Prolonged, massteleworking duringa pandemic

Guide

by the WorkLife HUB

web: www.worklifehub.com / email : info@worklifehub.com

INTRODUCTIONDriven by the current coronaviruspandemic your organisation mayhave to jump from occasional, orregular but small-scale teleworkinginto the prolonged remote workingof the entire workforce, perhapswithout any formalised structure orpolicy for it. As you read this guide, more andmore companies are letting theiremployees work from home as aresult of the escalation in thecoronavirus outbreak. Teleworking is one of the mosteffective ways to reduce theinfection risk from people gatheredin one single place and when socialdistancing is ordered by thegovernment.

Teleworking can also helpensure that the essentialfunctions of organisationscontinue during emergencysituations, including a potentialpandemic outbreak. Recent studies have shownthat employees working fromhome can be even moreeffective if a number ofconditions are being met. Interviewed companies in themost affected regions by thecoronavirus reported, that theywere grappling with theorganisation and managementof a remotely operatingworkforce, as many of them donot have flexible workingknow-how, the technologyprepared to allow people towork from home, orteleworking policies in place.

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Teleworking is also referred to as remote work or workfrom home, during which the employee is working awayfrom the primary place of work (office), usually at theirhome.  Not every business or organisation can afford to send alltheir staff home during a pandemic or other emergency,such as hospital staff, cleaning crew, public serviceproviders. However, we firmly believe that theorganisation still needs an emergency policy, and applyjob-design to de-prioritise, re-organise and skill-up staff,to protect workers as much as possible. This way, theymay change shifts, do administration at home, staggerworking hours...etc. If you want to learn more, we are happy to help!

WHAT IF TELEWORKING IS NOT ANOPTION FOR YOUR ORGANISATION?

Unless the organisation, team-leaders and employees are briefedand prepared, a prolonged periodof remote working may indeedhave catastrophic consequencesfor your organisation. Loss ofinformation, miscommunication,uneven distribution of tasks can alllead to loss of productivity,whereas role ambiguity may leadto confusion and anxiety, not tomention limited human interactionthat may result in an increasedsense of isolation.*

How to address the aboveconcerns? What to include in aswiftly assembled teleworkingpolicy? How to empower team-leaders and team-members insuch uncertain and challengingtimes? In this guide, we summarise themost important roles andresponsibilities** organisations,their employees and team leadersneed to follow when gettingready for an emergencyteleworking situation.

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(*) Digitalisation brings its own set of opportunities and challenges for remote working employees aswe have found in our latest research report(**) Employment regulation, working time law, social partner agreements and health and safetydirectives may impact your teleworking policy, and this will be different in each country. Make surethe policy is compliant with the national legislation.

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WHY ARE WRITTEN POLICIES

AND TRAINING VITAL?

- Set up a specific emergencyteleworking policy - that can bepart of the continuity plan - The emergency teleworkingpolicy should firstly include acategorisation of workersconcerning their role andteleworking instructions andwhether they are authorised towork remotely (emergencyteleworkers, non-emergencyteleworkers etc.). - Make sure that every employeereceives and understands thepolicy, what it means for their role,their pay, and what exactly theyneed to do, once the plan isactivated. TELEWORKING

AND CONTINUITY

Team leaders and directsupervisors play a particularlyimportant role during crisis eventsand the ensuing teleworkingperiod. Research shows thatemployees look for thecommunication, behaviour androle-modelling of their directsupervisors to understand theexpected norms and the culture ofthe organisation. If team-leadersmanage to remain calm,communicate transparently, be fairand available, employees will striveto do the same. Therefore training up and buildingconfidence in direct supervisorsahead, or in the worst case, duringthe emergency teleworking iscritical. This will ensure thesuccessful implementation of theemergency teleworking policy andbusiness continuity. What is the specific role of TeamLeaders? Let's take a look:

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- Include information on what isexpected of teleworkers and teamleaders (supervisors, managers …)during the time they telework, aswell as provide continuousinformation during the emergencysituation.

Teleworking policies are essentialparts of any contingency plan. Inthe case of an unforeseen event(extreme weather, terrorism,pandemic) that withholdsemployees from taking up work attheir regular offices or workplace,the possibility of teleworking allowsthem to perform work offsite whilekeeping the organisation running.

TEAM LEADERSHOLD THE KEY

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TO MAKE SURE THAT YOURORGANISATION IS NOTCAUGHT OFF-GUARD BY ACITY-WIDE QUARANTINE ,

YOUR ORGANISATIONSHOULD :

- Be familiar with contingencyplans and their specific role inexecuting them. They have toforesee and make availableessential documents, informationand databases during theemergency teleworking. - If not recommended centrally bythe organisation, select and testcommunication and projectmanagement tools (Slack, Zoom,Skype for Business, Trello, Asana)through which all employees willbe able to connect to teammembers and access workresources. - People are usually afraid toadmit, they don't know how to usethe tools, so provide regularguidance and support toemployees on the use of suchplatforms. - Determine how the performanceof employees is going to bemeasured while teleworking. - Keep their calm, acknowledgeand manage the anxiety ornervousness of staff caused by thesituation.

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- Establish a set of rules andguidelines, on which everyone canagree while teleworking. Thesenew team guidelines or normsshould cover, for example, meetingetiquette (frequency, platform,form, camera use and dress code,the question of multitasking,preferred device, working withsensitive information etc.),communication etiquette(greetings, status messaging,privacy settings, humorouscomments and jokes etc.). - As a general rule of thumb, it isalways recommended to addressquestions in the “grey zone”, anddiscuss them together. Agreedsolutions must be re-shared withthe entire group so to keep uptransparency and trust withinteams. - Inform staff members, as to whenthey can reach out to managersand team-leaders virtually anddiscuss any pressing issues or anyother business. - Set-up weekly-check-ins withemployees teleworking to gaugetheir experience and improve thepolicy. In particular, the firstweekly-check-in call has hugeimportance as it can swiftlyaddress concerns, problems andset the tone for the teleworkingsituation for the weeks to follow.

TEAM LEADERS ANDMANAGERS SHOULD :

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- Be made aware and prepared,that they might need to performadditional tasks assigned tothem outside their usual workroles, during an event of anemergency. - Establish ground rules forthemselves. Devise a dailyroutine, keep hours consistent,eliminate any potentialdistractions and leavecommunication channels open.  - Consider that teleworking isnot a substitute for dependentcare. Caring for kids, ordependent elderly, whileteleworking is not realistic. Therefore, it is recommendedthat employees with careresponsibilities plan their caresolutions in advance. Enlistingnannies, paid carers, extendedfamily during emergencysituations when schools orchildcare facilities could beequally closed - will be crucial togetting work done.

- Importantly, managers need toshow their presence in anemergency situation and beavailable for one-on-one meetings. They might feel alreadyoverwhelmed by the number ofmeetings they need to attend, butin situations such as the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, it isrecommended to provide extraspace and time for employees toconnect, share information, askquestions and discuss concerns.

TIP 1 .

IN PARTICULAR ,

EMPLOYEES SHOULD :

THE ROLE OFTELEWORKINGEMPLOYEES

- Become familiar with contingencyplans and the expectations of teamleaders for how telework is going tobe organised during such events.

Set up a regular morning or lunchtime 15-minute-call-ins for employees to connectinformally. Many employees may feeldisconnected or isolated, especially those,who are teleworking for the first time in theircareer. This virtual "water-cooler moment" or"coffee-break" can boost morale and get theconversations going, vital to ensure smoothcollaboration.

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Audit your IT system and technology to know,whether it will handle a big spike in the remoteuse of online systems, access to cloud and otherplatforms. Employees should be informed as towhere they can get support with the technologywhen working remotely, and check that your ITprovider has the necessary support staff onhand to help potentially many people at thesame time.

TIP 2 .

1) Write and distribute youremergency teleworking policy. 2) Check with your technologyproviders, IT departments for thecapability of the system toaccommodate potentially allemployees teleworking at thesame time, with the adequatesupport staff at hand. 3) Ensure that all employees havethe equipment and know-how onconnecting to their work remotely. 4) Run a remote working test day,when everyone is asked to workfrom home, no exceptions.

5) Empower your line managers,not only by helping them de-prioritise workload to only thebusiness-critical tasks, to free upsome of their time to managethe remote team members. 6) Explore emergency childcareand elder-care solutions andtheir costs, in case of schoolclosure. Alternatively, employeesmay take turns watching overthe children in the team, on fullpay. 7) Train your line-managers incommunication, IT, job-designand other importantmanagement skills that arerequired when working with aremote team.

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WHAT YOU MUSTDO TODAY?

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TAP INTO OUR EXPERIENCE :

the WorkLife HUB is a training, consultancy and research companyhelping organisations through change, be it to improve genderequality, implement work-life balance and flexible working policies orchange the workplace culture and adapt to the new world of work. For more information please visit: www.worklifehub.comTo get in touch: info@worklifehub.com

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Research and international best practice

Having worked with, and researched hundreds of organisations, we cansupport you with a quick turnaround draft emergency teleworkingpolicy. The policy would be tailored to the size, sector and needs of theorganisation.

In-person and online training

Our trainings are focused on skills-building and knowledgedevelopment of mid and seniormanagers while removing existingbias and cultural barriers with regardsto teleworking and other forms offlexible working. Our mission is to helpyou become fully proficient inmanaging a remote workforce.

Already have an emergency teleworking plan?

Our team can support managers and employees with practical tools,coaching sessions and webinars to anchor the policy and accelerate theadoption of the new behaviours and norms it will require from theorganisation.

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