Directions: Read the following passage and answer the following questions based on the given passage.

Conversations about the role of flexible working have shifted. It’s no longer enough for companies to offer employees the option to either work from home or the office. Employees want to work from anywhere. Companies that want to attract and retain top talent, and ensure teams are highly productive, need to adapt their culture and technology to accommodate this shift in attitudes. And this is where the IT department can solidify its role as a valued contributor to the success of a company, by implementing technologies that enable secure and remote collaboration.

According to a recently commissioned Polycom survey, 24,000 respondents across 12 countries indicate that nearly two-thirds of today’s global workforce take advantage of the anywhere working model. This is a significant shift since May of 2012 when only 14% of mployees benefited from remote working.

The survey results also provide insights into some of the oncerns among companies in moving forward with the nywhere working model. Two significant concerns are a lack of trust and the perception that employees are not working as hard when they are not in the office. Also, among the 45-60-year-old age group, 59% worry that working anywhere will cause them to work longer hours. The fear of being always connected to work and overworking is a significant deterrent for this age group. 

A good first step for companies to overcome the trust and perception concern is to ensure workers are measured by output and not by the hours they have worked, commonly referred to as ‘presenteeism.’

Countries like Brazil __________ here with 80% of employees adopting the anywhere working model, and 64% respondents use video to communicate several times a day. When respondents were asked how their companies could improve trust and perceptions with the anywhere working model, the most popular recommendations were to: Equip workers with technology that is easy to use and which connects them to their colleagues; Ensure the same policies are applied to everyone in the business, regardless of seniority or their situation; and Provide guidelines on how to manage working from anywhere.

91% of those surveyed agreed that technology is a key factor in improving relationships and fostering better teamwork. This suggests that investing in the right technologies, in particular video collaboration, to get the most out of individuals and teams can help solve the lack of trust and perception concerns. And this is where the IT department can become a difference maker as they can enact technologies, such as video conferencing, to ensure colleagues can seamlessly collaborate wherever they are.