What does it mean to work in a virtual workplace? How can employers take the wellbeing of employees into account? What are the rules of engagement? These are the critical questions of 2020.
By Becky Mosehle is the regional chief human resources officer: southern Africa at Liquid Telecom
Companies are suddenly faced with employees working in virtual spaces with no clear rules of engagement.
Some are floundering, others are thriving, but every single company has to build foundations that can support the business and its people in a landscape that’s the very definition of uncharted.
The challenge that lies ahead is not just to put people online, but to create sustainable virtual workplaces that empower employees and maintain productivity without compromising on integrity.
Not all companies have had the luxury or opportunity to allow their people to work remotely before now. This is either due to the work they do or the type of business that they run, and so they are caught on the back foot as they approach the weeks of lockdown and the urgent need to find ways of working that, well, work.
The following steps outline how organisations, managers and employees can engage with the work from home ethos to ensure they remain productive, focused and, perhaps most importantly, healthy – both physically and mentally.
Harness the opportunity
While the lockdown may not seem like an opportunity, it really is. It’s forcing a shift in thinking that has to take place to ensure that any company is capable of handling what may lie ahead.
The weeks may become three months which means that now is the time for companies to create solid foundations of remote working that will last.
It’s an opportunity to move beyond just ‘How can employees log into the database’ or ‘How can they gain secure access to the intranet’ and into ‘How can we enable people to engage with one another so they can help the company solve problems at scale through platforms such as id8 or Idea Trigger’.
As the pandemic spreads and people slowly adapt to home working conditions, this is the right time to invest into tools that can help people work more efficiently and collaborate more effectively no matter where they are in the world.
Reimagine the workspace
The home environment, for many people, is just that – home. It’s where they eat and rest and play games and spend time with their families. It’s not where they juggle deadlines and conference calls.
People need to create a space in the home that’s their dedicated workspace.
This can be anything from a corner of the dining room table to taking over the garage. What’s important is that this is a clearly demarcated area where no children or partners can roam during working hours.
It allows for a mental shift for both employees and families that will immediately improve how they approach the working day.
Organisations need to encourage this and help people to create these spaces while also respecting that their employees are parents and that times at work may not always be the traditional ones that were upheld in the past.
Remember that we are human
It’s easy to work through emails, virtual conference calls, instant messages and phone calls, but line managers and business leaders need to remember to make it human.
One of the most common things that people miss is being able to interact with one another at work. They miss one another, and they miss the casual conversations and connections.
It’s important to create an environment where teams get together for a drink – coffee or tea during working hours to beer or wine after hours – and just chat to one another.
These aren’t meetings, they’re gatherings that pull people together. Just one hour of virtual drinks a week can take away the sense of isolation that many people feel right now.
Embed collaboration and trust
In a traditional working environment, it’s easy to find out who is working on which project, but in the virtual world it’s easy to lose track of this.
Team leaders should focus on providing their teams with workday structures and schedules that keep people in the loop and informed.
Then they need to let go and trust that their people will do their jobs. This is perhaps one of the most important points when it comes to working from home – trust.
Leaders need to define goals and boundaries and controls so that employees know the parameters and the deliverables.
Then, leaders need to let go and trust.
It’s tempting to focus on the activities people are doing (Are they on email enough? Are they on the internet too much?) rather than on how they are performing against measurable directives. Instead focus on a structure with clearly defined outputs and stop micro-managing people. The latter will do little for morale and even less for focus and output.
Let’s not forget wellness
Some people work harder remotely than they do in the office. There are plenty of reasons why (such as micro-managing bosses) but it isn’t healthy to forget to rest, relax and have fun.
Organisations should provide employees with work structures that outline break times and boundaries so that they can focus on their wellbeing.
From scheduled tea breaks to fitness and wellness reminders to regular updates and communication, this is where the organisation can really shine.
This is where the company can lead, giving people the space they need to understand the crisis affecting the world without losing their sense of personal and work stability.