b'Miller says when considering remote work, you cant just flip a switch and expect everyone to go remote. You cant just throw them in and hope that eve-rything is going to be OK, Miller says. Hope is not a strategy when it comes to remote work. You need to be able to have a framework in place thats able to provide support to your employees.Know that without a strategy, remote work has the chance to fail. Whats the key to success in a remote world?Miller says communication is the answer.Hyper communication is key within a remote world, he says. The future is going to be a wild frontier. Its about having a playbook or set of rules and engagements for your employees to build on and move forward.In addition, setting up employees for success is imperative. Providing the right tools, such as monitors or standing desks like you would in an office, needs to be thought about in a remote world as well.However, Craven notes that its important to remem-ber that working virtually is completely different than in person.Jade Reeve serves as program manager for the Canadian Agricultural Some folks may still retain a stigma about returningHuman Resource Council.to the office, Craven says. Craven says there are some issues with virtual, such as Zoom fatigue after long meetings, that you might not have while in person. I might argue when a person works from home, they are potentially more fatigued and more pressured than that person that is afforded the opportunity to come into the office, he says. Its critically important for organizations to understand that were probably going to have to meet in the middle, where its not a full-on work from home, and its not a full-on back to the office. Craig Reed, chief procurementMark Metcalfe is president of Miller says one benefit of the pandemic was theofficer for Corteva Agriscience. Manitoba-based Nexeed.opportunity provided to open companies eyes to remote work. While there are challenges, such as not being able to shut off the Slack chat, clear communication can allevi-ate issues.procurement officer for Corteva Agriscience based in Moving forward, its about establishing boundariesIndiana, it isnt as simple as just going back to the office and a playbook. Thats all embedded within your com- full-time.panys culture and how you interact in this new digitalWeve realized that theres a large portion of our world. workforce that would like to continue in some form of Craven agreessetting expectations and communi- flexible model. So, we will have site-dedicated jobs which cating them is important to the future of remote work. would mean you continue to work five days a week on Just because youre working from home doesnt meansite. We will have a segment of jobs that can be flex-that you can show up on your Monday morning meetingible, and were looking at one to four days a week in the Zoom call in a t-shirt and bedhead, Craven says. Foroffice. Finally, we have a subset of our workforce that can some, that expectation hasnt been clearly established. be totally remote, he says. By establishing clear balance and expectations, remoteIf your work can be done remotely and still meet the work might be a possibility for the future.requirements of your role, then theres no need to be in an office all the time. Everyone is different, and every Returning to the Office role is different. For us, its about how do we provide the For many, a return to the office is a necessity. Not allmost flexibility that continues to meet our business needs employers will decide to move to a remote model, andas we continue to meet the overall requirements of our not all employees will want one. But for Craig Reed, chiefemployee base as well.44GERMINATION.CASEPTEMBER 2021'