Future work is already here
Work And Study / / December 25, 2019
We suggest you read the story of Kim Sean (Sean Kim), the well-known entrepreneur and blogger, who is confident that the future work has already come, and companies that will be the first to take advantage of the new benefits will become leaders of the world market.
Today a great day, and I'm writing this post in a cafe Dineen in Toronto.
At the same time I write a SMS to his counterpart in New York, going to get in touch by Skype with our community manager in the Netherlands, and send e-mail to our development team in Paris.
Someone might think that such a way of managing a growing company is inefficient and largely disorganize staff. But for us this is the future of work.
In the 21st century, many well-known companies, including Virgin, 37signals and IBM, have built a successful business in many ways because that provides its employees with complete freedom: they can work where they want, when they want and as they want.
That's how they got it.
Do not waste time on unnecessary
Flexible schedule. You can work where the employee will be convenient. An opportunity not to waste time on the way to the office.
All this leads to the fact that less time is wasted, increasing employee productivity and, of course, they feel happy.
Many believe that the remote operation has many disadvantages, for example the employer will be difficult to measure the number of hours that an employee spends on his work. But they forget one important thing: if the employee works in the office, it does not mean that all eight hours, he spends only on work.
Office workers are constantly distracted, or they get distracted yourself, about every three minutes.
The Wall Street Journal
If a person is distracted, he will need a lot of time to once again focus on the original task.
Give people a chance to work wherever they want. Redefine working day traditional paradigm from nine to five. Trust your employees, show that you respect them, and then their results will pleasantly surprise you.
Hire talent
We hear it again and again, always try to hire professionals in the business.
Those who do not shy away from telecommuting, have significant advantages. For every candidate who is willing to work in your office, there are hundreds of others around the world who are able to do the job much better. And this, by the way, will cost you less. Why deprive the business of one of the most important components of success - talented employees?
It is inevitable - more and more qualified professionals moving and will move to a remote job. And companies that are willing to adjust to such talents have now become the future leaders of the market.
Remote working: today it is easier than ever
The good news is that today, with the possibilities of the great and mighty of the Internet, with hundreds of his instruments, there is nothing easier than to coordinate the work of its employees worldwide.
So, here's how you can optimize remote operation.
1. Stay focused on results
Results-oriented - is the first and most important step. At the end of the day what we have achieved in a day, it is the most important indicator of our work. If I think about the results that are going to achieve, I pay more attention to the task.
Too often in today's workflow, we can observe a similar picture:
- A man needed five hours to complete the project, while Person B will take 30 minutes to do the same.
- A man comes into the office before anyone else and the last to leave. Person B can leave the office much earlier than people A. However, person A is awarded for "infernal work" and dedication, though the person B has reached the same results, and maybe even better.
In systems like ROWE (Results Only Work Environment - an approach to working time, in which the main thing - this is your result, and not how much time you spent at work) have the opportunity to work on weekends days. This is the most striking example of an employee when work is assessed according to its results rather than the number of hours that he spent in the office. Such was implemented in companies such as Best Buy and Gap.
2. Put SMART-goals
Now, when we decided that we needed to be result-oriented, the next step you need to put the right goals.
S (Specific) - your goals should be specific and clear. On certain dates, percentages, amounts of money.
M (Measurable) - your goals should be measurable. What will be measured by your results? Lay the qualitative and quantitative indicators.
A (Attainable, achievable) - your goals should be achievable. You should be able to reach them in a given situation. Be prepared for the fact that sometimes the goals will have to be adjusted.
R (Relevant) - your goals should be realistic and relevant. It is necessary to identify all the resources (human, financial, and so on. D.) That you will need. You should also make sure that the goals are not contradictory.
T (Timeline) - your goals should be limited in time. It must be clearly set a date by which you will reach your goals. Since goals are often several time frames to help prioritize between them.
If you are a programmer, you can, for example, set a goal: by the end of next week to roll out a new feature on the site. If you are a sales manager, then set a goal to ring up to 50 people a day to be sure the end of the month to execute the plan. These goals are abstract examples, so I encourage you to set your own goals, because you know yourself and your opportunities as anyone else.
There is nothing better than to wake up in the morning and know that you have a clear goal for the day, week or even month.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate
I can not express how important this is.
Less remote work that becomes available to us non-verbal communication: facial expressions, tone of voice, eye contact.
That's why I use HipChat instant messaging. It allows me to be natural and to communicate with its employees in a less formal manner.
Plus online-correspondence is that it teaches you to express your thoughts clearly and concisely.
4. Create a project management system
This will allow each employee to see what other team members are busy.
Sometimes we are so immersed in the task ahead of us, which completely forget about our colleagues who might need our help.
For this purpose, I use Privotal TrackerBut there are other equally effective services, for example Basecamp, Asana and Trello. It helps me to understand which projects are a priority for the company, as well as the system allows I assign tasks to employees in full confidence that the load will be distributed between all evenly.
5. Regularly ask for feedback
Head and employees of the company should strive to achieve common goals. You should always be sure that your co-workers share the values of the company that you are working in the same direction.
Ask for feedback, for example, every two weeks or once a month. Such a system will enable your employees to constantly improve, they will see their successes and ignore your progress, which ultimately will lead to significant benefits for the company.
If possible, avoid the reports by e-mail and try to take feedback on the video chat. This allows you to compensate for the lack of non-verbal communication, the importance of which we have spoken above.
In order to build a successful business, you need talented employees. In our time, it is possible - to create a team which will be members worldwide.
Future work is already here - use the benefits that it has brought with him.