemic effect of a forced return to the office has had repercussions even in the cradle of change and innovation. It would seem, then, that this time the lever to counter Change is to rely on company culture. The lack of a fixed in-office workforce would destroy the beliefs, norms, and values important to a company. I would call it a destructive approach to remote work.

But let’s start from the beginning: what is meant by company culture? Summarizing some modern definitions, we can outline company culture as the union of the following three points:

1. Values. These may include sharing results, efficiency, inclusion, or transparency. They are the small bricks that form the foundation of a company.
2. Mutual trust. Often achieved through mutual support and open, informal communication, with the goal of fruitful collaboration.
3. Work style. These are the rules that ensure everything works in the best possible way, including conflict management, attitude, or product release flows.

Having defined company culture, the next questions that come to mind are:

• Through what means does a company define the values, trust, and work styles synthesized within its culture?
• How do employees voluntarily choose to adhere to the company culture?

Because, make no mistake, these are not automatic steps. Company culture is also not static but evolves over time, adapting to change. It’s a synergistic and shared process of continuous refinement. Therefore, before blaming remote work for killing company culture, one must be sure that the company has actually gone through the virtuous processes of building values, trust, and work style. And if, indeed, a universally recognized company culture exists, one must ensure that it is positive!

The workplace

How the workplace might be part of these constitutive processes is still unclear. What values the space in front of the coffee machine could possibly represent is still under study. How a sandwich, eaten at the corner bar, could improve the work style is hard to imagine. Yet some managers believe that a knowledge worker in remote work, absent from the office, kills company culture.

Serial killer of bad habits

In reality, on second thought, remote work could indeed be a serial killer—but not of company cultures. Stay with me: let’s take law 2017/81, which defines remote work, Article 18:

The provisions of this section [remote work ed.], with the purpose of increasing competitiveness and facilitating the reconciliation of work and life, promote remote work as a mode of execution of the employment relationship established by agreement between the parties, including forms of organization by phases, cycles, and objectives and without precise constraints of time or place of work, with the possible use of technological tools to carry out work activities. […]

It is the legislator himself who confirms a full 5 “murders” committed by remote work:

☠️ Poor competitiveness. The wording of this article is crystal clear. Remote work kills all non-competitive practices because it improves business process management. Better management makes the company more competitive.

☠️ Work-hour stress. A worker who can manage their own time can balance work activities with family commitments. A happy worker is a more productive worker.

☠️ Waterfall design. Thanks to Agile methodology, projects are organized in cycles with a focus on objectives. Great importance is given to retrospectives and process refinement.

☠️ Office. Remote work abstracts away from space, understood as a physical place, and from time. The absence of constraints is balanced by greater accountability.

☠️ Obsolescence. The modes of remote work demand technological efficiency. Paper archives give way to the Cloud, and the telephone becomes a chat with thematic channels.

The witnesses

Fortunately, to acquit remote work of the charge of killing company culture, there are outstanding witnesses: The Washington Post published an excellent article on the subject. A particularly important case is represented by the company Gitlab, which, through a handbook, shows publicly how a fully remote company of about 1,700 employees is managed. This manual describes company culture, the mission, but also how to handle conflicts or what the product release phases are.

At this point, leaving the metaphor behind, we can say that remote work generates virtuous habits that make companies competitive and employees happy. Companies that embrace Change are becoming more and more numerous, true witnesses for those who are still skeptical.