Working remotely: the human view
Paula J Smith, MSc, BSc (Hons)
I am a highly skilled Information Governance Professional with a proven track record delivering successful outcomes. I bring passion, experience, knowledge and pragmatism to my engagements, and a touch of humour too.
I consider myself incredibly lucky that I can work remotely and I guess I have taken it a little for granted. In these incredibly challenging times we need to look after each other and make sure that we remain connected; not just technically but emotionally. I've captured a few considerations for those of you leading teams and a few of my tips as someone who has worked from home for many years.
Be flexible with working times
Some of your team will have children, dependents who are going to need their attention. They may need to start earlier, take a long break during the day etc. It is important that we get the work completed, but there is an opportunity to be flexible and pragmatic.
Video over Voice
This literally came up in a call this morning, where one of my team expressed a need to 'see' the people on the call. Looking someone in the eyes is still an important psychological need and we should encourage the use of video over voice wherever possible.
Redesign the watercooler moments
I have just given my team a 'meme of the week' challenge to encourage some fun and social interaction via one of our Teams channels. The physical interaction that comes from those chats over the watercooler, the coffee machine etc are important to our emotional sense of connection to our colleagues. So whether its a scheduled check-in, a yammer group to share photos of your new workspace, or a teams channel dedicated to social chats - we need to support our team with ways to connect emotionally.
The un-Friday Friday
For many of us, Friday afternoons are our social get together and wind down moments, but when we are all working remotely how do you do this? Well you can all dial in to a virtual Friday catchup - the 'un-Friday' Friday where you can still checkin and talk - it will be a little more stilted especially if you have a large group but I'm sure that we can make it work. Try having a bit of structure like a quiz to keep the fun going and encourage some light relief.
Communicate well and often
If you are relying on email or intranet posts etc you need to make sure that any of your communications are clear and unambiguous. Through the written word, we cannot assess tone, we can't see you to read your non-verbal communications so extra care is needed. Alternatively, start the day with a short video update (especially during times of high need) so that your team can be reassured about what's hapenning and can see you.
Provide the necessary tools
There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to access the information you need to do your job, or starting a document and then getting 'kicked off' your system. As team leaders it is really important that we have the tools and technologies in place to support our teams. Many people have technology at home already, keyboards, extra monitors, etc but don't assume that everyone has this or even has a reliable connection. Take the opportunity to check and be prepared to respond to the most critical needs.
What are your tips?
We are all going through an unprecedented event at the moment, but I am incredibly proud of my team for their care of each other, the positive 'can-do' attitude that they have displayed and some of the innovative ideas that the team have come up with.
There's a really good article here on how to be productive when you're working from home in normal circumstances that is well worth a read also - but I'd be really keen to hear your experiences and tips for everyone else. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/productivity-tips-working-from-home
Stay strong everyone, look after yourselves and each other. Kia Kaha
Test Manager
4 年Agree wholeheartedly Paula. My team want to start the day with a team meeting too. I find it’s important to have time for just reflecting, encouraging and having fun! Still encouraging my team to do tik tok dances for a bit of fun! Some People are still dealing with fear and anxiety it’s a time to focus on supporting our people. ??. Well written article Paula!
Leadership I Strategy I Business Development I Senior Management
4 年Hi Paula, loved the article. As remote working becomes the new norm for many of us who have always had the ability to do so, but never the desire, your thoughts were insightful. Interestingly enough they mirror pretty much exactly what the smarter people at AskYourTeam are doing. Flexibility is first and foremost given the many working mothers and fathers in our team! All meetings are Zoom-based with visual taking precedence over voice any day. To the extent that we have all hands meetings with a kaleidoscope of 30+ faces in-front of us on the screen. Virtual coffee catch-ups and constant chats/ teams calls and even old-school phones are becoming the part of our daily rituals. We have even instigated Friday drinks via Zoom! Not quite like standing in Avida though! All incredibly important in keeping our very close team/ whanau connected during this time. We are also doing some great things to support our customers stay connected with staff working remotely, especially giving a voice to those that often don't want to, or don't feel empowered to speak up - those whose wellbeing is probably greatest at risk. Give me a shout if you're interested to know more. Love your work!
Founder and Managing Director, Experience Matters
4 年Paula, Never before has the ability to work remotely been more important.?And once we have found that we can successfully work remotely we will never go back.?Experience Matters has been working remotely for over 19 years; we have never had an office and it has proved to be a successful model.? That said, it has not all been easy; we discovered that we need: 1. fit-for-purpose video and telecommunications technology; 2. collaboration / content management software so remote workers can access the information they need to do their jobs; 3. Information Asset management guidelines so organisations can manage their data, information and knowledge in a remote working environment and thus manage productivity, waste and risk; 4. policies and behavioural guidelines from chairing a conference call to measuring individuals’ performance on output rather than on attendance ; 5. workspace advice with regard to health and safety, ergonomics, insurance etc.; and 6. advice and counselling to support conducting business in a domestic setting.
Managing Director @ Fill The Gap | IT Enabled Transformation
4 年Hi Paula. Surprisingly during the Kaikoura Earthquakes, we saw an increase in productivity when our team was working from home. Probably due to fewer "passing by" interruptions. My tip is to open up your calendar to partners and customers. Use whatever technology you've got access to, to allow these people to book time directly into your calendar. This will save heaps of time that you no longer have while balancing "Level 4 work-life balance"
Founder | LINQ | Making Change Successful | Digital Twin | International Innovator | CEO
4 年Nice Paula. Flexibility is my #1. Be flexible with yourself, others, and your family. Think about outcomes and work to those first and foremost - everything else will follow. #2?is to maintain a sense of humour! Find something to laugh about and someone to laugh with! VC is great for that :)? I wrote some of my thoughts previously here:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/so-youre-working-from-home-here-some-thoughts-get-you-neil-calvert/