You’ve Kicked Everyone Out of the Office. Now What?

Process Improvement in the Virtual Workplace, Part 1

Organizations implement telework programs for various reasons, from saving real estate costs to improving employee satisfaction.  However, very few think about how processes may be affected once employees are dispersed or working from home.  There’s an opportunity to leverage the virtual environment to improve old processes and make things more efficient and effective if leaders take the time to understand what is really going on in their business and search for ways to do things better.

Let’s take a quick example.  I used to work for an organization that had a very manual check request process.  An employee had a need for money, say to reimburse a job candidate that recently came in for an interview.  The requester had to fill out a paper form then get several signatures on it for approval before accounts payable would print and send the check.  Simple, right?  Now imagine what happens if everyone is working from home or remotely and a requester can’t walk through the process or get physical signatures.  This could severely slow down the process.   How do you prevent this?

 First, understand all the steps of the process.  If the process is not already documented, map the process in detail, including all the steps (even the rework loops and steps that don’t add any value).  Process aficionados will no doubt be familiar with process mapping software like Microsoft Visio but I have created it below using pen and paper to illustrate how easy this is (and yes, I do know how bad my drawing  is).

A couple of quick notes about the process map: I have created a cross-functional process map, or “swim lanes,” to show the major players involved and the handoffs between them.  I have also annotated the manual workflow (the envelope icons) and where we might have metrics or policy issues (more on that later).

When you map the process you may be surprised at how many steps and people are actually involved.   Just going through this exercise can be beneficial because it teaches you a lot about what’s really happening.   The paper form needs 2 to 3 approvals, it travels 3 to 4 times through company mail (if everything goes right), and there are 4 opportunities for rework or for the form to get kicked back to the requester. 

Next, measure the process.  You may have existing metrics or identify where you would like to collect some data (annotated by the “M” on the map).  You may be interested in things such as the average number of check requests, the overall cycle time of the entire process, the number of times a request is rejected at each approval, and/or the quality of check requests (number of requests forms filled out correctly vs. what’s rejected by accounts payable).  Once you know how the process is performing you can set targets or goals once the process goes virtual.    

Third, look at your organization’s policies or industry regulations.  This will provide potential constraints or limitations on the new process design once you begin to build it.  On the process map above, I have highlighted some areas with the letter “P” to investigate further.  For example, is there a policy or regulation requiring a hand signature or would an e-signature suffice?  What are the thresholds (i.e. check amounts)  that require additional approval?  In other words, do I need this many people to approve a check??

A word of caution: don’t rush this discovery process.  The more you know about the process can save you lots of time when you build the new, improved version.  In Part 2 next week, I will cover how to take the next step by using what you learn to create the virtual process.

- Jason

Time Again for “Clean Out Your Inbox Week”

Here’s one to add to your New Year’s resolution list: keep your email inbox clean.   This week it’s time for the 5^th annual “Clean Out Your Inbox Week,” brought to you by email productivity expert Marsha Egan (you can check out Marsha’s blog and website here).

I did manage to clean up my inbox after last year’s event (at least I could still see all my emails on one screen without spraining my finger to scroll down the list).  However, it has somehow managed to mushroom once again into an unwieldy virtual mess.  For me, it’s a reminder of my overreliance on email.  In fact, for many teleworkers and virtual workers, email is the primary means of communication. 

Is there a better way?  Yes, say anti-email advocates.

 Back in November, French tech firm Atos announced a “zero email” policy with a goal of eliminating internal emails within 18 months.  (This is why a friend of mine told me that “American companies are good, but French companies are civilized”).  Thierry Breton, CEO of Atos, told an ABC reporter that his employees receive about 200 internal emails a day with only about 10% containing useful information.  Middle managers spend up to 25% of their time sifting through their inbox and searching for information.  What will employees do without email?  Atos is hoping that they will find more useful ways to communicate, like wikis and social media.  

Atos is not alone in the quest to eliminate email.    Wired.com just ran a story last week about Luis Suarez of IBM who began to leave email behind in 2008.  Although he checks his emails daily, it only takes 2 minutes.  Two minutes a day!  Suarez replaced email with social media as his primary means of communicating.  What would you do with all the extra time if you weren’t staring at your inbox?

 As you clean out your inbox this week, think about the variety of mediums at your disposal whether it is instant messaging, social media, or video and see how you can reduce your email reliance.

 Happy cleaning,

Jason

Help Prep Your Employees for Change with a C-TEST

In last week’s post I blogged about the sources of organizational resistance and some things you can do to overcome those barriers.  Continuing with the change management theme, managers and leaders can take several actions to help prepare their employees for change.  And when I mention “change,” I mean the kind of transformational change that tends to cause people anxiety.  You can use the simple mnemonic  C-TEST to help ensure you covering the basics when it comes to easing the anxiety your people may have when implementing something new.

Comfort:  We are all creatures of habit.  Once we get used to doing something in a certain way, even if it is slightly painful, it is often hard to adopt something new.  Our daily activities or processes quickly become our comfort zone.  When something is introduced that will disrupt our routine, we get uncomfortable and resist, even when we agree that the change is for our benefit.  Making sure everyone understands why the change is occurring is only half the battle for leaders.  Don’t get me wrong, leaders have to create awareness and understanding.  But, leaders also have to make employees feel comfortable with the change.  This can be done by letting employees experiment, giving them time to adjust, and rewarding the right behaviors.

Tools:  Employees may question whether or not they are capable to do what you are asking.  For example, if you implementing a telework program in which employees will be working from home, they might start asking about the equipment the organization is providing.   (True story:  a friend of mine worked for a large company that decided to reduce real estate costs by making employees work from home on a fulltime basis.  They made the announcement with minimal lead time via the company intranet.  My friend called me and asked, “Do you think I can take my ergonomically-correct chair home with me?  I don’t have a home office.”)  The moral of the story is that you need to consider all potential tools and equipment and what the organization will or will not provide.

Expectations:  Employees may also question how their role may change.  Ensure clear expectations are set for all employees.  Are their work hours fixed or flexible?   What turnaround time is expected?  What are their individual performance metrics by which you will measure them?  Make sure employees have clear line-of-sight to their responsibilities and priorities.

Skills:  Are your employees competent enough to succeed in the virtual workplace?  Conduct an assessment of their current strengths and weaknesses and what is required with the new work structure.   Think about the training, both formal and informal, and coaching you can provide to get people up to speed.

Teamwork:  Now that employees won’t always be face-to-face, are they able to effectively collaborate with one another?  This area usually takes the most time and some experimentation may be involved so people don’t automatically become “email lazy,” over relying on email is the primary and only means of communication.  Push people to interact in different ways from instant messaging to social media to desktop sharing applications to other cloud based apps.  It may be a little painful at first as you go through a trial and error period to find what works best, but you may end up with a communication process that is more effective and efficient than when your employees worked elbow to elbow.

- Jason

Overcome Organizational Resistance

I’ve written a lot in previous posts about organizational change.  Implementing alternative work plans or telework always involves changing behavior, attitudes, and opinions, and therefore, is very difficult.  Change management, stakeholder management, communication, and training all become necessary elements when implementing a new work structure.  The goal is to move up the change curve (see below) from simple awareness to commitment. 

While moving through these phases, you are bound to encounter some resistance.  To overcome resistance, it is necessary to understand why people are resisting.  According to Rick Maurer in his excellent book, Beyond the Wall of Resistance, there are 3 sources of resistance.  Depending on the source, there are various actions you can take as a leader.

1. “I don’t get it.”   This is intellectual resistance.   People don’t understand why the organization is implementing the change or what is required of them.  A communication plan that includes time for employees to provide feedback or questions and training can help  increase employee understanding.
2. “I don’t like it.”  This is an emotional response to the change.  Employees, or even leaders, may understand what the organization is trying to accomplish, but don’t buy-in.  Building and communicating the business case/value proposition, developing specific strategies to manage certain stakeholders, and piloting the program can result in a more favorable response.
3. “I don’t like you.”  This source is personal.  Employees may lack trust and confidence in their leaders (or vice versa).   Managers may think their employees will goof off all day if they are not directly supervised.  Alternatively, employees may think their managers will hold it against them if they work remotely or work from home.    Obviously, this is the most difficult hurdle to overcome and takes much more time than the others.  Leaders can lead by example to show their commitment and publicly reward or recognize others that are demonstrating the right behaviors.  Good performance metrics can also help by removing any subjectivity of how people are measured. 

Whatever measures you take when implementing telework, remember that resistance is normal and to be expected.

Good luck!

 - Jason

2012: Year of the Mobile Worker

It’s that time of year – time for predictions of what’s to come.  Assuming the Mayans are not correct and we will not lose our internet connection later this year, my prediction for 2012 is that we are going to talk more and more about mobility.  In fact, I actually believe we will start changing our terminology from telecommuting, telework and teleworkers to mobility, mobile work and mobile workers. 

Jack Niles first coined the term “telecommuting” in 1973 while at the University of Southern California.  That was long before the dawn of email, VoIP, instant messaging, desktop sharing applications, or telerpesence.  Consider that digital fax machines didn’t appear in offices until about 1976 (developed by Exxon of all companies!) .  Niles’s early research focused on workers at an insurance company using a satellite office and connecting to the head office mainframe using terminals (if you have memories of this, then you are obviously not part of Generation Y).  It’s interesting that over the years telecommuting has become synonymous with working from home.  That capability didn’t really exist when Niles first came up with the term. 

Since the 1990s, telework has become en vogue, replacing the term telecommute.   In Making Telework Work, I tried to define telework as the ability “to perform your job without the limits or boundaries of geography… or the need for physical presence.”  I thought of it as the umbrella term that would include telecommuting, working from home, remote office workers, etc.  Unfortunately, the term telework in many organizations has also become synonymous with employees working from home on a fulltime basis.  There are an estimated 20 -30 million teleworkers in the United States depending on which research study you read.  However, when we try to capture numbers around teleworkers, traditional workers that are working from home after hours or working while they are traveling are often left out of the equation.   And let’s face it, the term telework still has a lot of baggage associated with it.

As we kick off the new year, I encourage you to think about mobility.  Mobility may finally be the concept that gets us over the hurdle and beyond all the historical misperceptions of telecommuting and teleworking.   There are approximately 1 billion mobile workers worldwide and 1/3 of the workforce is expected to be mobile by 2013 according to IDC.  The issue of mobility is further amplified by the growing use of mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, in the workplace.  With smart phone adoption growing over 50% annually, there will be an influx of consumer devices whether or not they are supported by their local IT group. 

All of this is a good thing, I believe.  Organizational leaders and those advocating telework can continue to drive their telework agendas by thinking in  terms of mobility.  By developing a mobility strategy and creating a more mobile workforce they will by default create a work-anywhere environment, whether from a home office or remote location.

 - Jason

Teleworker Toolkit: The Basics of Change Management

Here’s a quote I have often heard: “Approximately 70% of change efforts fail or are derailed. Failure of an organizational change can lead to major issues that cause unmet expectations, wasted time and money.” 

 Although I can’t verify the source of the quote, experience tells me it is probably accurate.  Implementing telework is often hard for many large organizations.  Like any other large scale initiative, it requires changes in thinking and behavior.  To avoid becoming a prisoner to traditional practices, leaders must utilize basic change management.  Most current models of change management are based on the work of leadership guru and Harvard Business School professor, John Kotter.  I highly recommend Kotter’s  book, Leading Change.   The following eight steps are based on his book.

Step 1: Create a Sense of Urgency

The first 3 steps can help prepare leaders to initiate telework.  First, leaders have to begin to tackle organizational inertia (the way things have been done in the past) by creating the reasons why telework has to happen and why it has to happen now.   

Things to think about:

• Is the current economic situation forcing your organization to cut costs?
• Are you endanger of losing top talent or having difficulty recruiting new talent?
• How can telework or mobility tie into and enhance your organization’s strategy?
• For federal government agencies, how are you complying with the Telework Enhancement Act?

Don’t be too quick to go through the first step before moving into the others.  Make sure you build the right business case.

Step 2: Form a Powerful Coalition

Kotter says that 75% of a company’s management needs to “buy into” the change for the change effort to be successful.  You will need key leaders to provide visible support.   Identify key stakeholders and bring them on early (see my September post on Stakeholder Analysis to help you).  Keep in mind that your coalition of influential people may not be just the heads of the hierarchy.  Influence comes from a number of sources based on status, tenure, or expertise.

Things to think about:

• Who are the key stakeholders in your organization?
• Do they currently support or resist telework?
• What strategies can you employ to get emotional commitment from these stakeholders?

Step 3: Create a Vision for Change

Create a clear vision that can help everyone understand why the organization is implementing telework and what the end state should look like.  When people understand what the organization is trying to achieve, they are more likely to follow through with telework practices and policies. 

Things to think about:

• How do you expect people to behave differently once teleworking is adopted?  (Several US federal agencies have done a good job creating videos that show a “day in the life” of a teleworker, an example of their future state.  Check YouTube for more).
• What’s the strategy to execute the vision?
• Does your coalition (from Step 2 above) all agree on the vision?

Step 4: Communicate the Vision

The next 3 steps are for implementation.  Now that you’ve created the vision and have your stakeholders behind it, you need to communicate it to the organization. 

Things to think about:

• What different communication methods can you use? (i.e. email, intranet, blogs/wikis, video, road shows, in-person meetings, e-newsletters, online or live forums, etc.)
• How can be sure you are creating 2-way communication?  How can people voice their concerns and questions?
• Are leaders leading by example?  (This communicates a lot!)

Step 5: Remove Obstacles

As you begin to change the organization it is normal to face some level of resistance.  What are doing about it?  Continually look for barriers to change and remove any obstacles.

Things to think about:

• Are you updating the stakeholder analysis and identifying individuals or groups resisting change?
• Are recognizing and rewarding the right behaviors?
• Are metrics in place to highlight or measure correct/incorrect behavior?

Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins

Momentum for telework builds when you can show some early success.   To make new behaviors stick, you want to show some tangible results as quickly as possible.  You want to show how the change is working, and why the old ways won’t work. 

Things to think about:

• What are your short-term targets?
• Which parts of the organization are more receptive to telework and how are you targeting them early on?
• What metrics will be used to measure success?

Step 7: Build on the Change

According to John Kotter, many change projects fail because victory is declared too early.   Don’t make this mistake.  Make it stick. 

Things to think about:

• What additional things can be done to make telework stick?
• What evidence do you have that shows the organization truly supports telework?
• What is your process for identifying opportunities for continuous improvement?

Step 8: Embed the Change in Culture

Always remember that leaps into the future can slide back into the past.  Organizational culture is a very powerful force and takes a long time to truly change.  Constant effort is needed to make telework part of the culture so that eventually it is accepted as how people do their job versus a new, distinct initiative.

Things to think about:

• Are you communicating success stories?  (Storytelling is a powerful tool and can gain emotional commitment from employees).
• Is telework embedded into the recruiting, hiring, and onboarding processes?
• Do you have a plan to replace key stakeholders and get new ones on board?

Remember, change takes a lot of time, patience, and effort. 

Good luck!

-Jason

 

 

 

Help for Road Warriors: Finding Office Space When You Are On The Road

When people think about telework they often thing of workers based in a home office or remote location.  We tend to forget about the mobile workers, those that truly work from anywhere – from airports to hotels to a corner in Starbucks.  Road warriors, those mobile workers constantly on the go and zigzagging their way across the country, sometimes that coffeehouse bench is not good enough.  They need a real office, at least briefly.  Several websites have popped up to help frequent travelers (or even those that need to get out of their home office) find a temporary workspace. 

All of the sites are free to join, you pay based on the type of space you need and how long you need it (by the hour, day, week, or month).  Here’s a quick rundown of some available resources:

• LiquidSpace (www.liquidspace.com): This site is connected to available office space in a few dozen sites in the US and a few abroad.  Find everything from business centers to private meeting rooms to co-working sites.   Also has a nice mobile app for your phone.
• LooseCubes (www.loosecubes.com):  You can find a co-working space with LooseCubes or if you are a business with some space to share, lease out your vacant space to others needing a place to work.   The site shows pictures of the available spaces and the rates.  Search functionality lets narrow the list of locations based on your specific needs or availability (day, week month).
• OpenDesks (www.opendesks.com): Through this site you can find and book spaces to meet or work, as well as locate public spaces nearby (lobbies, cafes, etc.).   Similar to LooseCubes, you can share a space as well.  Global locations also shown.
• Regus (www.regus.com): According to their website, they are the largest provider of workspace solutions.  They operate in over 500 cities across 85 countries.  They also provide additional services such as Virtual Office and Virtual PA that provide dedicated business addresses, mail and call handling. 

Know of another similar site?  Let me know so I can add it to the list? 

See you on the road,

Jason

3 Simple Things My Home Office Can’t Live Without

They say the best things in life are often the simplest.  In my home office, where I spend the majority of my time, you’ll find simple tools and technology.  Not much cutting edge equipment here.  In fact, for years I got by with just my laptop and a cell phone.  Yes, technology enhances the teleworking experience and makes you more effective, but truth be told, I’m cheap.  I don’t like to spend money.  However, there are a couple of simple things I can’t live without.

 

1.  A second monitor.  Plugging an old, yet large, monitor into my laptop gives me dual screen capability so I can multitask or manage online training sessions easily.  For example, notes or slides to myself on one screen while sharing the other screen with online participants. 

  

2.  A good headset.  Since I’m on the phone a good portion of the day a headset is a necessity.  I use a Plantronics headset wired directly into my IP phone.  (The sound quality is better than my old Bluetooth headset).  I find the headset is also better than a speaker phone because it cuts out a lot of background noise (barking dogs, screaming kids, or my wife yelling at the barking dogs or screaming kids).  If you do a lot of online presenting then a good quality headset is a must.

  

3.  Powerline adapter.  If you have multiple computers at home and have trouble with your wireless network and need to be wired in, there’s no need to string Ethernet cable throughout your house.   Powerline adapters plug into your wall outlet and use the wiring in your home as if it were a Ethernet cable.  I have used a Linksys Powerline AV Bridge Kit PLK300 (about $100) for the past couple of years with no issues, the speed is great, and it took about 2 minutes to set up out of the box.

 What are the things in your home office you can’t live without?

 -Jason

Tips for Online Presentations

More and more presentations are delivered online versus in person.  Whether you attend a webcast, virtual meeting, or online training, you are probably attending or more likely, delivering, a presentation online.  In a blog a few months ago I offered some tips for virtual training sessions.  All of that applies to almost any online presentation, but here are a couple of additional tips to help you.  (Note: I’m assuming that you are not using video.  Although I usually recommend it, I’ve heard some people complain that it is sometimes distracting or they don’t have access to video during their online presentation.   In this case, let’s assume participants can only hear your voice and see the presentation).

1.  Know your audience.  I’ve made this mistake before.  Sixty minutes into a 90 minute presentation and I realize that the audience is much more experienced and wants much more detailed information than the simplified presentation I designed for novices.  Because you can’t see the expressions on their faces, you may not know if you are hitting the mark until it is too late.  Do your homework and know your audience – their experience level, the number of participants, and their needs.  Talk to some of the participants if you can beforehand.  This will help you design appropriate content.   
2. Maximum images, minimum text.  Most people are visual.  Use pictures or images to get your message across.  Keep the text to a bare minimum.  The rest you can keep in your speaker notes.  If you were standing in front of a group of people you could talk through lots of text, but online this is likely to bore people and cause them to lose focus.  This may cause you to create more slides, but that’s okay.
3. Keep pace but don’t race.  When speaking online, people have a tendency to rush through the content.  Dead airtime seems to scare presenters and they fill the void with more words.  Relax.  Take a breath.  Rehearse the presentation and know how much time it should take you to get through it.  Keep your eye on the clock and if you notice yourself getting way ahead, pause for a second and slow your pace.
4. Use gestures.  Why use gestures when no one can see your body language?  When you use a little body movement and hand gestures you will naturally change the inflection in your voice.  No one wants to be monotone (think Ben Stein’s character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).  Gestures will help raise your excitement level and that may wear off on your audience.
5. Boost Q&A.  Almost every presentation allows for some questions at the end.  Nothing is worse than allotting some time for discussion and all you hear is silence.  Some participants feel awkward asking questions when they don’t know or can’t see the other attendees.  Help get this going by preparing 4-5 questions of your own that you think participants would likely ask to help get the discussion going.  If you’ve done your homework from tip #1 this should be easy to do.

 Have a tip of your own?  Let me know.  Good luck presenting!

-Jason

Working From Home Making Your Employees More Exhausted? Not Really.

 

Yesterday, MSNBC online ran a story titled, “Telecommuting might be wrong answer for stressed out parents.”  The accompanying picture shows a woman working on her computer while holding a newborn in her arms while another child is in the background.  C’mon, is that really telework?  Unfortunately for many managers this is  the perception of what will happen to employees if they work from home.   

 

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve seen similar headlines such as “Working from home is exhausting” or “Working from home is harmful to some employees.”  Seriously?  In the immortal words of Flavor Flav, don’t believe the hype.  

 

The MSNBC story, as well as the other articles, cite a recent study conducted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute professor Timothy Golden  published in the Journal of Business and Psychology.  Golden surveyed 316 employees from a large computer company to understand  the use of computer technology to work from home and how people experience exhaustion.  According to Golden, the more work and family demands conflict, the more people suffer from exhaustion.  Sounds intuitive, right?  So, workers with high levels of work-family conflicts suffer higher exhaustion when they spend extensive time working from home, regardless if they work traditional or non-traditional work hours.  Employees with low work-life conflict suffer less exhaustion, which is further reduced by working from home.

 

My issue is that many of the recent headlines are slightly misleading. Let’s face it, working from home is not the main contributing factor the exhaustion of the surveyed employees.  Difficulty balancing work and personal commitments will make anyone stressed over time, regardless of where they work.

 

Here are a couple of tips that can help you or your employees:

 

1. Set boundaries.   As I mentioned in a previous post, teleworkers tend to work more hours than traditional office workers.  Great for productivity, but this may negatively impact your family life.  I often hear teleworkers complain that they have a hard time turning off.  Like a fly to the light, they are drawn to their computer.  Learn to put down your smart phone, laptop, or tablet.  Schedule daily off time if you have to.  Working from home provides great flexibility, just don’t try to juggle everything at once.
2. Prioritize.  Set some daily priorities – both work and personal.  What really needs to get done?  Become outcome oriented and don’t get bogged down by the other distractions that may pop up and try to grab your attention.
3. Communicate.  You can avoid the majority of the conflict on the home front by keeping the lines of communication open with your spouse, partner, kids, and/or roommates.  Make sure they know boundaries and priorities too. 
4. Create a real home office.  I’ve people that consider their dining room table their home office.  Sure, it works in a pinch but may not be a good idea in the long run.  A dedicated home office can help separate you from the distractions and also allow you to break away from work when you are off.

Drink more coffee,

-Jason