Here are the responses to our Working Virtually Survey. Thank you to all who took the time to respond.
The best survey answer was from the question; “What have you learned working remotely?” with the following:
“How hard my wife has worked all these years.”
The bottom-line up front: Working from home is not a panacea, staying engaged is difficult, and we still want and need direction and leadership. Success seems to be coming from staying closely engaged with your teams. There is not a consensus. Working from home is great for some and not so much for others. There are plenty of resources to assist you, yet getting maximum positive results is challenging
Summary:
- Do you find it more difficult to lead remotely or work at home? 0 easy – 100 is hard
- Range 48-76 | Average: 64 | Median: 66
- Describe your productivity working remotely (0 less, 50 no change, 100 more)
- Range 29-96 | Average: 58 | Median 50
- Are you finding enough resources to support you working remotely?
- Yes 100%
- What are your biggest challenges?
- Technology 17%, Lack of leadership 17%, Distractions 67%
- What do you want to know more about? (consolidated themes)
a. How to model leadership in the remote environment
b. How to create more streamlined processes and routines
c. How to balance home and life work - As you are working remotely, what is something that is helping you to be successful? (consolidated themes, not quotes)
a. Technology in general and video conferencing specifically
b. The team working collaboratively, communicating, and being reliable
c. Working out
Some Conclusions
- Productivity working from home varies greatly and is situation dependent.
- If you are the leader – lead. Your workers want to know your expectations, need contact, and follow-up from you.
- There are a lot of distractions and balancing work and home life is a significant challenge.
Potential Solutions:
My recommendations for you are 1) set priorities in each area of your life and 2) make a plan, daily and weekly, and 3) constantly evaluate and modify your plan.
Priorities assist you to focus on what is most important. If you only accomplish one thing for work today what should it be? What is the one thing you have to accomplish today regarding your family and household?
For a plan, one size will not fit all however, you need a plan. Set goals, make a schedule, execute, and evaluate. Goals should address priorities. Just as you did every day before being quarantined, you set goals, built a general schedule, and adapted to the daily challenges. The problem now is the entire family is home and you are trying to work, teach, and run a household simultaneously. Previously siloed portions of your life are inextricably meshed as never before. This is messy.
What made you successful before may need to change. Focus on priorities and make adaptations to your plan until it works. How would it feel like if you accomplished your top priorities each day? That is the feeling you are pursuing.
Want more resources, check out “How to Lead Virtually” and “Purposefully Setting a Positive Attitude” on Great Transitions Strategies’ YouTube channel.
