Distraction & office space
Implementing Remote work or “work from home” temporarily was necessary. However, as a long-term solution, it’s more challenging. We’ll see lots of “remote work” News drama as surveys show employees prefer remote work. Google is asking people to work in-office 3 days a week starting in Sept. 2021, called “hybrid work.” This is a good solution to prevent long-term issues, like projects taking longer due to team misunderstandings. My friend (who is now working remote in Guatemala), and works with nonprofit’s did say cheerily, “I think the pandemic has helped companies move online.”
Helping employees setup an office space should be a key focus. For example, buying headsets for better audio quality in meetings, and helping employees create an office space that works.
My tech friend and I chatted, who’s been remote for over 8 months. He says, “My biggest problem with it, is distractions at home are actually a lot more common unless you have a room or space specifically for work without having all the things you normally do at home.” This is something companies can help employees with. Personally, my cat really likes to sit on my lap when I’m working on my laptop and I have to gently teach her to find another spot…
“You also don’t get the face to face chatter and random insight you might get from just talking to people about a problem around the office,” he said. Problem solving for developers and marketing departments is crucial and not having other’s around to brainstorm is difficult.
Informal information sharing
Solutions: Miro, whiteboard, for Brainstorming. You can use virtual gatherings, or Slack watercooler chats to share informal information. Also for Informal communication sharing, you can encourage people to add, Nice to know, and Need to know when sharing information.
Face-to-face meetings on ZOOM
Re projects, I learned that faxing edits back and forth can take more time than face-to-face meetings. I think businesses that need face-to-face are feeling the extreme loss and confusion over what to do because it’s not the same.
Solutions: Write down notes in Google docs or PM software & use Slack & Zoom to communicate
Remote Office Disconnect
I remember in our weekly Zoom project meeting, the developer yelling in front of the new design intern, “We DON’T need anymore designers.” The whole office became silent. This key developer had been working Remote for 2 yrs without coming back to the office. Issues I saw him upset about, had to due with not being present during in-office client meetings so he wasn’t aware of what the client wanted… Since he hadn’t flown back to the office, he also couldn’t see that the company was growing. I think it’s extremely important to have employees fly back and physically reconnect so they don’t lose understanding of overall goals.
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