Remoting Well?
We hear it all the time these days – on the news, from our family, from our customers, our co-workers, our managers - are we really being productive when working at home? Or sometimes it’s a little worse -are we really working at all? In this new age of almost post-pandemic virtual telework - the way in which we work and hold employees accountable has changed. So how do we excel at this new dynamic - as an employee, and as an employer?
Here are some tips that we have found helpful:
As an Employer:
1. Communicate your expectations clearly and regularly about what telework - the work schedule, the frequency of communication, about in-office days, etc. What does successful telework looks like to you, as the manager? Does it mean that you expect employees to be online for 7.5 hours or more each day? Does it mean that all email and voicemail messages should be responded to within a certain, hopefully reasonable, amount of time? If you are video teleconferencing, does it mean that all work meetings are with the camera on? Whatever the expectation is - share it, up front and often.
2. Focus on results -With #1 in mind - focus on what is important - delivering the results. For example, if your employee Pam can work remotely from Paris and meet all of her deliverables, on time - does it matter where she works, as long as she is delivering the results? If Jonathan seems to be missing in the middle of the workday for two hours every day - and is missing meetings, or is not responding to emails - is this acceptable? Would it be acceptable if he was in the office? Does his schedule need to be adjusted, or is there something going on that you, as his employer, needs to know about? Performing work is a mindset - not a location.
3. Don't micromanage - Trust your employees to get their jobs done, and communicate with them when they are doing well. If they are not achieving the results that are expected of them - hold them accountable - and communicate the issue. Trust works both ways- it needs to be earned, and we need to hold our teams accountable once the expectations have been shared.
At FM Talent, many of us have teleworked over the past two years, and we have found the following to be helpful
As an Employee/Teleworker:
1. Know your audience/stakeholders: Ensure you understand the expectations of your manager, your teammates, and your customers. Are you expected to be available online during core business hours? Do you know what the core business hours are? If you don't know the answers to either of these questions - ask! Ask your manager - ask your teammates, ask your customer.
2. Communicate frequently with your work team. It is easy to feel disconnected, and isolated when you are a remote worker. Find ways to connect with your team, and your manager. Set up one on one meetings. Reach out to celebrate team successes -or birth days, or customer wins. This goes for employees and managers. And share your expectations and your needs – do you need to have a more flexible schedule when school starts? Can you work more hours on Fridays? Would you like to come into the office once a week because you want to collaborate with your colleagues? Start the conversation.
3. Deliver what is expected, and communicate if you are going to miss a deadline. Wherever you are located – in the office, or as a remote worker, the expectation is that you are working – you are performing the tasks that have been assigned to you. Some of the bigger concerns occur when people fail to communicate the status of a deliverable – especially if it cannot be delivered when promised.
Work cultures and expectations have been irrevocably changed due to the pandemic. How we work, when we work, how we team, where we work – is very different now than it was a few short years ago. But we are happy to say that some things never change – the benefit of clear expectations – frequent communication – focusing on what is important - and delivering results never goes out of style.