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Had a lot of thoughts about working from home swirling around. I've WFH on a permanent basis for 10+ years, across 3 different tech employers. There's a lot of opinions, employer signalling, some skewed conclusions as well. Here are my (unordered) thoughts.
#WFH #WorkFromHome
#WFH #WorkFromHome
It's an acquired taste, but that taste can be acquired by most people with some effort and adaptation. It's not immediately easy to suddenly WFH. It requires some discipline and most crucially an altered outlook on what it means "to do good work" and "to not be lazy".
I manage a couple of teams, and by far the biggest angst or query I've seen raised in covid-WFH has been folks thinking they are lazy because they aren't pulling 8+ hours at their desk. Some folks have been genuinely upset thinking they aren't as focused or effective.
I've spent a lot of time reversing"a solid 8 hours is a workday" conditioning. I remind my teams that they don't work solidly in the office. They get coffee, have desk drivebys, lunch, engage in random overheard conversations. The effective desk time might be 4 or less hours.
I also remind folks to find their own schedule. Most folks mentally transition to "work mode" on their commute, so they've got to find a new transition routine. It might be unordered, and that's totally ok. Work when you're focused, step away when you aren't.
Your routine is obviously driven by your home environment. Don't assume it will be the right routine this week because it was last week. It may well change and that's totally ok. I've found the best check in is to look back at 2 weeks and say "how did I deliver/progress work"?
And if the delivery is off, don't be hard on yourself. Effective WFH takes practice, and you can't expect to be great at it straight away.
Another tip is to hone your environment where you can. I tried songs, then classical music, then the radio, then background noise like waves. For me, radio works most of the time, probably because it emulates a workplace. Learn to check in on your mental state often.
Lastly, employer support. The cost of supplying a decent desk, chair, multi monitors, camera, headset, etc, for your staff pales into insignificance versus your office utility, real estate, h&s, etc bills. Buy the equipment for WFH. Expect it to be long term.
Offer guidance and training to help your employees adjust to WFH. Show them how expectations shift in this new working scenario and reassure them that it's ok and that you support it. Support their mental health with a support program.
DON'T do any of the following:
- constantly remind employees this is temporary. Provide stability for now.
- Expect higher delivery
- Dictate employee online hours
- Dictate specific camera on/off times
- Refuse to acknowledge that this can be challenging for folks
- constantly remind employees this is temporary. Provide stability for now.
- Expect higher delivery
- Dictate employee online hours
- Dictate specific camera on/off times
- Refuse to acknowledge that this can be challenging for folks
Overall a lot of employer reaction to Covid WFH has amused me. I became a home worker with none of this support. I had to drive 180 miles to reset a domain password once, because "it needed to be done in an office". One boss called me out for working hours even when I delivered.
I've watched an employer systematically disenfranchise remote workers by blanket changing its hiring strategy to "office only". Within the past two years. Again, despite top tier performance in the remote workers.
As employers and employees, we are at a tipping point, a point of tremendous opportunity to make working life so much more flexible. So let's keep the responsible dialogue going. Let's use the data from the past few months to see how we can continue to nurture and support remote.
And overall, pat yourselves on the back if you're working covid remote. It took me a year to get my mechanisms and routines down. You're doing brilliantly. Keep going!
