The Virtual Whisperer — Working from Home Since 1992
I’ve been working virtually since 1992. The Outsell team has been working virtually since 1997, when our company began.
I’ve worked from home in four different capacities:
Rank-and-file telecommuter (that’s what we were called back when it was mostly telephone!)
Remote executive at a company based in Minnesota
Independent consultant
“Extreme virtual” CEO of my own company that today is all-virtual and serving clients globally
This morning, the Outsell team joined me for one of our Coffee Hours via Zoom Video, an informal gathering we have on occasion to get together and chat. In checking in to see how everyone was doing, we decided to share what’s worked over the years, what hasn’t, what pitfalls to avoid, and what opportunities there are to make this type of work, work.
You could say we’re experts at this — and we are happy to share. Just call us the “virtual whisperers.”
Here are some basics to get started:
· Equip everyone equally. It’s been a struggle for some companies to get everyone equipped. Now that most individuals are home with laptops or desktops, video via WebEx or Zoom, and some type of collaboration platform like Slack, Sharepoint, or Salesforce Chatter, make sure everyone has the same basic tools. Yes, the data scientists and graphic designers might need more powerful machines, but make sure the basics are on everyone’s desks.
· Find a place to call “the office.” Encourage yourself to go to the same spot every day that you designate as the place you’ll work. Some of you already have home offices, but some do not — so make one. Whether it’s the dining room table, a small desk in a second bedroom, or the sofa in your studio apartment, do your best to establish a base. It will keep your work from spilling into your home and give you a mental mechanism to separate your business life from your home life.
· Get dressed. I write about this in my book Magic in the Mundane. You will be on video, so you’ll feel better if you get up in the morning, shower, dress for work, and get yourself put together. Shave if you shave, put makeup on if you wear makeup. But keep yourself dressed and “ready for game day.”
· Set routines. Start work, take a break, have lunch, take a walk, leave for dinner on the same rhythms every day. It’ll create some calm in all this uncertainly and also keep the work from bleeding into your home life. If you’re an executive, give guidelines to the team about when to respond and when not. If you are an individual contributor, manager, or supervisor, be clear on the expectations. This is good practice in a screen-driven world anyway but especially so at a time when it’s harder to “leave work” and “go home.” Don’t work all day and all night.
· Don’t do the laundry. Speaking of routines: keep routines for when you cook and when you clean and when you come out of your work routine. If you want to fold clothes during a one-hour break each Tuesday, great — stand up from the desk, lean back, and do something else. But don’t try to blend everything together as it’ll create distractions and stress.
· Clarify roles. If you are thrust home with your husband and four kids — I’ve been working with my husband, mostly at home, for most of my career — then you have some extra coordinating to do. If you’re both working, be clear on who is watching the kids and who is working — take turns. If you are the boss of single parents with school-aged kids, given them the ability to work on and off every other hour or every two hours. Let it be OK to not have to stress over knocks on the door, interruptions, dogs barking, and dealing with the inevitable meltdowns.
· Set parameters. If one of you is now working at home with a stay-at-home spouse or partner then set parameters for the routine — it takes some discipline, but it’s worth it. When can you be interrupted? For what reason?
· Let the kids contribute. Kids are amazing at rising to any occasion. Let the five-year-old set the table and ask for help when mom and dad (or mom and mom) are working and can’t be interrupted. Let the 13-year-old look up recipes and cook dinner. Let all the kids help with folding clothes. Older ones can help watch younger ones. Who’s walking the dog? Everyone has a role. We’re in it together, so insist that everyone step up.
· Communicate. At a time like this, stay in touch with one another. Figure out what’s working and what needs adjusting. Have a nightly debriefing and adjust until new routines come together. At home we used to call it a “family meeting.” At work, it can be managers debriefing about what’s working and not or asking a subset of team members to be an organic team and represent what the rank and file need.
· Get input and adjust. Agility is the operative word these days. Remember that people who are new to this and home alone or home with kids need some special attention. Set up a buddy system if necessary, and check in on people. And if you get lonely, raise your hand, and go visit someone digitally. That’s what Slack and Zoom are for.
· Exercise. Many of us with service jobs can take them home and work at computers, but we need to remember that we’re not just talking heads and keep our bodies moving during breaks and exercise routines. Do what you can as best as you can, but whatever you do, don’t sit at a desk all day. Visit a park. Walk.
· Volunteer. Remember that many people right now have been thrust out of jobs and need help. If you can afford it, pay the hairdresser for the monthly appointment you’d have gone to if you could. Donate to local food banks. Do what you can.
Up next: Running virtual meetings, email etiquette, clarifying roles and responsibilities, time management and accountability, and so much more…