A recent Bloomberg article pointed out that the pandemic workday is 48 minutes longer and full of more meetings as compared to pre-pandemic workdays.
If this is the case in your business, it may be time to check on your employees and make some changes.
A few things to consider changing:
Number of meetings.
Are unnecessary meetings being created throughout the day?
There is certainly a balance needed now if your employees are still working from home. You no longer have the ability to walk by someone’s desk to ask a quick question or to see work being done. It may be necessary to have more meetings, but are there any that are taking too much of your employees’ time? Can they be emails or quick messages instead of meetings?
Take inventory of the meetings happening each day and poll your employees to find those that can be cancelled, consolidated, or replaced with other means of communication.
Hours.
Are your employees working longer hours, or are they simply adapting their workday to their personal schedule?
Working from home may lead to employees taking longer or more frequent breaks. Maybe they’re taking care of children, running errands, or getting some things done around the house in between tasks and meetings. As long as this schedule does not cut into their productivity, give them the flexibility to do this.
However, if employees truly are working more hours each day, talk with them to see what has changed. Are they feeling less productive or motivated at home? Do they have more on their plates? Is there anyone else on the team who can help alleviate some of this work?
Expectations.
Have you communicated your expectations of your employees as they work from home? Have you communicated these expectations clearly?
It goes without saying that a lot of things have changed in the professional world. If your employee expectations have not changed, it’s time to have this conversation with them.
Ensure every employee knows what is expected of them in terms of hours, productivity, workload, and communication.
At the end of the day, communicating with your employees can help solve plenty of issues you may be having while working from home. Know what they’re struggling with, find opportunities to make positive changes, and close the loop so everyone is on the same page.