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Not everyone wants to switch to remote work

What changes the transition to remote work and how businesses can insure themselves against troubles


Yesterday, half of my employees agreed to work remotely until the situation with the coronavirus COVID19 ceases to be a danger and the country returns to its normal business life. The remaining 50% refused. Discussions with a team of nuances related to remote work prompted the writing of this material. I know well about the positive aspects and the risks of the remote format.

Why not everyone can work at home


At least because it is simply impossible to produce any products for mass consumption or to provide, for example, auto repair services at home. On the other hand, there are many companies for which remote work is perfectly acceptable. These include the IT sphere.

I will say right away that half of my team in a remote format does not bother me at all. Initially, all processes in our company are arranged accordingly, therefore, practically nothing has changed in the work of the company.

Actually, what am I leading to? Getting into the situation “my office is now at home”, an employee does not easily change his office desk to his home, but is faced with a different way of communicating with colleagues and a manager. However, like the leader himself. And so that the performance of the tasks set does not decrease, the remote work needs to be properly built.

If you have never done this before, I advise you to review the deadlines for orders, negotiate with your customers a possible increase in terms and take time for organizational issues, because negligence in this case can cost you a pretty penny. Why? First of all, due to the fact that not all employees are also able to work well at home, as they do in the office.

Home conditions change everything. There is no familiar equipped workplace (it wasn’t needed until today) that stands above the soul of the leader and colleagues who will help. But there are many distractions, especially when the kids are also at home now. And yet, we all, office workers, perceive the house, first of all, as a place of rest from work.

That's why I'm talking about a clear organization of the remote workflow and proper communication between employees.

“I never say: I need you to do this. I say: I wonder if you can do it. ”- Henry Ford - American industrialist, owner of automobile manufacturing plants around the world, inventor, author of 161 US patents.

Distance is no reason to break deadlines


Work at home, when it requires only a computer to do it, technically does not change anything. However, if the employee is not in the same room with the head, to monitor his employment is a completely logical desire.

In fact, it is quite easy to cope with such a task. Your CRM-system exists, including for this. Has it not yet been implemented in the company? Then it's time to start choosing.

In the meantime, use one of the programs that allows you to receive a full report on the actions of the employee at the end of the day, up to what resources and when he used. To do this, just select and install (even remotely) the appropriate software on his working computer.
I advise you to review the deadlines for orders, negotiate with customers a possible increase in terms and take time for organizational issues.


If you trust colleagues, you can control not the time of employment, but the completion of tasks. In this option, use the task books, where, adding yourself to the observers and / or controllers, you will see the entire progress of each task. Such programs are available online, which is quite convenient. In terms of functionality, of course, they will not replace CRM, but they will allow temporarily

And remember, you can ask when you have clearly explained what you expect from an employee, and he, in turn, understood correctly. In the remote version, for such purposes, you can use conference calling, for example, through the same CRM or Skype: conduct “flyers”, explain difficult moments in work, consult and, if necessary, accompany your subordinates “on the remote”.

To increase overall efficiency:

  • use one service;
  • set control points correctly;
  • delegate tasks;
  • Be sure to divide global projects into subtasks;
  • plan and evaluate the working day of everyone on your team.

“Management is the art of achieving goals in the face of limited resources,” - Terry Gibson - consultant, author of books and articles on management, small business.

Take advantage of the new experience. The

time that the team will work remotely can be used as a kind of audit. For example, see:

  • What processes are suitable to transfer them to contractors for remote work;
  • how to improve the organizational structure of the company;
  • how appropriate is it to continue to use the software for setting, monitoring tasks, if you have not practiced it before;
  • how employees behave and manifest themselves in non-standard working conditions;
  • where you need to strengthen communication and further monitor the progress of tasks.

As you can see, restrictive measures in the country can be useful not only for the health of citizens. Use the situation correctly.

“To create a successful organization, you need to replace power with responsibility,” Peter Drucker is an American scientist, economist, publicist, educator, and one of the most influential management theorists.

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