A unique approach to dealing with working from home

Wow! There is so much information that has been published about working from home.

Why Talk About The Workplace Now?

Before we can discuss working from home, we need to discuss a dynamic about working from the office. A dynamic so impactful that it can make you feel stressed or even depressed when working from home! It is something you may or may have already experienced…that you spend lots of time at work…not working! This is not a ding on your time management or work habits; it is a term that we call “workplace rationalization.”

Workplace Rationalization

This is when you spend time at work doing non-work related activities. It is the time spent picking or discussing your favorite fantasy sports team, sporting events or social happenings of the rich and famous. But it goes deeper than that! It can be stopping on your way to the facilities, to eat lunch, or the printer to discuss everything from birthdays, vacations and weekend activities with others, usually expectantly! It also includes discussing business topics that may not be a priority…or even worse, gossip!

You Will Go Through Withdrawal

Sure the kids, spouses, and work environment will impact you (listen to this weeks podcast); nothing will impact you more than your acknowledgement of “workplace rationalization.”

By working from home, there is the realization that you’re spending hours at work doing non-work related activities, and then you rationalize it based on being at the office. You may even find that you use workplace rationalization to avoid going home.

Working At Home Exposes The Truth

When you get home and set up your office, you begin to work. All is good until you realize that two hours have passed and you haven’t gotten up from your desk…not to print, not to go to a meeting, or even to walk over to talk to a co-worker. You realize that you got a lot of work done, and you still have hours left! You now realize how much time you spend at work, not doing work related activities.

At work you’re okay with this, because you’re at the office or out in the field. But now, you’re taking the dog out, spending time with your kids, or even doing the laundry. To you, that is not work, and you are not being productive!

Workplace Realization

If you rid yourself of your business ego, and acknowledge that you are getting as much, if not more work done, you’ll come to the realization that it’s okay to use the time you used to waste at work, and invest it in your personal life.

Corporate Entrepreneurial Leaders Understand

As a manager, you can support this idea and let your staff know that as long as they get their work done and are available when needed, it’s okay to invest this time at home. You will find workers not feeling guilty or trying to make excuses. Your staff will become even more productive than they were at the office. They will embrace learning new and more efficient ways of doing their job.

Listen To Your Employees

It’s important that you listen to your employees and identify when some one is experiencing workplace withdrawal. Only then can you help them through to the workplace realization stage. Then you must let them know it is okay, that they’re not alone, and that you support their transformation.

Provide Some Outlets

There is a way you can help you and your employees ease the symptoms of withdrawal.

• Provide a water cooler time twice a day – use google hangouts or MS Teams or any application you want. Open it up to everyone to use video chat, just to get together and talk about anything they would normally speak about at the water cooler
• Have a time for stop-by visits at your office – schedule open times where your staff can come in and just shoot the S*** with you. No, it’s not private, but neither is just stopping by a co-worker and starting a conversation.
• Teach yourself and your staff how to mimic the commute – I know this may seem counter intuitive, but in many cases, the commute is a time for podcasts, music, sports or news. It’s a time to get ready to come to work, as well as a time to get ready to go home. Let your staff know that it’s okay to take 15-30 minutes to do what they would do on their commute, but without the stress of traffic, parking or other drivers!
• Schedule online group training – Don’t expect you or your staff to learn and train on processes or technology all by themselves. Some will, however, most will need the group experience. This means that you can all log on to your collaboration tool and train together. It should be live, and everyone must use their camera. Remember to give them enough time before and after for mingling, just like live training!