Agile working: differences with remote work

What is the difference between agile and remote working?

Lately we often hear about these new forms of work organization.

The aim is to lighten and improve work performance.

There are many advantages that both forms of work can offer to employers, but also to workers.

Often, however, there is confusion between the terms, partly because it is really very subtle to distinguish between the various modes.

We have prepared this guide with the intention of clarifying the difference between remote working and agile working.

Distance working: what is it?

According to the definition of remote working that can be read on the website of the Ministry of Labour, this modality is configured as an execution of the subordinate employment relationship that is characterized by the absence of constraints, both from the point of view of hours and from the point of view of the place of work.

The employer and the employee, however, agree to organize operations by cycles and objectives.

The employee thus has the opportunity to reconcile his work with his personal life.

At the same time, the growth of his productivity is encouraged.

Agile working: what it is

The objective of agile work is to increase competitiveness and to facilitate the reconciliation of work time with personal life time.

Therefore, agile work is configured as a mode of the employment relationship that is established by agreement between the parties.

Also in this case, the forms of organization may have cycles or objectives to be achieved and the worker may use technological tools to carry out his activity.

What are the differences between the two

But what is the difference between agile and remote working? Actually, if you look into the matter thoroughly, you can see that there are several commonalities.

So, for this very reason, sometimes there is no specific difference between agile and remote working.

Sometimes, with good reason, the two terms are used synonymously.

Among the common elements we can trace is the fact that both work modes are based on the pact of co-responsibility and mutual trust that is established both between team members and between employees and the employer.

In addition, differences in skills between employees are understood as added value that makes it easier to achieve the proposed results.

Both remote working and agile working make use of technology, but the difference lies in the fact that in the case of remote working the technological tools help to carry out essentially remote communications, while in agile working technology also replaces written communications and those marked by a highly bureaucratic value.

But if we want to trace the true and profound difference between agile and remote working, we need to think about a precise fact: in agile working there is a revision of the company's organization in order to create multidisciplinary teams.

In short, we can say that agile working is not just about flexibility in terms of working hours or location, but it's all about understanding how this work is organized, because in agile working everything is based on teamwork.

Since there are no structures at a hierarchical level, each working group is not only responsible for carrying out a project, but also for assessing the progress of the work and the possibility of improvement.

Advantages

After clarifying the difference between agile and remote working, let's try to see what are the advantages that these forms of work can represent, both for employees and for the company.

As far as companies are concerned, we can say that it all translates into improved productivity and reduced absenteeism at work.

In addition, the company has the opportunity to save money, because it reduces the cost of the physical spaces to be used.

There are also advantages for productivity in general for the country in which these forms of work are implemented.

For Italy, the latest surveys indicate that the increase in productivity translates into an economic value of 13.7 billion euros.

Therefore there are of the important relapses to economic and social level.

For the employees can be counted on one reduction of the times and the costs of transfer, in an improvement of the relationship between times of job and times to dedicate to the private life and in an increase of the motivation and the satisfaction.

Disadvantages

However, many are not convinced of all the benefits associated with remote working and agile working.

In fact, they identify critical issues, which have emerged especially when these more flexible forms of work have been adopted and spread on a large scale due to the pandemic.

Forces have been identified that are primarily related to having to work from home all the time.

Largely a factor in the problems is that related to a lack of the right digital skills and technology.

A number of workers have found it difficult to separate work and private time.

In addition, some have experienced a sense of isolation from work organizations.

Opinions

We believe that remote working and agile working certainly represent much more flexible forms of work than those more widely practiced.

Both have a lot of potential that needs to be explored, including at an organisational level, in order to bring numerous advantages.

In this context, it is important to take into account the needs of the firm and its clients, as well as the needs of the client, to ensure that the firm is able to take advantage of the benefits of both.

A better organization and a more widespread attitude towards more flexible work can help to overcome those critical issues that have been identified and that are, however, linked to a particular historical moment of health emergency, which has many implications to be taken into account.