Helping people adjust to remote working
Practical advice on remote working amidst the COVID-19 lockdown.
“You are not working remotely. You are working through a crisis from home.” - A manager writing to a work team, during the COVID-19 lockdown.
These words struck a chord with me. Before the global pandemic, remote working was a way of working for some of us. As the crisis unfolded, it very rapidly became a reality for millions around the world, who were able and fortunate enough to work. At the best of times, remote working is not for all of us. Even for businesses that embrace the model, and individuals who are geared for it, the recent situation has been extremely challenging.
The “working through a crisis” element is important because this is the backdrop against which people are trying to remain productive. Ii is compounded by economic uncertainty, insecurity, distancing measures, job losses, sacrifices, a large-scale loss of life, around the clock media coverage; all evoking the full spectrum of human emotions.
At Oxford HR we saw the lockdown measures unfold from the start of 2020. With consultants in 12 different country locations, 17 nationalities represented and offices in London, Oxford, Amsterdam and Nairobi, we have broad coverage ad diverse perspectives. We continue our work because we are well placed to deliver remotely. Some of our client questions were practical: “We are at the final interview stage and going into lockdown. Do we postpone? Or press ahead and interview remotely? Some clients expressed discomfort with potentially appointing, at senior level, someone they have not met. As the crisis unfolds, so do novel responses. It presents an opportunity to step up, work differently and reframe.
I will discuss it along three interconnected themes:
Lead and learn
Be kind
Be practical
Let’s take it one a time.
Lead and Learn - What can organisations do to support their staff?
Leading through a crisis is the ultimate task of leaders. The first pressing reality is: How do we keep delivering what we do, while making changes to adjust to COVID-19? This calls for agile leadership in action - adapting at pace - that impacts every aspect of an organisational system. A second question is: How do we rebuild, and in what shape can we be coming out of this? Trying to anticipate what is needed now, as well as in the future, is an ongoing leadership task. Understanding the psychology of change and the uncertainty is essential here.
Leadership often requires making unpopular decisions, not out of self-interest, but for the greater good. The role of a ledger is not to make all of the decisions, but to facilitate good decision-making. The leaders we admire surround themselves with other effective leaders, remain calm in a crisis, are responsive, communicate often, and if the situation or information changes, are transparent and can admit that a change in direction is needed. The tone of leadership is always important., and in a time of uncertainty and loss, being sensitive to the mood and people’s realities, even more so.
Practically, leaders and organisations can support operationally by:
Asking: What do you need to perform your work right now? Alongside this, do you understand your team’s realities? Not everyone’s remote working is the same or conducive.
Role model the behaviour you would like to see from your team. Businesses with strong entrepreneurial and innovative spirit and those that have embraced the digital era have experimental mindset in common.
Embrace the opportunity for learning. For staff on furlough, this might be an ideal time to seize the moment. With home-schooling, we can learn from the way children play and learn. Children do not see a failure if they do not get it right first time. They try until the get it.
I acknowledge that this might not be an equally creative or innovative time for all organisations, but in the current context, a different response is called for. For those who have a mindset of: “What can we learn here?” this can be an opportunity. As always, the work of leadership starts with leading and manning the self first, before trying to lead manage anyone else. It is a deceptively simple premise, but often overlooked. “Know thyself” or self-awareness is key to keeping ourselves fit as leaders of organisations, families and communities. It ties in with the next theme of being kind to yourself and to others, whilst adjusting to remote working.
Be kind - look after wellbeing
I return to the beginning: working virtually, through a crisis. Emotionally the world is going through a great deal, in a short space of time. In coaching, I am often reminded of the following, “all people share essentially two fears, loss of control and vulnerability.” COVID-19 might have surfaced these fears for many of us.
As part of the selection process for a leadership role, we use assessment measures that are scientifically sound and fit for the world of work, to help a comprehensive picture of a person’s suitability to a role. While all people are similar in some ways, we differ individually, in other ways. Also, because we are “wired” slightly differently, our thresholds might be different. Having this self-awareness and understanding of behavioural implications can help us manage our own emotions better, tune-in to others’ emotions and important as leaders, monitor the impact our style and how we might need to adjust our style.
The more serious reality is that COVID-19 might be a very personal experience for many. Reaching out for professional help and mental health services early have never been more important. Different health care providers around the world are working hard to ease access to psychological services and support with online therapy and teletherapy. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) recommended mental health helplines and resources are available at this link.
An important point for leaders, in the day-to-day delivery of work, is to be alert to heightened emotions, in yourself and others. When emotions spill over, very of the messages we intend to convey come over sharper, or in an unintended way. We especially see this in written communication. When we cannot communicate in person, taking in facial and voice cues, read the temperature of a room, it can be misunderstood easily. In times of uncertainty, our innate biological responses take over. When stressed or feeling anxious, the known response of fight, flight or freeze kicks in.
Part of looking after wellbeing include:
Accept that emotions can fluctuate
Nourish with good food and drink
Get physical excess
Rest and recover
Good quality sleep
Fresh air and change of environment
Reach out to others, seek social connection (even if it feels like too much effort)
Be practical - Setting up and responding to challenges of remote working
Yes, there can be challenges in setting up remotely. Even if you are seasoned a working from home, there might be other adjustment issues, like having others in your “work zone”. Common challenges include not having space for a home office, poor or no access to technology or materials, or internet connectivity and wifi. These are very real issues. The two issues that I would like to linter on are behavioural and communication challenges.
Behavioural challenges: In adjusting to working remotely it might require adjusting your style, moving out of a comfort zone, giving something new a try-out. For your team, it is important to consider what is realistic in terms of productivity and performance expectations.
For organisations with staff on furlough, it has an impact on workload for others. There can be delays in response time. Being in back-to-back meetings via digital platforms brings a different kind of fatigue.
In lockdown and with distancing measures - one has to find different ways to unwind from a busy day. It might not be positive l to go for a walk for a change of air, so try something different.
Communication challenges: Poor communication is one of the big challenges people face. When meeting face-to-face is not possible, it creates both physical and emotional distance.
We rely on various technologies to work remotely: emails, texts, messaging, telephone calls, social media, web-enabled programmes like Skype, Zoom, and others and an array of collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Basecamp and organisation-specific tools. Some of the mediums are “flat”, not “rich” mediums, in that they do not relay tone of voice or body language. Some are meant for cryptic messaging and this can lead to misunderstandings between the sender and receiver. It is difficult to pick up non-verbal cues, something that researchers and interviewers can attest to.
As in written communication and emails, try and think about tone, putting a smile in your voice to convey warmth, if you intend to put someone at ease and create rapport and co-operation. A good principle for conveying important messages is to use different mediums and to repeat often.
With the switch to remote working, there are examples of creative ways to meet up socially like virtual tea/coffee meetings - almost replicating the tea break or the water-cooler moment. These are informal social interactions in an office environment and often go unnoticed. These are moments of spontaneous connection, where ideas are exchanged. Chance encounters and bumping into people often iron out issues and speed up problem resolution within and across teams. A solutions-oriented approach to findings substitutes help.
Some practical ideas for quick impact while working from home:
Set up and optimise your workspace.
Miminise distractions (if your phone is distracting / not needed - put it out of reach).
Ask yourself: when do I do my best work? Figure out your work style.
Set goals and boundaries. (Accept there will be interruptions; plan and adapt).
Know when to stop, because we work longer when working remotely.
Take regular breaks.
Connect with your team and others.
If you are working on video conferencing, invest in relative technology and a headset.
If the technology is new, get familiar; work out camera angles and optimal lighting.
Digital platforms take a lot of space - switch your computer off at night.
Dress for the occasion - to portray professionalism and have an impact - it also helps with “being in the work zone”.
Embrace the aspects that you enjoy from working remotely.
In closing
I end with where I began. More of us are adapting to working remotely, against a backdrop of a crisis. It reminds me of living through a previous crisis.
In 2011, my family and I lived in Tokyo. On 11th March 2011, Japan was rocked by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake that was so powerful, it moved Japan’s largest island 2.4 metres east and shifted the earth on its axis, triggering a tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.
The COVID-19 pandemic is shifting the earth on its axis once again. Amidst this global tragedy, we all have a role to play in choosing how to lead and learn, be kind, be practical in continuing the work that we do, and to rebuild for the future.
Retrieved from The NGO Whisperer Magazine issue 5, April - June 2020, available here.