Transitioning to Remote Work (RW): Managing the people side...
Ikponmwosa Anthony Ihaza, CBAP
Senior Business Analyst| Change Practitioner| Project Manager
Remote work conversations have been on for quite a while now and traditional organizations have been trying out the concept mostly necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is increasingly becoming evident that this will likely be a new normal. With the economy still struggling to pick up, we realize that most companies are planning to transition to RW without necessarily wanting to take on additional cost. The question for many companies is: how do we support our people through this transition?
I will attempt to approach this question from a change management perspective using the ADKAR model.
Awareness: As leaders, we must create the right awareness of the need for change. We must strive to understand and answer the following questions: Why do we want to transition to remote work? What will change & why? How will the change impact our business & people?
Desire: We need to leverage the work done in creating the right awareness to stir a desire in our people to be willing to support the change effort. Questions we must seek to answer include; How will working remotely benefit our people & our business? Why should we keep an open mind & be willing to try? etc.
Knowledge: As leaders we must be deliberate with equipping our people with the right knowledge of how to change. We may need to organize customized training targeted at helping our people through the mental/psychological shift required, helping managers adjust to provide the needed support to their teams.
Ability: There is a general saying that with knowledge comes ability. However, this is not necessarily the case with Remote Work. The knowledge of how to execute work remotely is not enough.When we eventually try out our remote work arrangements, we must trust our colleagues to come through, while providing the required tools & support they require to help them through the process.
Reinforcement: Now that we have tried out our remote work arrangements, we must celebrate our small wins, continue to take our learning, refine the process, institute new cultures, new metrics, best practice etc. in order to sustain the change.
I would like your opinions on how best we can help our organisations transition to remote work arrangements.
Data Analyst @ Africa Live Play 360 Limited | Complete SQL Mastery
4yAnthony Ihaza, CBAP well said. Wonderful model but it's success will largely depend on the transparency ,trust, honest communication and change capacity of leadership in any organization.
Product Management | Innovation
4y"Work is what you do, not where you go"
Senior Business Analyst | Scrum Master | Strategist | Master of Business Administration
4yWell said Anthony Ihaza, CBAP , while successful remote work implementation is dependent on organizational maturity, mutual trust as well as a sense of responsibility between employees and their leaders is a key component that cannot be over emphasized.
Online Business Consultant ~ helping everyday people diversify into digital entrepreneurial side-gigs.
4yInterestingly read Ihaza! I had projected this proliferation of remote jobs for sometime in 2025. The pandemic simply catalyzed the inevitable and just like everything in life, the more we do it, the better we will become...
Excellent Service Advocate
4yI agree with you Anthony Ihaza, CBAP. There must be a fundamental shift in the mindset to survive in the new environment.