The spread of telecommuting since the days of confinement has led companies to rethink their communication methods. Find out how telecommuting can break down silos.
For a large number of people in the workforce, confinement has meant an in-depth review of their working methods and personal organization. For some, the "height of the leap" required to adapt is dizzying, since it implies so many changes in the formal and informal practices of their day-to-day jobs.
Not all organizations are equal when it comes to confinement. Employees used to telecommuting, or working remotely, "just had to" generalize an already well-established practice, while others had to be trained in new tools, and have equipment delivered urgently to their teams' homes, not to mention the rethinking of the social and managerial links that are essential within teams.
From now on, we don't meet at the coffee machine. And it's often around the coffee machine that the heart of a company beats.
These difficulties have imposed themselves on us, and the first two weeks of confinement have been painful. Fifteen days after the big jump, it's time to look further ahead and less in the rear-view mirror. What can these imposed changes do for our businesses?
In times of confinement, no more unannounced questions as you look up from the screen at Sophie/Paul/Jess or Michel: "Coffee?". Same treatment for the manager who pops his head into the meeting room: "Are we still talking about this at 2pm?
COVID 19 doesn't stop socializing. Opportunities are easily created via GoogleHangout, Zoom, and why not Houseparty, for formal (1o1 collaborator/manager, project point,...) and/or informal topics (breakfast or team lunch, celebration of a personal or professional birthday, etc.).
What used to be possible only in a face-to-face environment, for many working people unaccustomed to working remotely, has been considerably simplified by the experience acquired during this crisis.
If only we'd always practiced it! Informal oral communication, through which we communicate more than 80% of all information, is no longer possible in confined spaces. Telecommuting imposes a new rigor on individual communication, which is a healthy counterpart to the greater autonomy acquired by each individual, de facto, through physical distance from colleagues and managers.
It's essential to be able to give your teams, colleagues and managers a clear picture of your activity schedule. In an unprecedented professional situation, which could see some people getting bogged down in haphazard personal organization, this practice gives everyone a sense of responsibility, and enables discussion of individual and team priorities.
If this practice could survive the COVID 19 crisis, we'd have hit the jackpot!
Is it French culture, which still points the finger too much at failure (even if this is less and less true), or is it a form of misplaced pride? For a long time in France, asking for help was seen as an admission of weakness.
If effective telecommuting means communicating objectives and personal progress, it can also reveal whether an employee is ahead or behind on a project.
Helping each other is a must in any company! The current situation could strengthen team spirit and solidarity, with employees showing greater empathy towards their peers. Confined to a small apartment, confined to telecommuting with children to look after, or confined to in-laws, everyone's situation, more or less critical, is generally known to everyone in a team. Imposed telecommuting could have 3 positive consequences on professional behavior: greater transparency in individual objectives and advancement, reinforced solidarity and therefore a more benevolent climate in which asking for or offering help will be more spontaneous/accepted.
The creation of formal and informal rituals helps to alleviate the loneliness of the telecommuter during periods of confinement. But there's one type of content that shouldn't be forgotten: company successes/good news. If telecommuting is possible within the company, then the heart of the business is still beating (some won't be so lucky), and so both good and not-so-good news will be expected. While good news about a team is usually circulated within the team itself, silos sometimes prevent it from being disseminated more widely throughout the organization. The need for transparency in corporate communications at this time is an opportunity to change practices, both to celebrate victories and to share less positive information.
While the company's heart continues to beat, the daily grind continues to take its toll, but this period of confinement and the telecommuting it imposes are changing our relationship with time. In the space of two weeks, the priorities set since the end of 2019 have been swept aside for others in view of the company's survival or solidarity with the care teams, for example. This strange moment, as if suspended in time, is also an opportunity to take a step back from the daily grind of our "normal" professional situation. This period of intense, permanent reprioritization can become an opportunity to work on meaningful, substantive projects, with a view to the return to normalcy and the long-awaited resumption of activity at the end of the confinement period. In order to save time and be more efficient in the future, you can formalize your personal or team "best practices" on subjects that you consider to be high-stakes, time-consuming, etc.
To get started, create a channel on Slack on this topic, for example, to identify topics to be formalized and potential contributors.
In these complicated times for companies and employees alike, who need to change paradigms, Komin offers its time to individuals and organizations who decide to embark on this path of content formalization. We can offer you our time in the following areas: tele-onboarding, continuing education andoffboarding. Our role will be that of a coach providing the tools, and a sparring partner helping you to prioritize the subjects.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Courage & let's help each other through this period, stay safe & stay home
"With Komin, we have documented our operating procedures 10x faster than with paper"
- J. Cerruti (Methods & Industrialization Manager)
