february2021 - 12

THE LEADERSHIP ADVISOR

What 2020 Taught Us About
Remote Work
THE POTENTIAL OF remote work has long been a hot topic in many professions, but nobody
could have predicted a pressure test for work from home (WFH) quite like the one 2020 has
provided. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced everyone's hand when it comes to remote work,

AMY VETTER, CPA.CITP, CGMA

Mindful Technologist &
Keynote Speaker
@AmyVetterCPA

making mandatory what was once optional. Accounting firms
have had to adapt to a WFH reality just like everyone else.
While the circumstances have been far from ideal, this year
has taught us a lot about remote work. We'd all be wise to
heed those lessons in the years that come, even when the
pandemic is no longer a daily focus of our lives.
The fact of the matter is that
remote work isn't going anywhere,
regardless of how quickly vaccines
arrive and collective immunity
allows us to reopen society fully.
The genie has been let out of the
bottle. Even when offices can
reopen regularly, it's hard to imagine a return to 40 hour work weeks
spent solely within the confines of
a single space. Whatever level of
hybridity is right for your practice,
you'll need to rely on what you've
learned this year to craft the best
policy going forward. With that in
mind, let's take a look at the most
important facts we've learned about
remote work in the past 12 months.

THE CLOUD IS ESSENTIAL
There is no bigger takeaway from
this year than that cloud-enabled
software is vital for modern businesses. The cloud has always been
billed as allowing you to work from
any device, at any place, at any time.
That's as true as it ever was, but
the appeal now has added meaning. Working remotely isn't just a
convenience during vacation or a
way to appeal to prospective team

FEBRUARY 2021 ■

members; It's also about keeping you
afloat when coming to the office isn't
possible. After 2020, we know that's
not a hypothetical concern. All of
your essential systems need to be
cloud enabled. If they're not, you're
tethering your business to a spot on
the planet and weighing it down.

YOU NEED MORE THAN
EMAIL
As workers are spread out across
physical space, you need ways
to keep them in touch with one
another. Of course, 2020 has been
the year of Zoom, so I probably
don't need to spend a lot of time
explaining it. What you may have
overlooked, though, is the need to
create a hierarchy of communication methods. Email, the de facto
method of digital written communication, can feel cluttered and formal
for internal discussions. Having a
chat app like Slack or Teams, or a
text or SMS message thread, will
increase communication and productivity while working remotely.
Just make sure you delineate what
is acceptable to chat as opposed to
what requires a formal email.

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

CLIENTS ARE ADAPTABLE
" Our clients won't go for it. " That
age-old expression is a classic
excuse for keeping outdated practices. " Sure, we'd love to be forwardthinking, " firm leadership says,
" But we fear it will have a negative
impact on our clients. " Well, that
excuse will no longer work. This
year, clients have faced the same
pressures as their accounting firms,
and they've responded with just as
much agility. Sure, your clients may
not be as cutting-edge as you, and
they may need a little encouragement along the way, but they're
more than capable of leveraging

new tech and new ways of thinking
in order to achieve their goals. Now
is the time to chart a new future
together.
As the poet Thomas Carlye once
wrote, " No pressure, no diamonds. "
The past 12 months have been full
of pressure, but they've brought
with them diamonds of wisdom
that will benefit our profession
for years after the shadow of the
coronavirus is a distant memory. At
times, 2020 may have felt like a step
back for your firm, but if you reflect
on all this year has had to teach us,
it will allow you to take many steps
forward in 2021 and beyond. ■

http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

february2021

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