How will COVID-19 affect your workplace?
For those fortunate enough to still have regular employment, most will be spending the majority of their days working from home (WFH). This is by no means a new concept for some, but for many industries this was a complete upheaval of everything they held dear:
You need to be in the office to look professional
You need to be in the office to meet with clients
You need to be in the office to avoid distractions
And yet despite the majority of our workforce now spending their days at their dining table or study desk, the world has not stopped spinning!
So what does this mean for the modern day workplace longer-term?
Finances
The initial capital cost of enabling WFH was (apparently) prohibitively high and not worth the investment for many companies. COVID-19 then forced many hands and now the proverbial damage is done. What’s important to remember is that it is cheaper for the organisation if staff work from home than it is to house them for 1/3 of their lives! You don’t need as much real estate, you don’t need as many desks, you don’t need as many consumables… the list goes on! From an employer’s point of view, for financial reasons alone, it is not in their best interests to mandate staff to return to full-time work in the office unless other variables dwarf finances (I doubt it!).
Staff Morale
This one’s not as straightforward. Although some staff will love skipping the peak-hour traffic or train journey, there will be mixed emotions as companies mandate a WFH environment. Some staff may not have a quiet place to work productively, others may have to take shifts caring for children. Others still may be thrilled initially but quickly miss the social aspect of having a group of people to socialise with day-to-day. It’s important to manage all of these stakeholders as you would in any other project or change in your business. Make an effort to understand their position and ensure you’re providing a truly flexible working arrangement for them.
A few initiatives I’ve personally been a part of include:
Blocked-out hours within the 9-5 bracket where a staff member is not available (eg taking care of children)
Video conferencing (VC). I know this one seems obvious, but make sure you’re using the VIDEO in VIDEO CONFERENCING! I hate hearing “we don’t do video”. If you were in the office, you’d be having a face-to-face meeting. Most of us now have the technology to do this remotely. Get dressed, put your face on and meet face-to-face. I find that if the host of a meeting turns their video on, 9 times out of 10 other attendees will follow suit without having to single them out. It is VERY important to be able to see people’s faces, gestures and attentiveness in meetings. Yes you can still meet without this, but you’re losing the transparency and honesty by hiding behind a switched-off camera. Especially with custom backgrounds and blurring available on most VC platforms, you have no reason to hide your face.
“Drinks” at 5pm on a Friday, but with an agenda. Cyber drinks can get dry if conversation reverts to work. Take advantage of the current situation and get to know your colleagues! We’ve implemented a weekly “Show’n’Tell” where alternating staff show us around their garage, take us for a walk around their local park or explain a hobby or DIY project they’ve been working on. Everyone chooses their own topic just like in primary school. This will not only give you something to talk about, but help build bonds within the team as you share something personal about you and get to know each other beyond the friendly water-cooler nods.
The New Normal
COVID-19 has changed how we work permanently. Although the lock-down is temporary and social distancing will eventually be a thing of the past, companies have been forced to enable remote-working and there is no good reason to roll this back. I’m not saying nobody is going to be working from an office again but everyone will now have a choice. There is no leg to stand on in saying “you can’t work from home” because you can, and you have been.
Some will be running back as soon as they can, others will have great difficulty getting back in the old routine. Again, it’s important to acknowledge and understand your stakeholders and now that the infrastructure is there, empower them to work the way that suits them. The concept of “flexible working” has accelerated in leaps and bounds over the last month and I for one could not be happier to see this long overdue change in many Luddite industries.
For those fortunate enough to still have work, how are you finding working from home? Has it been a challenge adopting new tools and practices? How was the rollout of Teams/Zoom/Webex? What do you think about always having your camera on in meetings?