This is a great question. Communication is vital in any facet but especially when you have time constraints and deliverables that need to be adhered to. The project manager must solidify the different modes of communication and even confirm a way to flag communication if it needs immediate attention. The most efficient way to communicate is through office communicators. Usually most people receive the alert and can respond immediately. If there is a non-urgent request, email may be sufficient. There is certainly value and convenience in being able to work from home but I agree that communication is sometimes easier when in a face-to-face setting.
I find working from home can be very rewarding and successful. You have to project mange your own schedule. I like that it is much easier to get my personal things done while working from home. I am able to start dinner at any time of the day in between my scheduled appointments, meetings and quiet work. I am able to wash a load of clothes as well get in a decent 30 min workout. I save time not having to worry about a my full appearance, I save time not having to commute, I don't have miscellaneous conversations with coworkers that just kill time on the clock. I do work later in the evening than i normally would to complete work that I need to wrap up and create my schedule for the next day. However, this done during my quiet time with a glass of wine and I end up enjoying my job better overall.
The lines do get blurred and sometimes I could see myself getting outside of the normal parameters of an in-office workday. I would create a schedule of tasks and set reminders to complete tasks according to the time schedule I created. I believe planning would be key to keeping somewhat of a normal workday. The advantages, such as being able to get in a good 30 minute workout at home during the day, not having to commute in traffic and saving on the cost of gas, would make the changes necessary to stay on task worth it.
My job is completely remote, however, I have worked in an office doing the same job, I find that when you are at home and have to ask a question of a co-worker when using Microsoft Teams when your contacts have a red dot with a line that means, do not disturb very busy, in a virtual world that is like going to someone's office and the door is close with a do not disturb sign on it. However, when you work in an office and that person has to come out of the office you have a better chance of their availability than waiting for them to answer you via Teams or email in the virtual work world. Sometimes it seems you are isolated.
During the Pandemic, I was not granted the opportunity to work from home. However, I recently was diagnosed with Covid, and working from home had a double-edged sword. I completed a great deal of documentation without interruptions, but I missed the interactions simultaneously. Working from home is not for me but having the opportunity to do so was ideal.
Maintaining work-life boundaries can be difficult but it helps to time block your schedule to avoid meetings outside your comfort zone and force you to ensure you get a proper lunch break. Personally, I like working from home as I get to sleep in which ensures I am more awake and comfortable when I am working. Although it is nice to walk over to a colleague, I have learned to utilize chats much more frequently to get quick answers to questions (and doesn't even require that I walk over either 🙂
The difference in communication when working from home.
I believe most individuals would agree that effective communication between the project manager and the project team is of paramount importance. Before the pandemic, being able to work from home was a bit of a pipe dream, and I often wondered if I would have the discipline that it would take to be still productive. I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of the transition and that a location change did not hurt my productivity when the world shifted into lock-down mode.
When our team could no longer drop by each other’s offices to converse and collaborate, we needed to transition to other forms of communication. In addition to incorporating ZOOM meetings into everyday activities, we relied upon emails, texts, and even direct phone calls when necessary.
Additionally, one of the other forms of communication that developed because of working from home was the incorporation of the Microsoft team’s application. Before the pandemic, we rarely, if ever, used the team’s app; however, during the lockdown and even after we returned to the office, Microsoft teams allowed us to communicate in a manner that was more efficient than emails and other forms of communication, in that responses can either happen in real-time or when a team member became available. The Microsoft team’s app was a bit of a game-changer, and as a result, we set up multiple teams so that we could easily communicate with different groups as needed.
Please share what tool or method your teams developed to enhance communication while working remotely?
Remote employees are working longer, spending time in more meetings, and having to keep up with more communication channels. Instant messaging platforms are best for short messages that need a fairly immediate response. Email is usually better for longer messages or something with multiple attachments, and for when you can wait on an answer. However, video calls are ideal for face-to-face interactions or even large meetings. Clear communication is vital and it sticks to the facts. Furthermore, frequent communication is, avoid most important however there is a fine line between going too far and micromanaging. Employees need to feel confident that they believe they’re working as hard as they would in a regular office, including keeping similar hours and maintaining productivity even if they are invisible. Unnecessarily checking in several times, a day with remote employees just to see how things are going, those workers may feel like you don’t trust them.
Although remote work offers employees greater flexibility, it also makes disconnecting extremely difficult, project managers need to make work-life boundary management a regular conversation. Set clear priorities so employees can plan their lives around them.
Project managers need to monitor the number of hours that their employees are logging and make it a priority to encourage time off and assist in balancing employee workloads. Having a weekly meeting to prioritize workloads, reassign projects, or move project end-dates will create a better work environment and a culture that encourages employees to power down nightly and during the weekend. What are some ways you maintain a work-life balance?
Working from home has many benefits and downfalls. I feel like working from home is kind of like having virtual classes. At first, it was fun, not having to show up to class, having more time to spend time with your family, and if you had a job you can pick up more hours. After a while, you miss being around your friends and professors. You start to lose motivation to do your work. Therefore, I feel like people should have a choice to either work from home or not.
Working from home has many benefits and downfalls. I feel like working from home is kind of like having virtual classes. At first, it was fun, not having to show up to class, having more time to spend time with your family, and if you had a job you can pick up more hours. After a while, you miss being around your friends and professors. You start to lose motivation to do your work. Therefore, I feel like people should have a choice to either work from home or not.
I agree with @crysv1226msm2022. I feel like people should have a choice to either work from home or not. Some people have kids and working from home is cheaper than having to pay for daycare. Everyone's situations are different so it should be their choice.
One way as a project manager that I would try to ensure work-life balance would be by putting a stop/ensuring that the work day is over at a certain time and to ensure no contact with the team unless it is an emergency. But to ensure work flow during the hours we would need to ensure that there are daily/weekly tasks allocated to each member and they are to complete these tasks before their work day/week is over. I would make sure to respect their time by ending when the day is over but I would need to ensure that they respect mine by completing their tasks.
As for whether I prefer working from home or the office, I prefer a middle ground between the two. I’ve heard of some workplaces offering to have in person work during 2-3 days a week and the rest can be done from home. I feel like this equilibrium would be beneficial because there is a better chance to speak to someone in person during the on days and there can still be the benefits of working from home the other days.
As a project manager, I think that it would be best to frequently speak with the team to receive updates and progress that has been done in order to complete a task. As project manager, it is crucial that you keep employees on task and also help with any problems that they run into. If coworkers are working from home, I would schedule daily zoom meetings at the beginning and end of every day. A meeting in the morning so I know each person's goal for the day and another meeting in the evening so I can see what they have accomplished or to see where they may have run into issues. This will keep everybody on track and doing what they are supposed to be doing. In doing this, this will make sure that employees will not have to work past regular hours because they slacked off during the day. This should keep them working within normal business hours and is better for their personal life. Personally, I prefer working from home mainly because of the commute. For one job, I had to commute one hour every day to and from work. With traffic, the commute can go up to two hours. This takes time away from my personal life and it also makes a stressful day that much more stressful. Another reason why I prefer working from home is that it helps me eat healthier since I would usually eat fast food when I am at the office. Although there are benefits to working from home, it is easier to communicate when everybody is in the office, but I think that frequent calls can make it just as easy from home.
During the pandemic, I was one of the employees at my company that had to continue working at the office. Yet sometimes this would cause issues because other parts of the company could work from home and it was difficult to reach them since my department started work an hour earlier than everyone else. I would say communication was a big issue since not everyone was required on site. Most of the issues was if our managers had to contact project management and they were unavailable due to a meeting or just not being available. If I could have worked from home, I think I wouldn't have minded it but I feel like most jobs within the field need to be in person or at least hybrid if you are working in a lab or in product development. I think there is a better work-life balance when you are able to work from home since there is no commuting but I feel like there is also more potential to work past your shift because there is no differentiation between home and work.
A healthy work-life balance is key to ensuring that good work is being completed. Overworked and tired employees are more likely to make errors than those that are well-rested. Therefore, management should play a big role in making sure that other employees are not overworking themselves. As a project manager, I would strive to accommodate the schedules of my team members as best as possible to ensure that they are given their available days off when needed. In addition, I would show them that I also need a break sometimes by not attempting to contact them outside of regular work hours, respecting their time off, etc. I’m a PhD student, and last semester, I was overwhelmed with work and couldn’t understand my data. My PI let me know that it was okay if I needed to take a break for a couple of days to rest my mind and start fresh. I took the break, and as soon as I got back to analyzing the data, everything clicked. Although I knew before that taking the appropriate time off is essential for completing good work, this event made me feel less harsh on myself when I do decide to take a break. Therefore, it is super important for management to emphasize a healthy work-life balance.
In regard to online vs. in-person work, I think I work more efficiently in-person. When at the office, I am able to communicate with my coworkers more clearly, and I have no distractions. However, as you mentioned, remote work eliminates commuting, which gives me more time to complete everything I need to do. If I had to choose between the two, however, I would choose in-person work. To those who were working in industry when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, how was the transfer from completely in-person to completely remote work?
