Remote…

During today’s pandemic, like many employees I find myself working from home.  Throughout my career I preferred to work in an office so when I came home from work I could leave my work at work and be “present” at home with my family.   Today, work-life and home-life are being homogenized via a recipe called social distancing.

I’m reminded of an article I read by LeeAnn Renninger, PhD. Co-CEO, LifeLabs Learning, 11 high-impact questions managers should ask remote employees

I’ll let you read the full article and all 11 questions as you like.  Permit me to highlight a few of her points that resonate with me now that I too am “remote”.

Dr. Renninger seems to agree with the idea of separating work-life and home-life:

3. What is your daily routine? 

What this question uncovers

Energy management: Listen for spots to help optimize time boundaries. A big danger for remote employees is burnout since work and life are blended. When working in-person at the office it’s easier to have delineated boundaries for starting and stopping work.

I know we like to poke fun at burnout.  For some workers, always being online and seemingly always available can be viewed as a badge of honor.  But even an executive with one of the most hard-driving reputations has said:

Life is a marathon.  

Larry Ellison

So contrary to my favorite, Unknown Sage burnout is real and something to be avoided:

I didn't come here to be told that I'm burning the candle at both ends, complained the patient to his doctor.  I came for more wax. 

It is both wise and healthy to get away from work every day, don’t you think?  Besides, who wants to work with an over-stressed colleague that becomes a poop-in-the-face.  However, don’t extend your “get-aways” too long:

I asked a department manager once how many people worked for him, and he said, "About half!" 

John G. Miller

Dr. Renninger continued:

11. What do you want to learn more about regarding our team or company? 

What this question uncovers

Information flow: When working remotely, people sometimes feel out of the loop. This question helps you hear if they feel or are excluded. You can then optimize systems or explain the context.

Being in the loop – that concept applies to we employees and our managers as well, true?

“Is there any reason you could not serve as a juror on this case?” the judge asked the junior executive called for jury duty.  “I don’t want to be away from my job that long, answered the prospective juror.”  “Can't they do without you?” the judge probed.  “Sure, said the up-and-comer.  But I don't want them to know that." 

Unknown Sage

Yes it’s true, none of us are indispensable.  Most companies continue to operate when we’re away from time to time.  For some, when our executives are away, the company actually performs better!  For other companies, not so much:

It nonetheless spoke highly of the firm's management that they seemed to be going out of business in an orderly fashion.

Norman R. Augustine

We all know the old adage of being out-of-sight…  and with so many jobs being eliminated and employees being laid-off that can be worrisome.

Nonetheless, today it’s better we lay low for a while longer as we all wait and hope for modern medical science to address the invisible killer among us.  Besides, with Teams, WebEx and Zoom, we’re not out-of-mind.  We’re just “remote”.

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.