Tag: work from home

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The COVID Work from Home Experiment

There has been a great deal of anticipation about the COVID work from home experiment, and it appears that the upside is the many benefits of remote work which has generally improved the performance of office workers by nearly 30% in productivity with very low overhead costs. A huge win in the workforce in the United States of America.

Even with the overwhelmingly positive results and huge benefits to the bottom lines of companies and organizations who have successfully embraced (and cashed-in on) the telecommute work-from-home model has not without its challenges.

At the very least, Internet connectivity, having the basic electronic devices required, being able to have an effective workspace within the home, and managing family around the home office are the basic requirements to have nailed down in the beginning.

The first real concern to show up was paranoia among management. “How can we be expected to trust employees working from home?” The first wave of response was to attempt to initiate surveillance efforts to micromanage remote workers. The results appear to indicate counterproductivity as initial increases in productivity began to decline.

In the new world of the telecommuter, a reasonable degree of trust must be part of the foundation of the teleworking agreement. Employers must find other ways and means of tracking individual employee productivity over time, besides looking over the shoulder of staff members.

After all, they are working from home, which means they could be doing practically anything from drinking on the job to working naked for all we know (and they are).

Nevertheless, for the companies and organizations who fully embrace the idea of staff working from home, their number are up, and expenses are down.

While all the numbers are looking good, it appears that telecommuters in the $150,000-range (and up) are seeing the greatest increase in productivity and value to the employers during this period of time when we are testing the waters of sending workers home to work.

At the same time, other industries that do not translate as well to the telework atmosphere, are barely staying alive, and some of them are closing their doors forever. Channels such as manufacturing, warehousing, transportation, and hospitality, are experiencing the greatest challenges and struggle for survivability during these unprecedented times.

Telecommuters are facing their own set of challenges, such as a general decline of overall mental health, while family viability in workers’ households is declining at an alarming rate, causing some parents to have to make a choice between work and family.

One of the biggest issues for remote workers to tackle is how to manage work tasks amid the various distractions that might vie for one’s attention in a work from home environment. This is in huge contrast to being secluded in a safe and sane corporate office setting, where very little effort need be exerted to focus on tasks at hand.

Instead of the brief interactions that may distract you briefly at the office, home office interruptions may include anything from doorbells, phones ringing, dishes in the sink, impatient children and/or pets desiring attention, and the list goes on and on.

Kids at home who are attending schools remotely online are also a growing concern for telecommuters.

Being able to set up a home office space that has separations from the rest of the household and establishing boundaries seems to help remote workers manage distractions that might otherwise negatively affect their overall performance.

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Prepare for Post-pandemic Telecommuting

Assembling your post-pandemic work from home team, you can take steps to increase your team’s ability to succeed and shine by proactively taking steps that will enhance your connection and productivity.

Use Common Tools

Remote working is different from working in the office but you can help to create cohesiveness among your members by using common tools to tie them together.

For instance, you will need common communication tools, like WhatsApp, Messenger, or Google Chat.
You will need a common area to share files, such as Google Drive or Dropbox
Decide to agree to use a common video conferencing platform, like Zoom or Skype
Shareable whiteboard, something like Miro or Stormboard
Project management tools, like Trello or Asana
And something to accumulate poll data, like SurveyMonkey.

It is up to you, as the team leader, to set up an effective telecommuting environment that will ensure your team’s success. Focus on results and do not let your attention be sidetracked by obsessing about what your team members might be doing while they are reportedly on-the-clock. For all you know, they could be naked or getting drunk while off-camera. You must let go of worrying about what is happening while they are working from home and focus on the results. But do

Set Boundaries

It is reasonable to set boundaries and expectations. As the leader you can establish what you would like the work from home environment will look like. Make it clear what you expect, and the results that you expect from the remote working staff. Then, just assume that compliance is taking place unless you notice someone’s performance numbers declining, then you can address the situation and see if you and your team can help the faltering team member to increase their performance.

Do Not Spy on Your Employees

These days, we have all the tracking and surveillance software and hardware that we could ever need to monitor employees’ activities while on-the-clock. Just because we can, does not mean we should. Plus, making your employees feel like they are being spied on does not build employee confidence or a sense of loyalty, which reduces Human Resource expenses by increasing employee retention in the long run.

Get Regular Reports

Only you can know what type and frequency of reports would be appropriate for your remote staff. Try not to make it too complicated or drawn-out, and possibly allow for each team member to find their own style of reporting and use whatever is comfortable for them.

Create Your Remote Team Culture

Create online experiences that bring your team members together. Host competitions, virtual talent shows, celebrate birthdays and special occasions, just like you might in the office to build relationships among your team members. Be supportive, and fun. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Additional Support

Think about providing resources for your telecommuters, such as coaching and mental health services. Consider adding a Life Coach to your team who can help support and invigorate the lives of other team members and watch your performance numbers increase with each passing day.

When people are working from home for extended periods of time, it causes stress-related issues they would not otherwise be exposed to. A regular mental health check-in may be appropriate to help avoid complications or loss of performance due to any lurking mental health issues.

 

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Who Will Continue to Work from Home?

Employers are going to be faced with the question and having to decide, “Who stays working from home post-pandemic?” and the answer may not be what you expected. While the average productivity is clearly up by 23% or more for telecommuters working from home during these unprecedented times, if employers are going to have to select only, let us say, 25% of the workforce to continue to work from home, who will it be?

Who Will Continue to Work from Home?

The word on the management street is that the first choices will be the highest-paid employees, those making $150,000 or more per year.

If you are earning under that dividing number, you may find it disconcerting, but remember your employer is looking after his bottom line, the return on his/her investment.

If you are making $150,000 per year, you are earning $75.00 an hour. Think about it. If your employer is paying you $75.00 an hour to stay home, the company or organization is making a $17.25 return on their workforce expenditure on that employee every hour. They only pay $75.00 per hour but receive a $92.25 return on that investment (ROI). That’s $34,500 in their pocket every year.

That is a full-time $17.50 per hour employee free for a year. Though clever management would most likely make far better use of over thirty grand than pick up a free low-wage employee.

If you are making $30.00 per hour ($58,500 per year) $6.90 per hour on your working from home. Still, $13,455-a-year is not chump change.

You can see why those higher-paid employees are going to get first dibs on the telecommuting gigs following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. It is all a matter of working the numbers. It is also clear that if your performance has only been on an even keel since you have been working from home (that means your performance value has stayed the same and you are not a part of the remote workers who have increased their performance from working from home), you more than likely will be invited to return to work.

On the other hand, many employers will not be forced to make such hard decisions. These are the companies and organizations who are rejoicing at the lockdowns, excited about letting most, if not all, of their staff home, or taking volunteers who may prefer to return to the life of the commuter.

73% of forced pandemic telecommuters are actually hoping to return to work at the office. Many of them will be disappointed when they find out that they are having to stay home to work after the coronavirus debacle.

These employers are already scurrying to get out of their leases, and they not only could not care if you returned to the office, but they don’t even want you to think about coming back. These organizations are the best-positioned to not only survive -but thrive – post-pandemic because they are making the extra 23% in productivity, plus cutting huge overhead costs.

And if you are thinking that you can help to glean a little more take home at the end of the month by cutting your expenses and moving to the country? Be aware that, generally, Silicon Valley is cutting the salaries of employees who are moving away to save on expenses, which splits the difference (savings) roughly in half. Half for the employer and half for the employee.

As unfair as it may sound, it is happening now and is setting the standard for things to come.

Something else to keep in mind.

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New Pandemic Businesses are Killing It

You have heard the worst of it; most pre-pandemic businesses are down and out, or on their way out. Some workers were forced to work from home, while others were sent home with little or nothing to look forward to. No doubt, times are tough, but there is good news: New pandemic businesses are killing it.

Whether you are a fan of “when the going gets tough, the tough get going,” “when life gives you lemons make lemonade,” “growth necessitates change,” or “necessity is the mother of invention,” amidst these worst of times, even during the pandemic, millions of new businesses were launched, and they are making a killing while others suffer.

Your first reaction might be to be upset, but there is something invaluable to learn from the crisis, the lockdowns, and shut outs associated with it, and examining how a few Americans, roughly 1 out of 10, are taking advantage of the pandemic.

We were all in the same boat in 2020, but ten percent of us put on our thinking caps, took action, and started something new, new businesses that helped to establish independence and to secure our future well into the future, post-pandemic.

These were not the corporate moguls taking advantage of COVID-19, no, these are everyday citizens, half of whom have dipped their toe into the water of entrepreneurialism before, the other half? No businesses experience whatsoever, and they are satisfyingly successful, equally including telecommuters working from home who used their extra time to develop their new business, while the rest had been laid off, on unemployment, or had no job whatsoever.

Some of them launched new businesses that were hugely successful, others moderately, but successful enough to not have to depend on an employer, handouts, or charity to survive and feed their families.

Of all the 2020 new business startups, you might find something that appeals to you. You might even think of throwing your entrepreneurial hat into the right yourself. Or simply opening your mind to the idea of possibilities that may be waiting for you to launch your own inspired new business that will take you to the next level.

Starting your own business today is the answer to the question,

“If I am going to have to work from home, anyway, why not do it for myself?”

You do not have to be the victim or take the pandemic lying down.

I can be my own boss and not have to kiss anyone else’s arse. I can become the master of my own fate and destiny.

Here are some ideas that might inspire you.

Top 10 New Pandemic Businesses in 2020

1. Handmade Face Masks

Many handy home seamstresses are turning their skills into bank by creating unique facemasks. People are required to wear them anyway, might was well make a statement while you are forced to don PPE out in public, right?

2. Home Product Manufacturing

We are seeing a lot of people carving out their own niche using whatever crafty skills they might have. Artists, woodworkers, craftspeople of all kinds are making homemade products and selling them on eBay, Etsy, and Amazon. Creating new products and brand identity, while others are oblivious that these opportunities exist.

3. Physical Subscription Service

Now is the time to start your anything-you-can-think-of-delivered-to-your-door subscription service. America is forced to stay home, and Jeff Bezos need not be the only one providing everything to the rest of us on lockdown. Sure, you could deliver whatever you want onesie-twosie, but those new companies who are killing it are offering their wares on a recurring subscription basis. Everything from aromatherapy to farm produce and products, so the sky’s the limit.

If you need more help thinking of ideas for subscription service, here are some good ones: meals-in-a-box, family activities in a box, home beauty kits, natural spa-at-home kits, homemade organic products, just let your imagination flow, anything that can help make being on lockdown a little more tolerable.

4. Got a Way with Kids?

This is the time to create youth-focused learning exercises and games for children and young adults who are celled-in for the pandemic. You would be surprised at how many parents who are working from home are taking advantage of online activities that can keep the kids occupied while they are on conference calls or trying to get work done. If you can come up with toys, products, activities, apps, or online webinars that captures the minds of American youths, then now is the time to launch it

5. Online Coaching

You may have spent your life helping others out with their personal problems, and if these people are naturally attracted to you, you may be a Life Coach just waiting to be released into the mainstream. In these tough times, people need other people and they are reaching out online to form associations with life coaches who can help them make the best of these tough times, via phone, Zoom, Skype, Facebook Messenger, however you can connect to your potential clientele. Life Coaching can cover any areas of specialty, such as Business Coaching, Wellness Coaching, Financial Coaching, Spiritual Coaching, etc… Get your FREE Life Coach Certification today and start tomorrow.

6. Virtual Personal Trainer

With gyms shutting down all over America, the trainers are taking to the Internet and are developing online virtual classes for pandemic shut-ins. You could od this. Anyone could do this. Anything from working with free weights to yoga and meditation sessions.

7. Digital Marketing Specialist

As you may have guessed, with all this online activity and rush to the Internet to conduct business in America, there is an increasing demand for digital marketing specialists who can help to fill the promotional gaps in any business’ attempts to profit from online exposure. Services cover the entire spectrum of marketing, but you could specialize in what you are already good at, such as web site design, content creation, Facebook posting, social media management, SEO services, online branding and advertising, or other digital marketing consulting. You could consider becoming a certified digital marketing specialist.

8. Virtual Teacher, Trainer, or Tutor

With all this extra time on their hands, people are taking the time to expand their horizons, and learning new things, so that post-pandemic, they will have a better outlook and increased possibility of living a better life. Help them learn something new, increase their skillset, speak a second language, get ready to take college entrance exams, or help young online students get better grades.

9. Pet Products and Services

With more people being restricted to their homes, the pet companion industry is taking off like a rocket. Pets are making perfect home companions. If you offer a mobile pet washing/grooming service or can come up with special diet delivery, customizable pet treats, or toys, this could be the perfect time to launch your pet company.

10. Virtual Assistant

Long before the pandemic, the Virtual Assistant (VA) industry was a well-established goldmine for people (primarily office workers) who wanted to work from home and they are still dominating the online job market. Thanks to the coronavirus, this is still a huge expanding marketplace, and there is no reason you shouldn’t be doing this, if you have skills, such as data entry, phone skills, or online marketing.

I know, you are wondering what is next? Here are the Top 20.

Top 20 New Pandemic Businesses in 2020

1. Handmade Face Masks
2. Home Product Manufacturing
3. Physical Subscription Service
4. Youth Services
5. Online Coaching and Consulting
6. Virtual Personal Trainer
7. Digital Marketing Specialist
8. Virtual Teacher, Trainer, or Tutor
9. Pet Products and Services
10. Virtual Assistant
11. Commercial Cleaning Services
12. Delivery and Errand Services
13. Landscaping and Lawn Care
14. Telehealth Services
15. Home Improvement
16. Telecommuter Team Support
17. Online Babysitting
18. Graphic Designer
19. App Developer
20. Accounting and Bookkeeping

Of course, the handmade face masks opportunity will fade quickly following the pandemic mandates are alleviated. But the rest of these new businesses are expected to thrive following the pandemic threat.

Shouldn’t your business be one of them?

 

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Telecommuters Can Work from Anywhere

Telecommuters can work from anywhere and increasingly, they are leaving behind the confines or working at home to enjoy the flexibility that comes from being able to virtually work from any location with an Internet connection.

The next generation of workspace is based on total mobility. To be able to work in your vehicle at other remote locations, and while in transit between here and there. Our society and communities are tackling the issues associated with connectivity and communications. We know where our weak spots are in rural areas, and we are finding ways to bridge the technological gap.

We are adapting to cloud computing, secure online storage, and a variety of platforms that can do the heavy lifting of keeping us connected and secure from any location on our green Earth.

Better Use of Existing Technology

It is not enough to have a basic working knowledge of the new soft technologies that are supporting our higher connection and efficacy. It is important to have extensive knowledge of each tool, to understand its intricacies and all that it is capable of.

An organization could fall into the trap of having so many different tools to utilize for performing particular functions because answering the call of the quick fix,

“We need this, what program can help us do it now?”

When you should be asking the question,

“Is there any program or service that we are currently using that can help us do this?”

Too many tools will cost your organization productivity, which is an unnecessary cost to pay in the digital age.

Brainstorming Online

A problem that still exists for telecommuters who work from anywhere is live online masterminding or brainstorming sessions when separated by geography and time zones. The further the distance, the more inconvenient it might be to participate in live sessions.

By providing an organization and/or department-focused chat-client can help to preserve those precious moments which are the highly creative expression of a hallway drive-by or instantaneous chat at the water cooler, without losing time or having to call a special meeting to get a quick answer or idea.

Not as Good as Live

Even so, there exists a growing concern over live, organic employee interaction is declining, even with the best technological advancements, due to lack of telecommuters’ willingness to participate at the same level.

In a live office situation, employees are much more likely to reach out to others in passing, this spontaneous interaction is what appears to be lacking in the current wave of connectivity among coworkers, and it is not because we don’t have the technology. It appears that workers who are more likely to be supportive, proactive, and willing to express their concerns to other coworkers or ask for help are hesitant and even resistant to reaching out via the Internet.

Social engineers are aware of this social anomaly and they are looking for ways to bridge the gap between the Internet and face-to-face interactivity.

This seems to be the weakest link in the communication chain at this time in the work from home revolution.

 

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Make Your Own Work from Home Job Online

Feeling like you are missing the boat? You see your friends are telecommuting and working from home but you have not been afforded the same opportunity. How would you like to create your own work from home opportunity?

You could wait to be invited to remote working for your employer or even pitch your willingness to work for your current employer by telecommuting, or you could become the master of your own fate and start working from home under your own terms and start your own work at home business.

There are tons of opportunities for you to take a stab on, and in most self-employed remote workers, you will find yourself freelancing, offering services to a few clients (or many clients) to create your full-time income stream.

So, keep that in mind as you prepare to more your self-powered job online, and also note that the remote work services that you offer to provide can be anything you like to do. You need not pigeonhole yourself into any one particular offering.

Of course, before you make the leap, you will need all the tools necessary to conduct your services from your at-home office.

When you start putting yourself out there, you will tend to offer more for less. This is based on insecurity when you are starting out, which may lead to your being overwhelmed, with more work than you bargained for.

If you can avoid burnout, you can take the time to hone your offerings so that you can still offer a value but get more than what you are actually worth. And believe me, you are worth far more than you think you are.

Think about this, whatever any employer is willing to pay you or someone in your field, your value is actually five-times what you or anyone else is getting paid. Now that you are your own CEO, you are entitled to a bigger piece of the action.

Start out with what you think is reasonable, then prepare to continue to raise your rates.

As early as possible, try to wrap your head around the idea that you are it. When you are working for someone else, you are at their mercy, but you have someone to complain to, someone to fix things when they break, someone to back you up when needed. When you are on your own, it is all you. There is no one else to fall back on. This is the price to pay for independence.

You will be in charge of rewarding yourself. No one is there to recognize you for your efforts but you. You are the only one to impress with your prowess, so it is up to you also to reward yourself for a job well done.

You are responsible for your own bookkeeping until you grow to a point where you can hire out that part of your work from home enterprise. If you are not keeping the books, sending out invoices, tracking expenses, then you are not getting paid. It may not be your most desired duties (and it often is not among freelancers working from home) but you must do it unless you consider your services to be a hobby on-the-side.

As a self-employed teleworker, you are responsible for figuring out how to provide your own insurance, benefits package, as well as reporting and paying taxes, because you are now not just one of the many people who work at home, you are your own boss of your own home business.

The good news: No one gets to tell you what to do, what not to do, how to act, dress, or boss you around. You get to join the others who are working from home and enjoying all the benefits of remote work.

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Work and Adult Education from Home Opportunties

With the growth of more people increasingly telecommuting and working from home, it’s no surprise that remote workers are taking this time to advance their intelligence, awareness, and business acumen by seeking adult education opportunities online.

Mature man in graduation gown posing with diploma and laptop on table isolated on white background

In this way, as we enter into a new world emerging from the ashes of the pandemic, many teleworkers will have taken the opportunity to grow personally and professionally, and doing so helps to not only increases their earning potential but can make the world a better place.

People who have not had the time when they were having to commute to and from work every day, are now able to transform those previously lost hours into furthering their own education. Many of them are former college attendees or graduates who lost the opportunity to move forward in their education, and there are those who felt like they were never privy to the potentials of higher education due to being thrust into the struggle for survival.

Now, the opportunities for advancing your education are all around you, and if you are working from home, you can pick up skills and abilities that can move you and your career to the next level post haste.

Many people with pre-digital-era degrees are taking this opportunity to go back and freshen-up their educations, skills, and abilities to be better prepared for the new normal that is not far off.

A Commercial Arts Degree from the 1980s looks very different from a more current Commercial Arts Degree, as you might be able to clearly see. The more primitive degree would have used the tools that were available in those days, like papers, scissors, paste, pens, pencils, colored markers, projectors, cameras that depended on the development of film, huge lighted layout tables, and so many other archaic artifacts, some that are still used today in rare circumstances, but most of the heavy lifting is done digitally.

This accounts for all areas of college study in the last 40 years or more because our world has changed so vastly in the last 50 years it boggles the mind.

Today is the perfect time to look into opportunities to advance your education whether it has been 40 years or 4 years since you have attended any course of college study.

Working in your field of expertise and watching it evolve over time, has helped to keep you from falling behind. You have had to evolve and change the way you do business to adapt to new technologies as they became available.

If you were fortunate to gain employment in your collegiate field of study, you may be in a field that requires regular continuing education units, and this has helped you keep up to speed. Your peers may not have been so fortunate.

Still, there is much you may have wished you hade the chance to have been involved in, and now you can.

For those who have felt they missed the opportunity to pursue higher education this is your chance.

You may have always wanted to go to school to earn that certification or degree that would help you to increase your performance or open new doors leading to better earning potential, professional advancement,  or independence.

There are so many educational opportunities which are available to you, right now, from the convenience of your own home, given a few hours a week or more, can give you the edge that you need to take advantage of this rare occasion to seize the moment.

There is little better that you can do for yourself than to take the time to advance your education, broaden your horizon, and increase your potential for a better life, your best life, and make the world a better place.

 

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‘Tis the Season to Find Jobs Online

No doubt, if you are used to finding a seasonal part-time or full-time temporary job during the winter months or for the holidays, things are extremely different this year thanks to the pandemic.

Nonetheless, ‘tis the season to find jobs online, whether they be temporary or more permanent jobs. You can use the holiday season to get your foot in the door in a telecommuting job, work from home, and be first in line for a full-time job when it becomes available. Not unlike jobs when small businesses had a chance to survive in the brick and mortar venue(s), the streets were open, and we were not on lockdown.

Last year, you could have found seasonal jobs on the streets, by responding to Help Wanted signs in the windows of your favorite establishments. Local shops and retail stores littered the streets, and in a day (or two) you could end up exchanging your skills for cash in a brick and mortar business or restaurant.

This year, we have seen the biggest downturn in small businesses ever, and those left standing (only about 30 percent) could still use a helping hand during the holidays. Other businesses and organizations who were unaffected by the pandemic were able to quickly adapt to the telecommuting-style of working from home, and they, too, are looking for extra help during the holidays.

Though this year, you won’t find the Help Wanted signs hung in the windows. Now, you will have to find these jobs online, and not all of the jobs are teleworking as many warehouses and other essential businesses are in need of the extra labor to help make it through the holidays.

And if you thought your job search could be done by scouring your newspaper’s classified’s Help Wanted section, at first glance, you will know this is not how it is done. You will have to take your job search online.

If you want to find a job this year, you will have the best luck looking at sites like, jobs.google.com, Flexjobs, Indeed.com, upwork.com, facebook.com/jobs, and CraigsList, just to name a few. And what kind of jobs will you find?

As you might have guessed, right now there is a preponderance of jobs online which are primarily remote work, such as data entry, social media, internet marketing, customer service, telemarketing, and spoken language interpreters. You will also find retail, delivery, and warehouse jobs. And many of them include perks and benefits, including health insurance and paid vacations.

If you have a car and a valid driver’s license, delivery jobs are also in demand at Amazon and Door Dash.

A recent review found many full-time 40-hour workweeks paying $17 an hour for local work and you could earn much more if you have finely refined skills and experience.

If you are feeling like there is a lack of work available, and thinking that there are no traditional seasonal jobs to be had, it would be understandable. Mostly because you cannot see or find them the way you are used to.

Pretty much anyone with a computer and an Internet connection has little to worry about when looking for some extra spending cash, only be aware that there are some criminals who might like to take advantage of your online job search, so exercise your due diligence and check out any potential employer before jumping in to anything.

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Teleworking Urban Exodus

One thing we are learning is that the concept of gathering in congested urban confusion is neither desired nor practical as the current trend of teleworking urban exodus is seeing the workforce relocating from the metropolitan rat race in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, and Boston to rural areas and the countryside, where life is more safe, sane, manageable, meaningful, and less expensive.

Currently, most workers who are telecommuting and working from home in the city, are contemplating the move to outlying geographical areas, even though they are not comfortable with the idea of making the move due to fear that they will be displaced when we return to normal.

The truth is “normal,” the relationship of the pre-pandemic workforce has changed forever. We will never return to things as they were because our whole world and its economy have gone through a major transformation. What exactly the emerging world will look like post-pandemic will look like, we don’t know, but for certain, this “new normal” will be vastly different from the pre-pandemic world we once knew and had adapted ourselves to. It is gone.

Yet, there is this underlying fear that has some COVID-19-restricted teleworkers concerned, asking, “What if we move out of town, only to find that we have to move back?” Regardless, so many people are making the move, after confirming that they can continue to work post-pandemic by telecommuting and working from home.

The most important attribute when considering a new rural location to relocate to is now the issue of connectivity. The communities who already have or are building a strong information network to accommodate this migration of teleworkers are seeing their populations grow and economies expand by welcoming the new Internet-powered employees who require a high-speed connection to take full advantage of local resources.

This is the new sustainable working model that is emerging from the rubble of the coronavirus outbreak.

When I think back to the events of 9/11, I can see how this new normal can be highly beneficial in protecting our workers from a single terrorist attack. With the workforce dispersed widely across the nation or even the globe, it can make any company nearly impervious to any single targeting effort.

Employers who embrace the telecommute working model are thriving because they have access to a wider potential employee database that is unrestrained by geographic limitations and a far lower cost to court and maintain an effective workforce.

The teleworking urban exodus continues to expand

Empowered employees are bargaining with their employers and are able to negotiate, leading with their intention to move to a more distant location, as they are able to say, “I am moving to” (insert location), “and I would like to keep my job.” And employers are eager to accept this new arrangement amidst the emergence of this sustainable work model.

And if you haven’t decided where you might relocate to, you might consider moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma. They are offering a $10,000 cash grant to remote working techies who are willing to relocate to Tulsa and stay for at least a year.

But wait! There’s More: Besides the $10K in cash, Tulsa also supplies you with free workspace, opportunities for community meetups, hangouts, and housing discounts as well. For more information, check out TulsaRemote.com.

So, if you are thinking about telecommuting, moving, or moving your job to an online type of working arrangement, now is the time to take advantage of this new opportunity.

 

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Zoom, Multiple Personality Disorder, and Survival

How many of us regret not buying stock in Zoom’s video platform prior to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, when we could have raked in a hefty 600% profit, eh?

Introverts are loving the new work from home paradigm while extroverts are having more challenges with adapting to the new telecommuting arrangement and negotiating the confines and restrictions from being celled-in at home.

Introversive employees are so enthusiastic about the new arrangements that they are gleefully awaiting the news of the continuation of the telework arrangement. It is nearly unanimous among this worker segment that the preference would be to continue to work from home.

The more gregarious the employee, the more they’re having to work from home is not much unlike a prison sentence and they are enthusiastically looking forward to the day they can return to work in a more normal fashion.

In areas of medicine, insurance, negotiations, and masterminding Zooming-in may not be as productive as the old-fashioned face-to-face interactions of the pre-pandemic world we once knew. Any interpersonal contact if far more effective in-person. Zooming is not as effective when communicating. While it is better than voice only, it still cannot replace the face-to-face energetic connection.

When the workforce has been shattered and restricted to pandemic lockdown, Zoom has been able to help maintain connectivity among coworkers in a virtual group meeting setting. Management is reporting that the group online sessions are nearly as effective as brainstorming in the conference room, though it does lack the energy of live interaction.

Far from Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Multiple Personality Disorder, or demon possession, there is a juggling of personality types that are restricted to the home environment which can be challenging. It’s not too difficult to be Clark Kent when you’re sitting at the desk at the Daily Planet, or maintaining your Superman persona when actively fighting crime, but when you are juggling both personalities at home with little time to shift from one to the other, it can be a problem.

The natural effect of this personality management appears to be to allow the emergence of a third entity who is a hybrid composite of the work persona and the home person, which may become problematic as time goes on.

Then what happens when the pandemic restrictions are lifted?

How will we survive?

The expectation Is that things will go back to normal, but that is likely not the case. It is believed that a new normal will emerge but there will be little time to readjust to this new life paradigm. Families will have to quickly adapt in a world that is somewhat recognizable, with new adaptations that will have to be accommodated.

What will education and transportation look like in the new future?

How will the post-pandemic families deal with issues such as childcare, what will be considered “routine,” and how will parents and children navigate the new terrain?

Will the former telecommuting workforce be able to adequately revert to commuting to and from work and sitting at a desk in an office after working from home?