Coronavirus and Self-Isolating – A new work dynamic?

March 18, 2020

Image by fancycrave1 from Pixabay

As China brings the virus under control and it continues to escalate in many other countries self-isolating in one of the key measures in play to contain the virus. Working from home during self-isolation periods will grow and will that create a new work dynamic. 

Is working from home an option?  Not for everyone, but certainly most office based teams can work remotely on either a temporary or permanent basis as the ban on non-essential travel and public gatherings, limited opening hours for some businesses and school closures continues to escalate.

The increase in teleworking and home schooling is certainly driving a boom in demand that has in recent weeks seen the sale of laptops, tablets, headsets, inkjet and laser printers, office and security software and team working apps take off.

The Coronavirus outbreak will force millions of employees all over the world to start working remotely. But it is not a case of just sending everyone home with a laptop and telling them to get on with it.  You do need to think about a few things ahead of that decision.

The challenge for business leaders is to know how to effectively manage workers at home. What are they going to do and how do you ensure your staff are productive and connected as you manage your business continuity?

Some essential points to consider when planning your remote working strategy.

Who, what, what, who and when need to be sorted first. Who is going to work from home, what are they going to do, and what do they need to do it. Who is going to handle the post and who needs to print and how do you manage that. Finally, the when as in when does homeworking start.

Health and safety are at the top of the list.  You need to provide your staff with the best advice on self-isolating and where and how to seek advice and assistance during their self-isolating period.

You also need to ask the question: Are you able to work at home? You would be surprised how many staff would find that a challenge without reorganising their home a little. It is simple but needs reinforcing with your staff. They will need different spaces for relaxing, eating, working, and sleeping. The bed is the worst place to work from because you always need to have a strong mental association between your bedroom and sleep. Definitely not the place for work activity or computers, TVs, and work materials at all.

What happens next?

Off they go home for the next two or more weeks with their company laptop, a folder full of work and all the contact and login details to access the office mothership and the other remote team members. What are you going to do? 

Be aware

Loneliness can be an issue because working from home can feel unstructured and isolating. In a 2019 study by online brand development agency Buffer, they found that loneliness was the second-most reported challenge, one experienced by 19% of respondents.

Ramp up the communications

First off everyone in your team needs to know what the plan is and what is expected of them. If they are working from home for the first time it can be isolating. Make sure you are in regular contact with everyone. Set up a short 10 minutes or so start and end of the day conference call to make sure everyone is in the picture and yare all on task. The goal is to ensure they valued, and you empower them to engage and deliver. Using video calls like Skype and Zoom are great tools. One firm has set up a Skype lunch call where everyone comes online, eats their lunch and keeps up to date with what’s going on. Just one rule during the Skype lunch, no work talk.

Our news and production team all work remotely, and we use Trello to keep track of tasks, projects and assignment. It is simple and easy to use, and everyone is in the loop, but other products are available too.

It is a proper job

It is so tempting to lounge around the house in your pyjamas, we have all done it. But you need to ensure everyone understands Rule #1: When working from home treat it like the job it is. Get up, have a shower and get dressed and you can face the world. There really is nothing worse than someone taking a Skype call and you see yourself on screen and you are not ready to face the world or your other remote working colleagues.

Work is work and home life is home life, but it is so easy for the two to cross over. As a leader, your role is to keep them motivated. If they have domestic chores or issues, make time for them to be accomplished in a structured way. While the office environment might be 9-5, it doesn’t follow that all tasks have to be done by 5 pm.  They just need to be done. Suggest that instead of getting everything done by 5 pm, it is done for 9 am the next day. Then there is harmony between the home and work conundrum.

The off switch

Encourage your staff to turn the laptop and company phone off at the end of the day and of the day and transition out of work mode into home mode. If your staff are self-isolating, they can’t go for a walk or a run, but there is a wealth of advice on the internet about how to relax. Me, I go and visit Nick, or “Nasty Nick” as I call him. Nick is a 200kilo running machine and a quick 15 minute workout is great to turn work off and home on.

Keep in touch

Working from home for a few weeks can be a buzz but working from home for 2 or 3 months for the first time it can be isolating and lead to longer-term health issues like depression. Make sure you are getting as much face time as you can with your team collectively and one-to-one. Encourage them to chat as often as they need and that everyone in your team is in regular contact with everyone else.  Create a buddy system where one team member looks out for another. Everyone should have a buddy and they will spot anyone having problems.

Shared success

Your role as a manager is to provide clear communication and keep up the team morale. You look after your team and your team will look out for you, look out for each other and probably be 20% more efficient than when they were all in the office.

In our experience, there are a couple of areas that always present a remote working challenge.

The post

For bigger companies, there are bespoke document management and automation solutions you can sign up for. We liked the solution offered by Romanian company Producton, but other options and services are available.

Our post solution is to have our post delivered to an outsource partner, bills and letters are scanned and emailed to one address on our Trello board and then dealt with by the right team member. Magazines subscriptions are forwarded once a week and marketing mail is scanned and shredded.

Printing

We all use the same brand and models of printers and we use the Nubeprint app to monitor them, that way supplies can be delivered to the teleworkers location and they never run out. We control the cost through our supplier contract and we only buy what we need.

IT

We all use the same brand and models of desktop devices so if there is a problem, we can swap out the faulty device. The servers, cloud services and network are supported by our IT outsource partner, who also happens to work from home. It all works, the news gets written, the magazine gets produced and the dog gets walked.

Teleworking is different, but the longer you do it, the more you enjoy it. Best of all my commute is just one floor below and I use the time I save commuting to walk the dog or visit “Nasty Nick.”

Categories : World Focus

Tags : Coronavirus NubePrint Producton Teleworking