The vast majority of organizations (88%) have encouraged or required employees to work from home, according to a Gartner survey of 800 global HR professionals. In your opinion, what are the most effective ways to manage remote teams?
I will give my top 3:
- First of all, stay in contact even if the work does not necessarily require this. Depending on the teams needs schedule at least a weekly call to hear how everyone is doing on a personal level.
- Secondly, reconsider priorities and workload in an open dialogue. Not everyone will have the same situation when they work from home. Some have to combine it with homeschooling children, others worry about their parents and some may find it quite easy and are willing to take up more tasks.
- Finally, make sure tools are available for remote working and communicate clearly and centrally to avoid misinterpretation by local managers. Make sure your policy is constantly aligned with national policy and make sure questions can be addressed properly by employees. E.g. work together with your works council for voicing employee concerns.
Q Has your company switched to working remotely? What methods and tools have you applied to keep the efficiency of your employees on the same level?
Yes, we did and we already had all the tools in place to work remotely. But not for every employee this is possible and some roles are more vital than others. It is an illusion that you can keep up the efficiency levels and it is not realistic. Therefore it is necessary to re-focus your strengths. Some processes may be more vital than others. Make sure as a company that you have a medium-term plan of how to keep your business vital and use the talents of your employees accordingly. Start making plans on how to organize this. It will create a quick learning curve on how to use your peoples’ talents more nimbly.
What are the positive aspects of going remote (self-isolated)? Does this mean more time for self-development and family?
Yes and no. It does help to be more effective as most people do have to multitask with taking care of the family. You simply have to make choices. But some people will experience the rollercoaster of the change curve as frustrations will rise on the impossibilities of what you want to achieve. There will be ups and downs and family dynamics will be under a looking glass. Once a new structure is found and you accept the situation, but more importantly, if you do not feel pressured by your manager or team, then you will be able to contribute in a healthy and sensible way. And yes, you will have grown as a person as well.
Q How do you think, what is the most effective way to remain productive while working from home?
Take care of your energy levels in your own way. Take breaks on time. Eat healthily, keep exercising in any way you can and suit you and most of all, be mild to yourself and your loved ones. Don’t stop dreaming and keep doing things you love as well. Take off the pressure and use common sense.
Q What books to read and movies to watch would you recommend to stay inspired?
This is very personal, but I would not recommend to read or watch serious topics as things are serious enough outside already. Avoid fake news and watch the light stuff you enjoy. The Netflix series ‘Sex Education’ is a fun distraction.
About the Interviewee: Nathalie Hazenberg, Organizational Agility, ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
Nathalie is responsible for changing HR processes at ABN AMRO Bank N.V., organizational structure and mindset that enable organizational agility. Her profession for her is a way to make a positive change. She likes to challenge and support people in organizations to make the change that is needed. Not only for the company but for society as a whole or for the people she interacts with. By combining her professional skills with intuition, openness and charming disruptiveness, but most of all by walking her talk, she trusts herself in bringing what it takes to be a catalyst of change.
Meet her at HR Vision Europe, at our upcoming flagship, two-day event with 3 streams running in parallel, enabling deep dive conversations focused on the future of work, digitization, leadership, L&D, culture and employee experience, D&I, future talent acquisition strategies, and more!
