Nearly two years have passed since the first Covid case was found, and our world has forever changed. Among the many adaptations, shifting dynamics of the workplace are taking the world by storm. While hundreds of millions of employees worldwide were sent to construct home offices (ranging anywhere from a designated room to a laptop on the kitchen counter), entire buildings and business districts were left abandoned.

In the beginning, people were distraught with the remote-work scenario, but the benefits soon became clear and changed millions of minds. In a new McKinsey remote-work research, 80 per cent of people questioned reported they enjoy working from home. 41 percent said that they are more productive than they had been before and 28 percent that they are as productive.

In June 2021, when Covid cases worldwide were dropping, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out a company-wide memo telling staff they would be required back in the office by early September. Workers would be expected to be present for three days a week, with two days of remote work. Many employees were not happy, to say the least. "Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple,” they wrote in their own, now public letter, addressing the company’s policies.

And they were not the only ones displeased with going back to the office. As employees from Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, and many more, threaten to quit if their remote requests are not met, a new normal is being forced upon the western job market. The past 2 years have proved that work can be done from anywhere, minus lengthy commutes on crowded trains or highways. A survey by Morning Consult on behalf of Bloomberg News showed that 39% of US adults would consider quitting if their employers weren’t flexible about remote work. Among the younger generations, that figure was 49%.

The rise of the MMN

Luckily, technology has never been more adequate for remote work, with designated platforms allowing advanced virtual meetings, file sharing and real-time collaborations. It is current management paradigms that need some adjustments, and luckily, there is no need to reinvent the wheel.

After the 2008 financial crash, the business sphere was revolutionized. As technological developments and perceptual changes led many professionals to start their freelance path, the basic principles of remote management began to take shape, and the "gig economy” was established.

Soon new types of companies began to take form. One of those new models was the micro multinational (MMN) - small/medium-sized business companies (no more than 500 employees), operating in different markets throughout the world, with management working remotely from various countries (at least two).

There are many benefits to the MMN management style. When properly managed, teams that work remotely tend to be more creative, independent, and efficient. A 2017 Gallup poll found that workers who spent 60% to 80% of their work time at home were more engaged. Employees also tend to feel a stronger connection to the company and its purpose and feel more satisfied with their work. In addition, teams that spread out in different countries bring diverse approaches to the (virtual) table. There is also an economic aspect, as the absence of a central office saves major funds. And finally, cutting the number of required travel (both to/from the office and flying) lowers the carbon footprint, an increasingly important bottom-line for today’s corporations and startups alike.

Being an MMN brings with it quite a few challenges as well, but with a dynamic approach and a willingness to change traditional management perceptions we learned in business school, I believe the benefits will outweigh the costs. 

4 interactive management lenses

Over the past 7 years since founding Ignite Power, and with vast experience in working with a very diverse, cross-national team, I developed the "4 Lens Method”, encompassing 4 structures that create a stable, efficient, and creative MMN. The lenses interact, and integrate, creating a management style that is now becoming specifically designated for the post (or current) Covid era.

The first Horizontal Management lens is the most traditional one, examining the organisation crossways. Just like most businesses in the world, MMNs also consist of defined layers of executives, senior management, regional management, and local teams, yet in MMNs, the importance of the separation increases.

Unlike a traditional pyramid-based organisation, where management can monitor any interest or malfunction, MMN senior management must rely on the other layers to operate independently. Each tier serves as a smart filter, addressing issues under its responsibility (for example local teams execute projects and maintain customer relationships; local management deals with regulation and competition in the market; senior management face recruitment and industry cycles; and the executives manage investor relations, strategy, future capital raising, etc.).

In the second, Vertical Management lens, the focus shifts to values. While In traditional organisations, the main focus is on processes, vision, and budget, MMNs concentrate on the values that guide the company’s operations, adding them to the first, more traditional variables. In this lens process + values = sustainable growth.

In the absence of day-to-day supervision, the power of an MMN lies in its human capital. In the 3rd, Human-Centric lens, the goal is to recruit innovative people who can adapt to a dynamic and changing framework. Micromanaging is the big enemy of the MMN: If you don’t have independent capabilities fostered by management, the entire structure will collapse like a house of cards. But with early mentoring (also remotely) and faith in the people, results will follow.

With employees operating in different countries, creating a community and a sense of belonging is a difficult challenge, and the best solution is emphasizing company values (aligning with the 2nd lens). The stronger the connection is of employees and management to the values and the purpose that drives the company, the stronger the company and its community. Knowing and taking interest in your employees’ cultures is essential. What are the key motivators in each country, what are the characteristics of the culture? What are the important holidays? This is key for creating a sense of community and belonging.

An MMN is, by definition, a non-central organization, with employees and management scattered around the world, creating a network of information, responsibilities, and ideas. In the 4th and final Network Lens, the CEO’s role is to establish an asymmetric network structure, enabling an uninterrupted flow of information across the organization, and encouraging innovation and breakthrough thinking. By knowing how to foster random connections between different areas of the network, one can significantly increase the number of groundbreaking ideas. Many ideas will run throughout the virtual network, and the CEO’s job is to create an array of "smart sensors” to identify and promote the most relevant ideas in real-time.

While the 2008 crisis disrupted the entire business sphere, Covid is seemingly making even bigger waves. With this new paradigm, open minds, and some patience, companies can enjoy higher levels of efficiency and creativity, employees can feel more independence and satisfaction in their role, and we can all enjoy a stronger, more resilient model, suitable for this new era.

The writer is an entrepreneur and investor, leading sustainability-driven companies in Africa and the Middle East