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Removal for the period of coronavirus: home "arrest" or time of opportunity?

The attitude to remote work in IT has never been unambiguous, although in general it has always turned out to be more democratic than in other industries. While some companies ultimately claimed that “only an office and eye to eye”, others actively developed distributed teams. There were no points over i. But everything changed when the coronavirus arrived: in the face of a possible disease, loyalty to the remote location increased sharply, global corporations began to distribute their tools for distributed teams for free, even some Russian companies tried to squeeze into this PR (though, due to the limitations of marketers, it turned out clumsy, yes okay, let's talk about this in the end). 

Everything is cool, but somehow the main thing remains outside the brackets: what about the people, the employees themselves? If you were not a remover or freelancer, working from home after the recession of the first euphoria resembles fierce quarantine, prison, torture, etc. It is often extremely difficult to psychologically reorganize. I’ve been “in business” for almost 7 years and, perhaps, I’ll tell you what awaits the employees and companies that have chosen this path for some time.   When did you stay to work from home

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It turned out that I was never a freelancer: for 7 years I worked (and work) at the same time at two or one job, was a member of the staff of companies of different sizes, but was not physically in the office (for geographical and other reasons). Before that, I was a 100% office manager: with coffee, smoke breaks, chatter, Friday pizza and bowling. And I honestly say: the first time it was very painful :-) However, to the point.

The first transition to remote work - safety


So, you always worked in the office, in a team, inside debugged or gloomy business processes, you are used to driving to and from work, shopping in stores along the way, going to lunch, etc. And suddenly you have to work from home for some time. What you need to know about this?

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  • Do not run yourself. I have before my eyes my own example and the examples of my friends, when at some point I realize that something is running: a figure, a haircut, health, etc. You need to live exactly the life that you had: strict hygiene, cool haircuts, snow-white teeth, great makeup (if you're a girl), frequent walks in the air, movement. Chained oneself to a working chair is tragic for moral and physical condition. By the way, here's the minimum set to provide oxygen to the brain and muscle load: every hour or two 25 squats, 25 bends, 25 pumping with your hands in the chest, 25 push-ups / jumps. It takes less than 10 minutes, the effect is excellent. 

These items are the main things to overcome at the initial stage of work from home. Then it will be much easier. Tough self-discipline at this time is the best investment in yourself. Now you will understand why.  

Work problems


There will be a number of problems and nuances that you will certainly encounter, especially if the company's management also does not have experience of high-quality remote. 

  • Communication problems: you will not be able to get together for the usual meetings and five minutes to discuss issues. Therefore, you need to learn to listen and speak in phoning, not to interrupt the interlocutor, to adequately respond to speech.
  • Problems with intonations. When you do not see a person, you fill the text in the messenger and his voice with your emotions, put your own meaning. This is a direct path to misunderstanding and conflict. Therefore, the advice is simple: take words as information, do not look for a double bottom. If someone in the team turns out to be a weak link, everyone will understand this already.
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By the way, periods of danger or a change in work style brings the team together great. Almost everyone appreciates trust and is aware of responsibility, especially at the beginning of a “distributed” regime. If you grab this inner feeling and build a new virtual corporate culture on it, in the future you can get good managerial and experience and, for example, introduce the practice of “home” Friday. In your hands will be a new tool for non-material motivation and retention of employees ;-)   

Logistics


It seems that the company should, if possible, provide and pay for everything necessary for equipping the workplace: from the Internet to the chair and PC, because the employee works in her interests. However, there are a hundred nuances, I’ll talk about the main ones. 

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And now, company executives are closing the post and I’ll talk face to face with employees. Joke. On the contrary, I invite everyone to become aware of several important points that will turn your company into a modern, loyal and flying forward. 

I hope no one thinks that every employee has been working all 8 hours at work? If suddenly you thought that way, then know: almost no people can work effectively all this time. From there, a bunch of social contacts: tea, coffee, breaks, chat in open space, meetings and rallies, breaks for reading Habré and much more. I think the effective number of hours is 5. And if a person manages to do his job well and look decent to the team, this is mega cool.

And this time, along with the time on the road, feels great when working from home. It really is! And here it is important to direct it in the right direction. Let the employees spend it not on empty entertainment, but on pet projects or training. This will give them motivation and will not allow the brain to stop. You can even sign up for a training course for your company and keep them busy. The effect will be amazing: you will get more pumped, assembled employees. 
Well, the staff is advised and given a strict warning: you are not freelancers, work is first! Strictly first!
When it comes time to return to the office, you will see that the team has gained more confidence, that employees have learned to value free time inside the worker, that everyone is able to work from home and remain a productive member of the team. And this is cool: now you can arrange home Fridays, allow you to work from home on days when an employee is sick or needs to do something at home, allow you to not take sick leave and not infect employees with seasonal infections, allow them to work remotely with external force majeure who works far from work, etc. You will have experience that will make it clear how effective your employees are and how cool you turned out to be a motivation tool.

Do not be afraid of the remote, use it honestly, in good faith and to the maximum. This guarantees a good result.

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