hybrid and remote works
In person work has been the standard bearer of working, basically forever. COVID-19 changed that for a lot of us. However, simply calling people back to the office to sit their butts in a chair for 7-8 hours is both poor leadership and poor management strategy.
The dream versus the snowy reality.
As I reflect on the school’s snow day yesterday, I remember my past job where I had to use a precious vacation day to cover dreaded snow days. We live north of Boston on a snow line, which essentially means we get snow, when Boston tends to get rain or slush. My past employer almost never canceled work, even when they really should have for the safety of their employees.So even when schools were closed all over the state, my office was open, barring a Governor declared state of emergency.
What that meant was that either my husband or I had to take a day off to stay home on a snow day. Usually it ended up being me because at the time my husband worked at a restaurant and restaurants don’t give days off. For him, it was more like “work or be fired” because you are an at will employee. We can discuss later why I hate a lot of the restaurant industry’s employment practices.
“Whatcha doing mama?” Stan the cat likes to visit me during my remote days.
Yesterday, we got the call, email and text from the school at 5am - Schools are closed. Where this used to fill me with dread, not so this time. I can work remotely and do most days, meaning I could be home with my kiddo, not take a vacation day, and work. To be sure, having an eight year old home all day is much easier than a baby or toddler. P can entertain himself for the most part, meaning my remote day is still extremely productive. Working remotely on days like this, or days when P is sick, but just needs me home to keep an eye on him is wonderful. I can do my job, support my staff and my boss, and not lose a day feeling guilty for not being at the office.
So I really view the call back to the office as almost old fashioned, as if managers learned nothing from the pandemic. Because instead of throwing myself into my car right now and hustling my kid to early care at 7am, I’m sitting writing a blog post, helping my son with multiplication flash cards, and cleaning out my work email inbox from yesterday. Instead of wasting 1-1.5 hours on the road in some of the worst traffic in the world** I'm already working.
At 9am I will join a regional video call with folks from all over the Northeast and our partners in Puerto Rico. I’m able to schedule meetings I never was able to before because we can all join from the comfort of our home or work offices.
In addition, as a person with a disability, hybrid and remote work is a real game changer. No longer do I have to try to wheel through the snow to try to get to an in-person meeting, arriving soaking wet and miserable. No longer am I putting myself in the emotional position of asking if a meeting room is accessible or has accessible parking because I’m calling in from my home. In fact, it’s been a game changer for all folks with disability as it turns out. Read more about how hybrid and remote work options are helping those with disabilities be fully employed at “Surge In Remote Working Fuels Record Employment For People With Disabilities”.
Hybrid and remote can be strategic. If managers are going to promote a hybrid schedule, it makes sense to be strategic about it. In person meetings on early in the week make great sense to set the stage with goal setting for the week. Those extroverts in the group get to enjoy the "bump factor" they’re all missing and everyone gets some very focused time together. The rest of the week can then be used to actually get work done. This is not to say you still can’t have in person meetings remotely, but again, they can be strategic in nature to build upon what’s been started on Monday and Tuesday.
I wrote at the beginning that simply calling people back to the office to sit their butts in a chair for 7-8 hours is both poor leadership and poor management strategy. Some managers are afraid that people won’t get their work done if left to their own devices, or that they won’t work their full 7, 7.5, or 8 hours. To which I say, who cares? Yup, I said it. Who cares? If you are a good manager, you’ve provided a work plan which includes desired outcomes to all your staff. If they are accomplishing their tasks and getting their work done, does it really matter when, or how? No it really doesn’t. If you lead and manage with intention, the old confines of a 9-5 workday cease to matter.
Here are my tips for successfully managing in a remote/hybrid environment that builds upon good in-person principles as well. Note: This is different with union employees who have their duties and hours already mapped out.
Develop a workplan that you both agree with and set goals and deliverable dates.
Agree on hours that you’ll always be able to reach your staff. That way if they want a flexible schedule, you know that during certain hours you’ll still be able to reach them if there’s an emergency.
Set a day with no interdepartmental meetings. This helps with the tendency to schedule back to back virtual meetings and have no time for actual work. This will not prevent meetings from others leaking into the schedule, but it sure does help cut down the all-day meeting fatigue.
To ensure you and others have time to eat a snack, grab a coffee, or answer the call of nature, set virtual meetings to start 5-10 minutes after the hour or end 5-10 minutes before. It’s been a game changer for our team!
Keep the “door” open, by being available on your chat messenger. This is a great technology tool to get those informal touch base chats, and let staff know you’re always available to them.
Provide regular, constructive feedback. This helps manage your expectations and theirs and ensures you’re meeting the goals of #1.
There are a lot of opportunities to keep attract and retain good people using a hybrid or remote work style. The pandemic accelerated this trend and it’s here to stay. How do you feel about hybrid and remote work?
