The word unprecedented is being overused right now, but it’s
fair to say that things are changing at an unrecognisable pace.
In the two weeks since we posted our advice on setting
up remote working, the workplace landscape has totally transformed. With
schools and offices closed, and anyone who can do so working from home,
organisations of all shapes and sizes are having to get used to remote working
as a long-term reality.
For employers, many of whom may have had to hastily put some
kind of remote working in place, the next step is to think strategically about
how to make it work well in practice. From understanding what your employees’
current issues might be, to thinking through how to communicate with a remote
team, here are our guidelines for making remote working a success during
Covid-19.
Create a clear communication strategy
Aside from making sure your IT
systems are working seamlessly, the most critical success
factor for remote working is communication. As you can’t physically read
people’s moods, grab someone for an informal catch-up, or pull everyone
together for a briefing, you need to create remote opportunities to do so.
How to address this:
- Think through what kind and frequency of virtual
meetings would be helpful, with input from employees. As a rule of thumb,
video-based platforms are better for engagement than conference calls, and
speaking is better than emailing, particularly for more personal situations.
- Create a schedule of regular communication
points. For example: daily check-ins between line managers and staff; weekly
team catch-ups to monitor the progress of a project; virtual drop-in sessions
for senior leaders to be on hand for questions.
- Stay true to your workplace culture. If people
are used to having opportunities to chat, consider setting up virtual coffee-break
sessions to replicate that.
- Set ground rules for large virtual meetings, so
everyone gets their chance to speak. We’ll be sharing more advice on this topic
soon.
- Make sure everyone knows how to use any new tech
platforms, and offer training for those who don’t.
Review priorities and objectives
It’s not business as usual right
now, so it can’t be delivery as usual either. And while working from home can
be highly productive in normal circumstances, that’s may not be the case for some
of your employees right now.
The practical
impact of school closures is that many remote employees have their children
at home. They may not have a dedicated work desk, and may be juggling space and
broadband capacity with their partner. So it’s important that leaders and
managers understand the constraints their people are working under – and review
priorities and objectives accordingly.
How to address this:
- Explain that you’re aware of the different responsibilities
people are managing.
- Reassure them that you will be focusing on
outputs, not hours spent at a desk and that you trust them to do the best they
can.
- Collaboratively review personal and team objectives,
based on individual circumstances as well as market factors.
- Agree what work should be prioritised, and what
can wait. Many sectors are in a state of flux at the moment, so this will need
to be a rolling review process.
- Be precise about expectations, and offer
check-in points, so people aren’t left floundering at home unsure about what to
do.
- Be prepared to adjust deadlines to accommodate
the limits on people’s work time.
- Encourage employees to block out time on their
calendars when they won’t be able to respond straight away, and to work at
times that are practical for them.
- And above all, ask them to put their hands up if
they need extra support.
Treat wellbeing as a strategic priority
It goes without saying that stress
is a real issue at the moment; it
also takes more effort to keep an eye on staff wellbeing when everyone is
working remotely. So it’s vital to put structures in place to make sure
everyone is OK, and create guidelines to help them take care of themselves.
How to address this:
- Be as alert as you can to changes in staff
behaviour. If an employee goes off the virtual radar, or is not delivering in
line with revised expectations, it may be a wellbeing issue.
- Make staff feel comfortable about contacting
managers or HR to discuss wellbeing concerns.
- Encourage people to take regular breaks, to take
daily exercise and get outdoors if they can (within government guidelines).
- Set an expectation that staff switch off
properly when they’ve finished working; workload creep can be a real issue when
working from home.
- Create a forum for colleagues to share ideas of
how they’re boosting their morale, such as online
exercise classes, family
art classes or meditation.
- Make it easy for people to set up groups for
virtual socialising, such as book clubs or recipe swaps.
- And, whenever you speak to someone, ask how they
are.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be offering further advice and tools to help you manage the new workplace order. In the meantime, if you need any support from us, do get in touch.
Published March 2020
