WFH Or WFO: Track The Metrics That Matter
Working from home has gone from a dream to a reality for many people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges of working from home have also presented themselves. Over the past few years, many of us have found things to love about working from home like flexibility, the ability to focus, and no commute; there are some common challenges also that come along with it. The way we work has changed forever, and it seems like there’s no going back.
Working from home often involves a lot of struggles in keeping the distractions away. These distractions could be anything- kids at home, friends on call, TV or phone calls. These distractions reduce work productivity and the overall quality of work delivered. There is no advantage of working from home if one cannot manage their work-life balance and find it a challenge to unplug after work hours. Many employees fear saying no to their managers for unusual demands of delivering work at odd timings. Switching off from work at the end of the day is equally important as logging at the right office timings.
Effective communication is one of the biggest requirements for the smooth flow of work when working remotely. People normally rely on nonverbal communication. This is why communicating effectively is one of the most common challenges one will face when working from home. Most of the time, employees find it difficult to collaborate with their team members and feel isolated. The situation becomes more challenging when an employee is working with a team on a common project that requires several discussions and involvement from everyone located distantly. Without the presence of a supervisor, many employees find it a challenge to maintain their work productivity. Low productivity is not the employee’s fault as many factors make it happen without their knowledge. Therefore, it is important to understand the key factors that hamper productivity at work. Working remotely also includes challenges that are most of the time not in one’s hands. Some of them are technology or Internet connectivity issues that refrain you from a smooth flow of work. It becomes more important for a company to ensure that the team has the right tools and techniques to work remotely.
Loneliness is bad for one’s mental and physical well-being and can affect their performance. A lack of social interaction causes one to feel more isolated and lonely — especially for those working from home. It’s easy to lose motivation when working from home, whether one is a remote employee or self-employed. The lack of external inputs and interaction with co-workers can make one lose sight of one’s long-term career goals. Ultimately, losing motivation. Then add the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s no surprise that remote teams are losing motivation. Unfortunately, many people forget to take breaks when working from home. Taking vacations is essential for the employee’s physical and mental well-being. Vacation can actually increase one’s productivity, mental ability, and efficiency.
For many remote workers, managing one’s own schedule sounds like a dream, but it’s actually a major challenge of working from home. While working hours may be a little more flexible, one needs to have the discipline to manage their time correctly. Without discipline, they run the risk of procrastinating or taking too many naps.
Now that offices are starting to re-open, employees might start to remember that there is a lot to love about the office, too: social interaction, the joys of collaboration. Many companies intend to give their employees the best of both worlds by allowing employees to split their time between home and the workplace. But it will only give one the best of both worlds if they figure out how to combine home and office time in a way that maximises their productivity and personal wellbeing. The key is to identify which parts of one’s job are best accomplished. This seems simple enough: for tasks that require collaboration, go to work; for tasks that require extended concentration, stay home.
And, true enough, a review of research on virtual teams reported multiple studies showing that highly interdependent work can be difficult to tackle when one is separated from one’s colleagues. But one of the studies also found that close collaboration across distance actually strengthened relationships and engagement among colleagues because it required them to improve their communication and mutual support. No matter which factors most affect the employee, they would want to avoid wasting critical time by coming into the office on a day it would have been better to stay at home, or vice versa. To create a hybrid work plan that allows one to get the most out of each day, first track and analyse their work to figure out which factors affect their productivity. Then match their findings up with their upcoming tasks and responsibilities. (source: Harvard)
Review one’s current responsibilities and determine how much of their workload is best handled in each location to get a sense of how much time they would want to spend at home versus in the office. This is a process an employee may need to revisit periodically: Perhaps this quarter’s big project involves planning a conference, which is a very collaborative process that will benefit from more time in the office. But next quarter the employee is producing the company’s annual report, which will require more time at home so that you can do focused writing and revising.
One of the first things the employer needs to realise is that some people will prefer working from home, period. About 70 percent of employees would prefer working from home to working in a traditional office. Among workers aged 35 to 44, the figure is 81 percent. (source: EHS Today) If the employer takes a hard stance or pushes too hard, the most steadfast members of their team may leave to join the ranks of a fully remote organisation.
If the physical office is made more attractive to employees, the transition back could be more appealing--or at least more tolerable. Consider Furniture and Amenities; investing in more robust offices, better desks, and a decked-out break room could put any home office to shame. You don't need to offer a total Xanadu for your employees, but your office should be comfortable and supportive of high productivity.
Cleanliness and Upkeep; Employees also need to invest in cleanliness and upkeep since most of us are happier and more productive in a clean environment. Hire a professional cleaning staff and make sure they're equipped with the right cleaning tools for the job. Rebuild the Culture; Employer’s next job will be rebuilding the company culture. What kind of environment and values do they want for their employees? What's going to keep them together? This is a great opportunity to re-evaluate their company's core values, collaborate with leadership to set better examples for employees, and brainstorm about ways to encourage more bonding and camaraderie. Offer Flexibility or a Hybrid Model; if most of the workforce wants to stay remote but the employer is interested in a traditional model, then the best solution could be some kind of compromise. Employers can work with their employees to establish a hybrid model or simply offer more flexibility for their employees. Split between office days and remote days; if the employer is not hurting from remote work, they should consider allowing remote work on certain days of the week. For example, they can set office days as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with remote days Tuesday and Thursday. Incorporate flex hours; Employers could also incorporate flex hours, allowing employees some degree of flexibility when coming to work. It could help them avoid the pain of rush hour traffic and allow them to spend more time with their families. Use remote work as a reward; consider offering remote work as a reward. For example, it could be a privilege for people with a certain amount of experience or be a temporary reward for exceptional work. Design role-specific models; employers might also devise different setups for different roles--as long as they’re prepared for potential jealousy between departments or positions.
Getting people back to the office might be a difficult task, especially if the team is thriving in a remote-work environment. But if the employer wants to have a closer, more personally interactive culture, it might be the right move. By thinking through the mix of home and office work that will allow one to be the most productive, they will avoid frustration in both locations — and demonstrate to their employer their ability to take ownership of their own working conditions and productivity in the new hybrid workplace. But first, the employer has to lead their hybrid team with a sense of belonging at the forefront; they need to be uber-sensitive to how the individual members of their teamwork best. For a successful Employee Value Proposition (EVP) the leader has to ensure that communication and engagement strategies are more targeted and not a ‘one-size-fits-all’. This may be a completely new way of managing for some and some people will need training to flex these new muscles as leaders. Employers need to approach hybrid work as an evolving model for their organisation and be prepared to adapt as they go along, it won’t be the solution to everything flexibility-related, and, in fact, a hybrid model may create more challenges than anticipated. The employer needs to be ready to execute, measure, listen and change - if and when required. It’s best to approach the hybrid model in two ways; where they work and how they work. Creating working groups with expertise and interest in both of these areas so the employer has input from different groups which sets their model up for the best shot at success. Employers should think about reimaging workflows and involving more employees in the process at the start – that way they’ll really appreciate their contributions and understand their impact on the organisation.
(The views expressed in the article have been curated solely for BW People publication by Gaurav Sharma, Vice President Human Resources at Balancehero India)
