Over the past few weeks, a lot of companies across the globe have had to change their views on “telework” or “remote work” policies due to COVID-19, just to stay in business. After all of this, are we going to learn how to transition from the “9-5” work environment of office buildings and cubicles? Are there going to be more “remote work” jobs available in the workforce?
My experience working from home since the COVID-19 “shelter in place” orders started to roll through Texas has been both positive and negative. Here are some of my personal observations over the past month working from home.
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One of the major things I have learned from this experience is that is what service can I bring to the table to other companies that are going through the same thing. How are they communicating with their employees (Zoom and Microsoft Teams appear to have increased use quite a bit since this has started)? Not only talking to each other about work but the social interaction with each other is another reason why we work. One of my peers just hosted a videoconference about bringing the team together (completely optional) and just talk about whatever is on their mind (school, hobbies, family, etc.). This company truly cares about their employees well being and being able to do this has actually brought the team closer together.
How is business being done now? How are decisions being made (or are they)? Spending over 21 years in the military there were plenty of times where I had to work outside of the “office space” and still was responsible for reporting up to my leaders as well as coordinating my teams.
As an organization you have people and with that, you must plan on how to interact with them to be able to get your mission and vision accomplished in order to have the business survive. Developing a strategic level Knowledge Management plan for your company in a remote work situation. This can answer questions your employees may have when they are forced to work from home.
When developing this plan some things you want to keep in mind are connectivity, access, capabilities, benefits, and expectations.
Connectivity is not only is your business connected but are your employees able to connect to the company’s internal site to work. Access, is your internal portal, collaboration sites, communities of practice available while working from home? What are the capabilities your employees of working remotely (desktop, tablet, mobile, etc.