Daniel Blum

 How to make remote work more productive. The goal How to make remote work more productive, keep employees motivated, and correctly track KPIs during the quarantine period. The 2020 crisis has demonstrated that many companies can work remotely. Those who were unable to adapt in time, and transfer employees to work from home, suffered losses. In our organization, leaders in all departments (including myself as the head of the Academy) working closely with HR were able to successfully cope with these challenges. To accomplish this we had to do the following: What challenges we faced We have identified the main difficulties of working with remote access: 1. The boundary between work and personal life. In remote work, the visible border between professional tasks and leisure disappears. For example, Zoom guests arrive at 9 p.m., but Slack guests arrive at lunchtime. 2. The boundary between family and work. Not everyone has their own office at home. Therefore, in that case, special rules have to be implemented for working at home. Explain to other members of the household that online meetings are also important and that sometimes privacy and silence are needed. 3. Concentration on tasks. When the work-life balance has been created, and people at home understand and do not distract us, we can also get into the bad habit of distracting ourselves. We turn on a series or a game, sometimes we find ourselves answering messages instead of focusing. In 2020, watching TV series during working hours increased dramatically, and for many people, it became a big challenge to concentrate on work. 4. While working remotely, managers face these problems: What services should be used for communication? How should new employees be integrated into the team and work in general? How can efficiency be controlled if you can't see your colleagues? How can team conflict or miscommunications be handled? How should documents be worked with? How should new practices and learning be introduced? What we did How we acted to make the transition fast and efficient when working remotely: Developed rules for working remotely It is important to make the team understand that working in quarantine and remote mode requires the same work and the same number of tasks but from home rather than from the office. In this, we were well assisted by the system in which we were already keeping track of tasks, track working hours, and communicating on projects. We added rules to control time and for fixing tasks in the system, and we organized work according to the following rules: 1. We worked out the difficulty of being in touch with at least two messengers simultaneously: We organized chat groups and monitored their activity during the working day. We Organized monitoring of the verification of phone notifications, with the condition that phones are turned on all the time. 2. We explained how important it is to be ready to get on the phone at any time (microphone + headphones must be working). The phone must be set to “loud mode” in order to quickly answer calls. 3. We arranged for our employees to register at the start and end of their day. We had each employee contact us at the start of each work-day and recorded the time, and had them do the same at the end. 4. We invited everyone to agree on the plan for each day in the morning and briefly unsubscribe it to their manager in a messenger message. (I don’t know exactly what this means and how to fix it. Do you mean that each person had to subscribe to the plan by messaging their manager?) (… and subscribe to it by messaging their manager.) 5. After completing a task, we had everyone add a screen about its readiness in a messenger, signalling completion. What was the focus and what recommendations were given to employees about remote access – how to be effective at home. We gave advice, conducted training, and organized coaching for employees on the following issues: 1. The ability to properly organize and plan everything. Advice was given about waking up, phoning, lunch, sports, and how to improve the quality of their lives and productivity. 2. Correct organization of the workplace. We advised them about how to organize their workspaces and work schedules. For example, they could hang their schedule in front of them so that it was always in sight. 3. Coordinate their work with family members. Make sure that family member’s activities didn’t conflict with their work, and visa versa. 4. Effective communication. If they ran into problems with their work, they should act without delay. They should immediately contact a manager, communicate with colleagues, and they would definitely receive appropriate help. 5. Flexible working hours and staying in touch throughout the work-day. They should be flexible with their work and their mobile-phone should always be there with vibrate or sound mode turned on. 6. Regular meal breaks. Breakfast and lunch should be taken at the appointed time. 7. Organization of rest. At lunchtime, we advised them to unload and escape from work. 8. For special socialization. Virtual offices were created. 9. Sports. Light gymnastics as well as other physical activities would help during the working day. What the focus was, and how recommendations were implemented by managers who oversaw the remote personnel. 1. There were daily morning personal and group co-ordinations so that people would feel like part of a team all the time; Scrum meetings, audio and video broadcasts, etc. In short: reporting and planning for the day were facilitated to take a maximum of 15 minutes. 2. Quotas for personal communication were established for each employee during the week. 3. A daily plan and report, morning and evening, was implemented. For the provision of plans and reports, a regulation was established; to provide each at the appointed time, the same as if in the office. It promoted discipline and created a system. 4. Each person’s results were shown as much as possible to everyone else, a system of unified graphic visual reporting was created. 5. To decrease the amount of effort and energy required to perform routine tasks, personal conversations with employees were conducted using a coaching technique. 6. Introduced the approach of regular personal conversations between supervisors and staff, in order to keep abreast and monitor the state of people; To learn about their personal lives, because employees weren’t able to break away from their loved ones for any significant amount of time, which caused a lack of work/life separation. They were being overwhelmed by stimulation around the clock in other words. 7. Increased the frequency of inspiring motivational meetings online. How we motivated the team remotely. We supported team spirits with off-duty online activities: we participated in webinars, discussed trends, launched initiatives within the company, and tried new technologies. We joked a lot and exchanged memes via messengers. We initially tried to gather people alike in spirit and thinking into one team. In addition, we created a channel where we regularly talked about the releases, achievements, and successes of the team. The team and each individual employee were able to see the results of their work, had the opportunity to share and discuss it with colleagues, which always improved mood and motivation even during remote work. We conducted regular personal chats with everyone in order to keep our finger on the pulse and monitor the state of people; to learn about their personal lives, because employees weren’t able to break away from their loved ones for any significant amount of time, which caused a lack of work/life separation. They were sometimes being overwhelmed by stimulation around the clock in other words. How we organized control when employees worked remotely: - the presence of clearly and competently written tasks; - availability of coordinated schedules; - adherence to schedules by both parties and all participants; - fulfilment of promises; - support in case of difficulties and problems; - control so that progress towards targets did not decrease, but increased. A leader who has implemented good control, along with his subordinates, always wins. Don't worry about working remotely, just take good control of the situation. Summary of results of this project We learned how to effectively manage remote workers. The following key points can be highlighted to achieve the best result: - reasonable organization of the workflow; - correct distribution of responsibilities and their organization; - effective use of advanced technologies both for tracking work progress and for communication between team members.