“Working from Home” is not “Homeworking” !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disappointing for the individual, and for businesses quite worrying are the rules governing the next few weeks. The majority of people were hoping for a greater easing of the lock down and for many the ability to return to the workplace. Not to be.

Right now and for the foreseeable future ( until the end of the “intermediate” or phase 2  or the point where a vaccine has been produced and is widely deployed and used), most businesses are reliant on their colleagues working from home. This is simply not sustainable over the short to medium term at any level of real productivity.

Put simply, “working from home” is not “homeworking”. The former is an expedient and short term (days or weeks) solution as a result of the inability for the individual to access the workplace. The latter is a purposeful extension of the workplace (“homeworking” space segment) with all the facilities necessary for the homeworking individual to operate productively.

All organisations will have to consider what is necessary to enable the move from working from home to“homeworking”, and facilitate the individuals transition both infrastructurally and behaviourally. Long term, or permanent, working from home is not a viable solution. True “homeworking”  will require:

  1. Investment in a home environment with all the facilities necessary to function (chair, desk etc)
  2. IT infrastructure and secure connectivity, including access to specific secure applications
  3. Welfare systems to ensure the well-being of staff and compliance with the company’s duty of care and legislative/compliance obligations
  4. A system of measurement to assess and manage productivity of remote teams and the individual

“Homeworking” is here to stay. The forced working from home has been challenging for all, but enlightening for many who now feel comfortable in moving to the permanency of “homeworking”. Exploiting this feeling offers business an opportunity to increase the “homeworking” space segment and reduce owned space.

Stop and Think! has the thinking, techniques, tools and systems to aid you in preparing for and managing the working environment in the interim phase and beyond.