Robert Hardt - President and CEO, Siemens Canada
New mobile technologies and a shift in corporate culture are allowing more companies, including Siemens Canada, to offer employees flexible and remote work arrangements, thereby reducing costs while increasing employee engagement and overall productivity. Here are some factors to consider:
Culture
Telecommuting works best in companies where a culture of collaboration and an established sense of trust exist between management and employees. In this new era of remote working, productivity is directly linked to employee output and quality of work, regardless of where and when that work is done.
Successful implementation and maintenance of telecommuting requires well-executed change management, communication and training to ensure employees at all levels understand their roles and responsibilities.
IT infrastructure
To successfully implement remote working, employees must be connected anywhere, any time. This demands comprehensive, reliable and secure IT networks, document management systems and systems infrastructure to support such an environment.
Workplace environment
A telecommuting workforce requires less physical office space, but most companies still require or desire a home base for employees. An open office requires change management and policy creation as employees adapt to the new environment. In addition, managers need to be trained to ensure they understand how to manage a remote workforce.
Sat Pandher - Engineering consultant, co-owner of Nectar Yoga B&B Bowen Island
The first thing you should try to understand is your motivation for working remotely. Is it just to get away from an annoying or aggressive co-worker? Is it so that you can lounge around in your pyjamas all day? Although these are potential benefits of working remotely they certainly shouldn’t be your primary intention or reason. On the other hand, things like fewer distractions from co-workers, having more of a work-life balance, reducing your carbon footprint by not having to commute and greater flexibility with your time tend to be more productive reasons.
An often-overlooked aspect of working remotely is making sure you have a defined workspace at home. Thinking that using your dining table as a home office is going to be sufficient is not realistic and can make it difficult to “turn the lights off” at the end of the work day. This can be a challenge for many of us who live in small or shared spaces, and it needs to be considered by both yourself and your company.
Lastly, you might be in a situation where your company is apprehensive about the idea. In that case it is important to clearly explain your intention for wanting to work remotely and to let your company know that you see it as a benefit or perk and not a right. Test it out and see how it goes. I think that both you and your employer will see that there is a real reason why working remotely is catching on.
Tara Chauvin - Marketing manager, Rtown
As an employee, take a look back at your most recent week at work. Ask yourself, “Is my commute taking away from my hours of productivity within the business? Am I distracted in an office setting and would I work more effectively from home? How could I continue to be a valued member of the team without face time with my colleagues each day?”
These are the fundamental questions to ask before you consider remote working. You are uncovering ways to maximize your time spent on the job, removing the distractions that occur within the everyday workplace and seeking to stay true to the company culture.
Is your company on board with remote working? Great. You will now spend less time commuting and more time executing. Consider the 45 minutes you might spend in traffic or on the bus. Fuel that energy into mapping out a productive day on your own schedule. What company would say no to that?
Once you’ve made the decision to remote work, it’s time to think logistics. To be a successful remote worker you need to build a routine. Start your day as though you were going to a real workplace: take a shower, swap the pyjamas for presentable attire, have a healthy breakfast. Next, set definitive working hours based on your maximum time for productivity.
After a few weeks of getting into this rhythm you can gauge if remote working is right for you and your employer.
