Tag: remote workers

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Operations Following Lifted Pandemic Restrictions

Here we are, in the new world of the telecommuting future thanks to the impetus of the pandemic. Operations following lifted pandemic restrictions will include telework, flexible work hours, working from home, home office, coworking spaces, and turning to jobs online, all a part of the new normal, a metamorphosis in the workforce of the post-pandemic world.

Fortunately, all the necessary technology is readily available for employers to adapt to telecommuting and remote working as we ready to return to the new normal and beyond.

If your business or organization is not already remote-work-savvy now is the time to ready for the new digitally enhanced workplace following in the footsteps of other businesses and organizations that vow to never return to archaic pre-pandemic methods of operating their businesses.

Everything You Need is Here

Some of the first places to look for digitally upgrading your teleworking environment would include software to communicate with and monitor staff, applications for scheduling projects and task management, training programs, and security solutions.

The Top 10 Attributes of Post-pandemic Operations

1. Structure

Organizational structure is important to layout as early as possible for establishing hierarchy and accountability among the digital workforces. The better your structure is formatted, the more secure your remote workers will be adapting to the work from home model. Though, not all your personnel will be working from home. Some staff may still be coming into work, even if only for a day or two per week, then teleworking the remainder of the time. You will have to figure out what works best for your organizational structure.

2. Empower Staff

By empowering your staff to take responsibility for their own tasks, you add the necessary and most impactful component of flexibility to your team. This also relieves you from the responsibility of monitoring each and every employee. Take your attention off of the minute details and focus on the while, allowing each employee to manage themselves.

3. Communicate

Keeping the line of communications open is very important, and especially allowing and encouraging staff to reach out if they are feeling overwhelmed by any piece of the task at hand. Team chat tools can allow team members to stay in contact and report ideas to problem-solve on the fly.

4. Performance Evaluation

Performance evaluation in the new normal is conducted on a large-scale, then at several levels below by reviewing strategic Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to measure the overall performance of the organization, each team, and for problem-solving, each employee. All efforts can be traced to ensure the success of the organization.

5. Motivation

You might choose to use virtual boards to keep employees motivated (though these only work if everyone is on board, using, and regularly updating them).

6. Culture

The biggest organization-wide tele-employee advantage with the most impact on your overall performance is to establish a positive work culture. Working remotely should be a celebration of all the best attributes of an organization and its employees culminating in a joyous performance.

7. Empathetic Correction

Of course, there will be slumps in individual and team performance which will need to be addressed along the way but do so in a compassionate and empathetic manner. No one should ever feel like they are being punished or threatened by, “It’s my way or the highway,” which is considered barbaric in the current workforce marketplace.

8. Trust and Support

Employees perform better when they are able to accept their own responsibility within the most flexible parameters, and when they feel supported and trusted.

9. Non-work-related Socials

Digital non-work-related social events can help to take the edge off of staff which is feeling the pressure of being on lockdown resulting from a pandemic and executive restrictions. So, feel free to be creative and support Zoom meetings that are just for fun. Maybe a staff talent contest, show off your work-crib competition, fashion review, pet show, cooking show, or host an online karaoke show. Anything to take the edge off potential cabin fever or blues from isolation.

10. Affinity

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” so apply the “non-work-related” label as often as possible when reaching out to and communicating with your employees. The creates affinity among your organization and will put you miles ahead in employee retention.

 

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Pandemic Remote Work Statistics Not Good

No doubt many telecommuters are thriving during the pandemic. For the most part these are upper-income office workers whose jobs easily transitioned from the office environment to successfully working from home as they continue to enjoy all the benefits from doing so.

For the rest of the world, things are not looking as optimistic. There are rising rates of domestic violence, depression, suicidal ideation, and mental health services are hard-pressed to meet the growing demand for both remote workers and the increasingly unemployed Americans who are tasked with having to manage work (or lack of work) and surviving during unprecedented times.

Research is ongoing, as we try to get a handle on what we are up against as we all are trying to do our best under such challenging conditions.

As the statistics continue to come in, one research firm (The Martec Group) has provided results of a groups study that confirms, even among those who are telecommuting and working from home, there is growing cause for concern.

According to statistics

32% Pissed Off

The largest segment of teleworking employees (32%) report that they are hugely in opposition of the current work at home conditions. They don’t like working at home, and they think that their employers are not doing a very good job at making adequate arraignments not offering the support necessary to ensure a successful telecommuting environment.

27% Disgruntled

Then there are the employees that also do not like working at home, but they are not blaming their employers at all. As awkward and uncomfortable as it might be, they are of the mind that their employers are doing the best they can with what they have. These account for 27% of the group.

It is disconcerting, that the larger part of the group (59%) is not enjoying the remote working scenario whatsoever. And who would blame them? Who likes being forced to do anything that is outside their comfort zone? (No matter how you try to explain how fortunate they are to have a job.)

Then there are the employees who don’t hate working from home, are not crazy about it and wished they didn’t have to do it, but also think that their employers will come out of the pandemic in good shape (25%), and they believe they will be able to return to work under more normal conditions after the restrictions are lifted.

16% Love It

If you believe the media, you will think the largest segment of the pandemic telecommuters would be those who are enthusiastically celebrating their new life and freedom associated with working from home. But it turns out that only 16% are thriving as the result of working from home, and if given the opportunity to continue to do so would jump at the chance, even if it meant taking a slight pay cut.

84% Do Not Want to Work from Home

It is interesting to note the majority (84%) of these employees are not happy. Not only are they not happy, but they do not want to be working from home.

72% Growing Mental Health Concerns

They feel like they are being forced to work under undesirable conditions, and 72% of them reported growing mental health concerns.

I think we could do better.

 

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Looking After Telecommuters

Now that it is clear that telecommuting and working from home is the new business model going into the future, it behooves us to take responsibility for changes in the work environment and to address challenges rapidly as they become apparent.

For instance, remote workers do have a tendency to work longer hours (with or without compensation), they suffer from disconnectedness which leads to depression, and their face-to-face communication skills are dwindling as they get lost in isolation.

Employers who are using telecommuters need to take into consideration that this new workforce segment is in the process of developing special needs that need to be addressed before they become problematic, affecting work performance, and the organization’s bottom line.

And for those working from home, they need to be cognizant of their potential to develop these weaknesses and hopefully, be able to cut them off at the pass.

The emerging concern is that the mental health of telecommuters may be at risk.

Corporate or self-imposed teleworker evaluations must be made to ascertain any potential for being at risk in the work from home environment.

Are your employees adapting well and thriving as they are embracing all the benefits of remote work? Or are they experiencing increased stress levels from no longer working in the safety and security of the office environment they were once accustomed to?

Are they enjoying being able to flex their hours to accommodate personal needs, wants, and desires, and enjoying the freedom that comes from telework? Or are they feeling isolated from coworkers and the world, which may lead to dark psychological challenges?

Are your off-site workers upbeat and enthusiastic about their job performance and personal lives, or is their outlook on life, including professional and personal life, deteriorating?

Are your remote employees healthier since they have been telecommuting, or is their health on the decline since they have been working from home?

What does their diet look like when they are working at home? Are they sleeping soundly, or losing sleep? Do they have an exercise routine?

Do they feel enthusiastic and optimistic? Or are they spending more time focusing on fear of what the future may hold, or worrying more?

Employers, or the telecommuters themselves, must take a proactive approach to making sure that this world of turning a part of your living space into an effective workplace has an ultimately positive impact on one’s life in order to make this transition successful.

Some things you can do include:

Shake up your work at home routine for a better life

Decorate your home work-area to your heart’s content. Surround yourself with all the things that make you feel good.

Change your routine up. Take advantage of the flexibility of your work schedule. Take your breaks out of the house.

Get out and take a walk in nature.

Go to your favorite coffee shop and use their Internet to telecommute from occasionally.

Alternate between sitting and standing positions at your desk.

Make connections and communicate with coworkers that are not related to work.

Start an office pool competition, and whoever wins gets the pot or the prize.

Keep in mind that the worker is the backbone of telecommuting. If you are the teleworker, it just doesn’t work without you. Look after yourself, your wellbeing first, and all these other things will fall into place.