Carolyn Dorsey | Coordinator | People Factor LLC
Who knew earlier this year that the phrase “I’m going to the office” would achieve dinosaur status within six months? The new remote work landscape is looking more and more like it’s here to stay. Companies that just a few months ago did not approve of the concept of “working from home” would themselves, ditch their office space and go full remote in very short order. It’s still a little mind boggling.
But working from home carries more complexities than just having a fast connection, a (hopefully) quiet space to work, and (a lot of) practice using Zoom. Trying to collaborate remotely and find meaning in your work is often dependent on a company that cares about how its processes are affecting not just productivity, but its teams.
Of course the obvious, biggest, work-from-home hurdle is collaboration. Building and maintaining good relationships with your teams is foundational. Have you been feeling connected lately? That connection is key to having a healthy organizational culture. In fact, it’s impossible to have a good culture without it. And without a healthy culture, your organization can’t thrive. Your productivity can’t grow. Your people can’t find meaning in their work. That’s what it is to have a healthy culture. That’s what it takes to be a great company and place to work.
In this new, home-based workspace, what are you doing to build your healthy culture out to your employees? Take this as an opportunity to closely analyze your processes and see if they can be reimagined. We can’t just transplant the workplace to various remote locations and expect the processes to be workable and relevant. We need to take a very close look at the critical functions and if necessary, reconstruct them to serve our people and purposes in a healthy way.
Communication processes are a big one to focus on during this time. Transparency and communication are always key factors in the health of an organization – but even moreso now. Even if your people have stayed employed through the pandemic they are probably still concerned about where their job and income might go from here. Now would be a good time to revamp your communication processes to build transparency about what the company is doing to bolster its stability and grow. Look at technologies that can help you get your message to your employees in the most prompt and clear way possible. Invite them to comment or connect with relevant leaders. Sometimes a quick online chat or connection is much easier to orchestrate than a one on one, face to face meeting. Look at those processes and see how they can work for you.
There are likely many more ways your particular organization can rebuild the way it thinks and moves. This is your opportunity to try something new and innovative. This is your fresh start.
For more reading on managing a fully remote culture, check out this article from Toptal on How to Build a Remote Culture. They are a global company that has been fully remote from its inception 10 years ago.
