During this health and economic crisis, many businesses are able to remain \u201copen\u201d by converting their employees to work from home arrangements. \u00a0To some businesses, this has been a common workplace solution. \u00a0My business, for example, has always had its employees work from home or client sites. \u00a0For non-essential businesses, my consultants are working from home and if the client is deemed essential during this crisis they are continuing to work on site.<\/p>\n
Many are saying this change was brought about some awareness. \u00a0I\u2019m hearing from businesses that they know now they should have made the investment long ago. \u00a0This type of flexibility and connectivity should have been in place before a crisis.<\/p>\n
Some are saying this is the new way of doing business. \u00a0Well, not so fast. \u00a0Many companies are not conducive to work from home arrangements. \u00a0They can transition during a crisis, but the solution makes little sense long term. \u00a0Many individuals are self-directed, but more are not. \u00a0Some of us go to work to rest. \u00a0Speak to any caregiver.<\/p>\n
There are a lot of considerations and best practices in work from home arrangements. There are organizational, operational and employee management situations that if handled correctly, can make for a smoother more productive transition. \u00a0Handled incorrectly, utter dysfunction.<\/p>\n
So, first things first. \u00a0Leadership needs to be involved in the solution. \u00a0They have to present the new work arrangement with a positive attitude and be willing to train managers on how to manage a remote workforce. \u00a0They should show a \u201ccan do\u201d attitude and communicate what outcomes that need to be achieved. \u00a0They have to authorize funds to improve and\/or enhance technology to make it work.<\/p>\n
Operationally, managing workers from home is a whole new deal. \u00a0The communications must occur daily. \u00a0This can be difficult in places where managers didn\u2019t communicate at all. \u00a0It shouldn\u2019t be just email either. \u00a0Face-to-face conferencing and virtual team meetings should occur frequently. \u00a0Setting up a routine for departments and employees will provide clear expectations and collaboration. \u00a0Plan a weekly agenda and distribute it to team members to allow for input before the meetings. \u00a0Managers should be prepared to listen to workers to flush out any customer concerns so workers can respond correctly. \u00a0It\u2019s not a bad idea to give workers a webinar on customer service essentials because many of them have not had regular \u00a0customers contact. \u00a0Managers do need to be flexible and patient with working families, allowing them frequent breaks and different hours.<\/p>\n
Employees who are not self-directed need advice and guidance. \u00a0The best practice is to stick to your personal routine. \u00a0Get up on time, get dressed, put on your makeup, and set up an area that resembles a work site. No working on the couch. \u00a0It\u2019s not healthy to break from routine and stay in pajamas until midday. \u00a0And it\u2019s not a time to take advantage. \u00a0Working from home means you are still working. \u00a0Otherwise, you are demonstrating to your employer that you are non-essential.<\/p>\n
For working parents, structure helps with children too. \u00a0Have them keep to their schedules and attend virtual or prepared work for them to do while you work from home. \u00a0Spouses can take turns with work and childcare. \u00a0Single parents can arrange rotating schedules with other parents, just as long as sound precautions are put in place to minimize exposures to the virus.<\/p>\n
Home office employees should offer ideas to managers and be available for virtual meetings. \u00a0Communicate, collaborate and keep a positive attitude. \u00a0Reach out to support systems if you are feeling overwhelmed or depressed. \u00a0Call the EAP if your company has one.<\/p>\n
Work from home arrangements help us get through this difficult time. \u00a0Anyone who can do this should feel very lucky. \u00a0After all, we still have a job. \u00a0Our business found a way to continue delivering their product or service to their customers. \u00a0Some workers are not as fortunate- both the ones who have lost their jobs and the many who are on the front lines providing essential products and services.<\/p>\n
The important thing is to remain positive. \u00a0We can get through this together. With some thought, planning and best practices, working from home can be a positive and productive experience for businesses and workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During this health and economic crisis, many businesses are able to remain \u201copen\u201d by converting their employees to work from home arrangements. \u00a0To some businesses, this has been a common workplace solution. \u00a0My business, for example, has always had its employees work from home or client sites. \u00a0For non-essential businesses, my consultants are working from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"post_folder":[268],"class_list":["post-11173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consulting-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11174,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173\/revisions\/11174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11173"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=11173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}