Shifting to remote work, the right way, to combat COVID-19

In my last column, I wrote that it wasn’t a question of if the coronavirus would have a negative impact on Jamaica. It was about how long and how severe the human, social, and economic toll would be, and that while it was virtually impossible to predict the precise global impact of and likely end to the COVID-19 outbreak, small businesses should plan for the worst-case scenarios.

It was an ominous warning but one I had hoped entrepreneurs and small business owners would take seriously in planning for worst-case scenarios for COVID-19.

Unfortunately, some of those worst-case scenarios have already materialised, such as the declaration of the virus as a pandemic by the World Health Organization; at least eight confirmed cases in Jamaica; shortages of cleaning and sanitising supplies; and the shutdown of schools and public events in the short term, among others.

The country is in crisis-mitigation mode, with public health and safety being the foremost priority. One way businesses can support this national priority and safeguard the health and welfare of their staff, customers, and the general public is by implementing remote work where possible.

While working remotely may not be possible for some businesses, there are tens of thousands of workers who can and should be working remotely.

In the past week, I’ve received several social-media messages, emails, and even calls from business owners asking about how to implement remote work practically. Some employers are genuinely clueless about where to start, some are apprehensive, and others have already said they’ve noticed a fall in productivity since the implementation of remote work.

Haphazard implementation

The problem many companies will now face is that like any new measure, policy, or procedure, hurried and haphazard implementation will be problematic. I would, therefore, caution business owners and leaders to recognise that one of the best practices in remote work is the creation of a comprehensive framework.

Therefore, where they have not taken the time and hired the expertise to develop such a framework, there are likely to be significant hurdles with remote work that have more to do with impulsive, incomplete planning, and preparations than work from home itself. Simply saying to staff, “We’re implementing work from home now. Please login, do work, and send/respond to emails” is woefully inadequate. In reality, it’s a set-up for failure.

An effective framework for remote work requires complete mapping and documentation of all organisational processes – both internally and from the ‘external’ customer-experience perspective. Once this mapping is complete, the organisation should analyse and streamline processes for maximum efficiency and customer-service excellence.

The next step is to identify the processes that can be executed remotely and the skills and talents required to do so. Importantly, customer channels will always be the key consideration since creating satisfied customers who have good experiences that keep them loyal or deepen ‘customer stickiness’ remains the driving force for almost every enterprise.

REMOTE-WORK FRAMEWORK

Only after these steps have been completed will an organisation be ready to develop a remote-work framework, which would then need to be pilot-tested, tweaked, or updated and then rolled out for full execution.

The framework should include a policy, remote-work procedures, virtual tool kits or guidelines, applications, tools, network and data security, relevant employee declarations, reporting protocols, leadership and staff training and sensitisation, and budgetary considerations, among others.

In fact, companies seasoned in the practice of remote work actually ship or provide their staff with the necessary equipment to facilitate employee success in working from home such as laptops or desktops with the requisite software and security already installed and Wi-Fi modems, etc, to support connectivity. They also include allowances, where needed, for mobile and data connectivity. This is a key reason budgetary considerations and anticipated ROI – return on investment – are usually included in remote-work frameworks, particularly for companies transitioning from traditional workplace to virtual workspace.

While there is an urgent need for companies to implement work-from-home or remote-work options for staff at this time, it is important for business leaders and managers to accept that the onus is, and has been, on them to properly plan for these arrangements and ensure that their staff are fully prepared and equipped to perform their duties.

For those businesses that had been preparing from January for the likely spread of COVID-19 and had already updated their business continuity plans and remote-work framework, it will be a matter of executing a plan in difficult times and closely monitoring and revising as developments unfold. For the companies that are unprepared, the likely outcome may be very different and far more challenging.

One love!

n Yaneek Page is the programme lead for Market Entry USA, a certified trainer in entrepreneurship, and creator and executive producer of ‘The Innovators’ and ‘Let’s Make Peace TV’ series. yaneek.page@gmail.com.