To continue our series, we will progress down the path of discussing how AI will influence and change management in the future.
The second assertion pertaining to the use of AI for management, is that remote work may start to continue to grow again. I recall in 2018 when organizations were struggling with the cultural shift of hiring remote workers. Leaders wanted to see their employees in the office. Many continued to resist the WFH (work from home) reality, while others embraced the beneficial shift of sourcing talent from across the nation. Only two years later, a global pandemic struck, leaving many organizations scrambling with how to quickly adjust to a WFH life.
We also saw a shift following the pandemic of a hybrid reality, where organizations took their learnings from the pandemic to optimize working from home. This hybrid approach continued to allow for seeking talent farther away from offices than before, but also aimed to keep physical offices intact.
AI is now making a prediction – I speak of AI as if it’s a person (yikes). It posits that remote and hybrid work will continue to grow. Interestingly enough, that’s counter to what we’ve seen in the job market and, more personally, what I’ve seen with clients. While I do not see the writing on the wall that remote work will grow, it’s possible that the use of AI will enable better training for employees virtually.
AI may be able to make suggestions on how to best manage individuals remotely, but I will be surprised to see a drastic shift (back) to WFH due to AI alone. Stay tuned for part three of The Future of Management in the coming weeks.