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OPINION
The future of remote work
What does the future of remote work look like in the AEC industry and how do managers adapt?
F irst, let me just say that I am ecstatic that most professionals in the AEC industry, especially on the consulting side, appear to be returning to offices to work in-person. While my experience on the topic is isolated to the small group of 15 in my structural practice, judging by the increased commute times over the last few months, I would say that it appears to be the general trend across the workforce.
Ross Stuart
That said, there are still employees who work remotely on a permanent basis, while others engage in a hybrid system, including myself. Since the pandemic started in 2020, it has a been a struggle to continuously adjust to various remote work requirements as the rules and restrictions surrounding in-person work have changed. Now that it looks like we have reached what appears to be “the light at the end of the tunnel” (knock on wood), I find myself asking what the future of remote work looks like within my division? What should I, as a manager, be pushing for? What should staff expect? BACK TO THE OFFICE. I do not think there is a substitution for good old fashioned in-person
collaboration. The work I do as a structural engineer requires lots of communication, both verbal and written, to complete projects. A structural design for a new building requires communication with architects to understand the design intent, staff so they know what engineering tasks need to be completed, and designers to convert those designs to drawings. We all became proficient at using tools to collaborate remotely during lockdown: virtual meetings, annotating PDFs, screen sharing. Many of these tools existed pre-pandemic, but their use became essential.
See ROSS SUART , page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER OCTOBER 24, 2022, ISSUE 1462
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