The Truth About Working from Home in 2020
Government mandates, and companies requiring their employees work from home is a challenge we are all facing. Whether or not employees have experience working from home, the atmosphere of the current situation has put a new spin on what once seemed like a luxury. The truth is, it’s not easy.
In addition to companies keeping people home, educational institutions have closed, and local, national, and global conferences and sporting events have been canceled. So, there is a combination of full households, isolated people who live alone, and companies are have never had remote workers.
Everyone is home and everyone is anxious – adults and children.
Company Policies
Employers need to understand what working at home means, to everyone involved. Employers to employ empathy as they create policies and communicate expectations – realistic expectations. If this is the first time, they are allowing employees to work from home it’s very possible that it’s the first-time employees have ever worked from home.
There are several key elements company policies need to include, the first is communication. It’s important to keep in touch with employees and understand how well (or not) they are adjusting to working at home. Productivity is also something that needs to be monitored through communications. How often does the employee update their supervisors on their progress, and how? Consider quick morning calls or collaboration tools that allow everyone to add comments that communicate progress or questions. Lastly, a quick summary of tasks via email at the end of the day help employees feel a sense of accomplishment.
Daily communications are meant to:
Keep everyone on the same page
Reduce any feelings of isolation if the employee lives alone
Enable the employer to make sure the employee is still well
Give the employee accountability
Company policies should also include guidelines on other types of communications such as team meetings, acceptable frequency of phone calls, and simplified emails – since everyone’s inbox will have an increased number of internal communications, and how especially communications with customers/clients.
Should an employee working from home participate visually in video conference calls? If they are internal, then it’s highly recommended. Seeing co-workers is important to teamwork and seeing them at home helps everyone realize we are all in the same boat. For call with customers, it is preferable and should be optional.
Not everyone is comfortable on camera, and some office space may not be work well as backgrounds. Additionally, if other people are home with the possibility of walking behind the employee or the need for the employee to quick mute to take care of anything happening in the home, video needs to be optional.
Tools for Success
Companies need to make sure they equip their employees to be successful working from home. The bare minimum includes a computer, internet access, and a phone. Obviously, employees need to be able to do their job and communicate with their employer and co-workers – at least to the degree outlined in the company policies.
There are several great collaborative tools available to help remote teams stay connected. However, for employers who have never had work-at-home employees, these tools are new, so expect a learning curve before everyone is using them well. These tools include Microsoft’s Teams and Office 365 and Google’s Hangouts Meet and their G-Suite tools and Saleforce’s Quip. Video conferencing tools include LogMeIn’s GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar, Cisco’s Webex, and Zoom’s Zoom (which also includes instant messaging capabilities).
Due to the current situation, all these platforms are offering their tools for free – with some limitations, of course. Here are the links to learn more:
https://quip.com/work-from-home
https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2020/03/latest-efforts-coronavirus-help-affected.html
The Home Front
Even employees who are fully equipped may struggle working from home. Employees who are used to structure at work may not be able to replicate that at home. There are many distractions including family members who may be home with them, television, their own kitchen, solidarity, social media, friends who call (who may also be working from home), personal errands, chores, etc. All the things they normally do when they’re home that are not being pushed to the side.
The overall atmosphere is very different – not just because they are home, because most of us are anxious these days. It’s a lot of change, and it’s not going to be easy.
Best practices regarding working at home include setting a schedule, getting dressed for work, creating a space to work, setting boundaries, and of course, professional conduct. These are great guidelines and have worked for decades for people who choose to work from home. However, today’s circumstances require flexibility on all these things, except the professional conduct. When connected to colleagues and/or clients, speak to them normally. If the situation at home becomes disruptive, take a break from the call - turn off the video, mute the microphone and take care of the situation.
We’re in This Together
More than teamwork or employee comradery, the global situation and government actions are causing most companies, across all industries, to implement work-at-home policies. Employees as well as their customers/clients are all working from home, and all struggling with the same issues.
As professional as everyone wants to be, there will be children’s voices in the background, dogs barking, less than optional lighting, and some personal items in the videos. There will also be conversations about COVID-19 during almost everyone video meeting, because we are all human, concerned, nervous, or scared, regardless of where we are working.