Today's technology means that even when businesses are forced to close their doors, some can open new, virtual ones by setting their employees up to work from home (WFH). When New Zealand went to Level 4 on March 26, the population was locked down and home offices became a reality.
As the pandemic crisis continues to evolve, all businesses should be prepared for the likelihood of continued lockdowns, meaning it's worth taking some time to ensure that their employees are working as efficiently and productively as they can in their home environments.
Here are some tips from Matt Mullenweg, the founder of Automattic (think Wordpress), a company whose distributed workforce of 1,200 people across 75 countries has worked effectively this way since 2005.
If possible, allow staff to work the hours that suit them. Some people are more productive in the morning, others hit their stride after 4pm. When working from home, allow employees to find their own level as to when they're at their best. Judge them on what they produce, not when they produced it. An asynchronous working environment lends itself to this way of working, and the outcomes are usually positive. Here’s a good summary of the ‘async’ workplace.
Generally speaking, managers are often the main barrier to creating an effective distributed workforce. Moving from a physical location where staff are often judged on the time that they spend at the office rather than the output, managers are no longer able to rely on ‘management by walking around’ techniques and this often leads to a perception of a loss of control. Replace the physical check-ins with regular one-to-one’s where new tasks are negotiated, and progress on current tasks is discussed. Set clear expectations for your team on how you expect everyone to work in a collaborative fashion.
Remember. the best teams are the ones that have a culture of trust, transparency and collaboration so communicate this clearly and try to clear any barriers in this regard. In a WFH scenario, it’s also more difficult for employers to pick up when someone is sad or depressed, so it makes those regular check-ins very important. Try to tune into tone or other indicators that might flag an issue. Make sure everyone on the team feels supported, and make sure they know they speak up about issues that are worrying them.
One of the most surprising aspects about WFH for many people is that you spend much more time at your desk. Without the constant interruptions you can often expect in an office, you spend less time getting up and moving around. Encouraging staff to incorporate some kind of health and wellness routine into their day will allow staff to bring their ‘best selves’ to work.
This doesn’t have to mean an extensive period of exercise. Check out this 4-minute workout designed to give your body a peak fitness exercise hit three times a day. It promises to increase nitric oxide and build muscle, helping to improve immune functions and guard against problems such as heart disease, strokes and dementia.
Here are two recommendations to improve the outcomes of online meetings.
There are a lot of cloud-based software platforms designed for consumers and small businesses; everything from communications to project management to sales tools for sales teams. However, if you’re a larger and more complex business there are not many options available to you in this area.
DX2 is a shared digital document exchange platform that can be used in conjunction with your current ERP solution. It gives your finance team the ability to receive digital invoices, code them and then send them on a digital workflow. It gives your operational staff the ability to create and submit digital purchase orders and get them approved. DX2 gives your sales team the ability to receive sales orders digitally and submit them to your ERP or production system.
Go Timesheets, Expenses, Leave and Roster provides your staff with the ability to submit timesheets, expenses and leave applications. You can roster staff and have the data flow seamlessly into your other systems.
If an organisation is made up primarily of knowledge work, it lends itself much better to being in a distributed, virtual environment. And there are other benefits that fall outside of the productivity sphere, such as:
We have had to move swiftly into working from home, and it does take a distributed workforce time to adapt. However, these tips can help ensure that an organisation not only remains productive, but can actually improve their output and place more focus on employee health and wellbeing.