TuesdayMay 10 at 8:07pm
Manage Discussion Entry
Moving the Organization to Remote - Is it Going to be OK?
Marti-Marie Williams has decided to examine the potential of moving her organization to a remote-work operation. As she is the primary designer, she always has the ultimate creative authority and can remain in control of quality and control so long as the finished products meet her expectations. Her design staff is made of 5 designers that collaborate to create designs as well. Moving the designers to a remote function should be a doable process as today's video and graphics sharing capabilities are very user friendly and offer the ability to collaborate. There have been some major strides in creative processes that are geared now toward a strong mix of both synchronous collaboration as well as asynchronous preparation (Ting & Scisco, 2006). One of the world’s largest organizations, Amazon, has decided that modalities and how they are utilized could be one of the keys to changing innovation and development (Conklin, 2022). The discussion is that when people use an in person meeting or an online meeting, the modality is important for technicality, but more importantly the synchronicity is even more important (Ting & Scisco, 2006). What Amazon is trying to accomplish are moments of asynchronous thought and insight that comes from meeting notes prior to web or in person meetings followed by periods of both asynchronous and synchronous collaboration. This changes the premise of modal work and how creative business is conducted.
For the sales team, a hybrid work strategy may work best. There is still a personal connection to doing business in many cultures and a full virtual experience may not yet generate the trust to gain a contract or sale (Vanderpuye, 2020). As the personal attachment to sales is not as evident now, research shows that remote sales forces have increased sales performance by record numbers post pandemic due to positive attributions to working from home (Rojas, 2021). The benefit of sales teams working from home also allows Ms. Williams to retain the best talent possible. According to AIHR one of the top four requirements for people seeking satisfying jobs is a hybrid or work from home option. Rojas (2021) stated that as of October 13 2021, more than 80% of United States workers were turning down jobs that did not extend flexible or remote work options.
Once Ms. Williams decides to move the organization to remote operations, she will need to be more results driven as a leader and manager (Cook, 2019). Leading from an oversight presence with regular one-on-one meetings, being alert to the social and emotional wellness of employees, and proper performance-based assessments will aid Ms. Williams in becoming an outstanding virtual leader (Cook, 2019).
Regards,
James
AIHR—Academy to Innovate HR. (2020, May 11). Top 4 benefits employees value most | AIHRLearning Bite [Video]. YouTube.https://youtu.be/S5blT1ZfDzA(Links to an external site.)
Cook, S. (2019).Making a success of managing and working remotely.IT Governance Ltd.
Conklin, A. (May 12, 2022). Amazon’s Bezos banned PowerPoint presentations at meetings, new book reveals.Fox Business.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/bezos-banned-powerpoint-presentations(Links to an external site.)
Rojas, B. (2021, October 13).How remote work can increase business profits. Forbes.https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2021/10/13/how-remote-work-can-increase-business-profits/?sh=15943b0117b8(Links to an external site.)
Ting, S. & Scisco, P. (Eds.). (2006).The CCL handbook of coaching: A guide for the leader coach. Jossey-Bass.
Vanderpuye, G. (2020). Sales people working remotely - can it work? BuyerDeck.https://buyerdeck.com/sales-people-remote-working/
YesterdayMay 12 at 7:04pm
Manage Discussion Entry
- Discuss whether you believe it is feasible for Marti-Marie to transition her company to a remote-work organization, explaining the pros and cons of doing so.
I do believe it is feasible for Mari-Marie to transition her company to a remote-work organization.
Pros- pay, gas, family aspects
Like it states Awada, M., Lucas, G., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Roll, S. (2021). Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience
An important component of transitioning to WFH is the effect on the work and the workers [6], particularly related to performance, health, and well-being. Under ideal circumstances, several prior studies concluded that WFH is associated with at least similar productivity levels compared to typical office work [7] and supports are often made available to help workers who chose WFH. The pandemic induced WFH allows for a unique exploration of a wide variety of work, workplace, and worker factors that have not been previously examined under ideal circumstances. For example, the abrupt shift for working parents whose children are in remote school or workers with other care giving responsibilities [8] oblige those workers to change their usual work hours or schedule their working hours around others more than individuals who live alone or do not have children [9]. Similarly, differences in the home workspace, such as uncontrollable noise, loss of privacy, and comfort and proxemics [10] can all affect workers’ engagement, performance, health and well-being [11, 12], especially when organizational practices and policies are not in place to support the WFH transition.
Cons- Social aspects
Like it states Awada, M., Lucas, G., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Roll, S. (2021). Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience
Satisfaction with one’s workspace, privacy, and ability to personalize workspace are predictors for workers productivity [26, 27]. The shift from working in a well-established office space to work from home can be challenging for many office workers. Such challenges can be stressful and might negatively affect a worker’s desire to work and thus reduce their productivity. Having the optimal physical setup, proper ergonomics and the necessary equipment is crucial to create an effective workspace that boosts productivity and increases the workers’ engagement with their workstation. In their analysis of the workforce shift to the WFH, Moretti et al. [28] explained that workers are expected to engage extensively with their workstations while working from home, and therefore presented their suggestions for a comfortable workstation (i.e., an adjustable desk and chair to prevent back and joints pain, along with a footrest, and an adjustable monitor screen).
- Anticipate the potential positive and negative reactions of employees if the company were to transition to being fully remote.
- What aspects of being fully remote might be appreciated by employees? What aspects of being fully might cause problems for employees?
Being a person who understands both sides, some positives of working from home is being able to have a better life for pay, benefits etc
The negative aspects is not being able to have the same social as you would in the office seeing people and interacting.
Discuss the challenges and opportunities Marti-Marie will have as a virtual leader.
Some challenges as a leader, communication can lack. Like it states inNewman, S. A., Ford, R. C., & Marshall, G. W. (2020).Virtual team leader communication: Employee perception and organizational reality(Links to an external site.)
Communicating to virtual teams is different from communicating to face-to-face groups. Primarily because leaders of virtual teams must overcome the challenges created by the geographical dispersion of the team ([38]; [39]). Nonverbal communication cues and the ability to use informal communication approaches are absent in most virtual team communications. This creates misunderstandings, delays in information dissemination between leaders and their team members, and less supplemental and contextual information being shared between and among team members ([2(Links to an external site.)]). Communication challenges unique to virtual teams can also lead to lower levels of group cohesion, diminished employee engagement, and a reduction in cooperation among virtual team members that may result in lower levels of team member engagement and alignment with team goals and objectives ([29]). Several researchers have concluded that leaders who do not pay sufficient attention to communication challenges or improperly use available communication tools and techniques are likely to have less successful virtual teams (e.g., [16]; [25]; [28]; [38]; [64]).
- Make a case for or against Marti-Marie transitioning to a fully remote-work organization.
- What other options might you recommend Marti-Marie consider other than going fully remote?
Well for 12 years I was all for remote work. It saved on bills, from gas to buying food always to travel and the miles on the car. I was able to see my kids grow and enjoy but at the same time I got burnt out, I would clean and cook and still feel like i was never getting a chance just out of the house even for a minute. Like it states inAwada, M., Lucas, G., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Roll, S. (2021). Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience
Research also shows that separating the workspaces from living spaces is an important factor when working remotely. It is recommended to have a dedicated workspace to create physical boundaries, help workers establish a productive work atmosphere, increase workers desire to stay longer hours at their workstation and signal to other household members that they do not want to be distracted [29]. Yet, when the space at home is limited and several members of the household need a space to work, sharing the same workspace might become inevitable. In fact, in a survey conducted by Suart et al. [30], it was found that only 48.6% of the respondents had a dedicated workspace, 31% were sharing their workspace with others and the remaining 20.4% were working in a variety of places in their homes. However, research shows that productivity decreases with lack of ability to adjust/personalize workspace as well as lack of storage space [31]. On the other hand, Rudnicka et al. [32] conducted a survey about the WFH during work-home environment and workers might elongate their working hours, start working earlier, later or on the weekends [42]. Some workers might embrace the flexibility in their work hours while other workers might have no choice but to schedule their working hours around their household members or responsibilities [43].
I feel like its a double edged sword you have good and the bad from working from home, i say just dont burn yourself out and youll be good, get out and see the world too.
References:
Awada, M., Lucas, G., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Roll, S. (2021). Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience (Links to an external site.). Work, 69(4), 1171–1189.https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-210301(Links to an external site.)
Newman, S. A., Ford, R. C., & Marshall, G. W. (2020).Virtual team leader communication: Employee perception and organizational reality(Links to an external site.)
(Links to an external site.)(Links to an external site.)
.International Journal of Business Communication, 57(4), 452–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488419829895
YesterdayMay 12 at 9:31pm
Manage Discussion Entry
Hello class,
It is certainly feasible for Marti-=Marie to transition her company to a remote-work organization, but it does not come without caveats or required careful planning before making the decision to jump into this type of work environment.
She will face some pushback from employees if she chooses to move the company fully remote. Change is always hard and these folks have built the company conducting business in a particular way. For her to change that, change management may need to be engaged, as she will need to finesse the messaging and make incremental changes that keep her teams happy in their work. She will also need to work with her team members and get their input. She does not yet know if working remotely will work for all of her team members and if it will not work for them, she needs to give them time to make a transition elsewhere or come up with an alternate solution for that individual. If a team member lives in a house with a spouse who runs daycare all day, working from home is likely not an option and she needs to know the impact to all of her employees before making this decision. There may even be employees that don't know they can't work from home effectively until they are there and attempting to make it happen. Some employees, after being forced to work at home during the pandemic, only realized they could not be productive by themselves alone in their house until after they tried it.
On the other hand, she may have some employees who are very excited at the opportunity to work from home and to have the flexibility, work/life balance, and convenience that working from home can offer them. Some employees may find that they are more productive and can focus on their actual work, contributing more, at a higher level, and being more productive. She may fine that she can access more talent globally now that she can source employees from anywhere, rather than just in the small area that her office exists.
As a leader, she will need to make efforts to touch base and listen more intently. When separated from the day-to-day business and activity in the office, she may lose touch with what's actually going on with her employees. She will need intentional one on ones with them going forward as she cannot rely on passing individuals in the office to hear the lates of the issues, what's going on that day in business, and new concerns. She will need to force communication in the places that it otherwise would have come fairly naturally. She will need to ensure she's working more with people and less in the business as her efforts will change to a more intentionally collaborative position.
I think it's fine for Marti-Marie to transition to a fully remote work organization but she will need to be mindful about the transition. She will need to make sure it's right for each individual, what to do if it is not, develop a strategy on how to hire, how to lead, and how to manage in the new environment. This should not be a decision she makes and starts to execute without a significant amount of thought and planning. Based on some of her conversations with individuals, she may find that a more hybrid solution may be in her future. She could have a smaller office space/footprint and rotate in and out some people throughout the week that still want the in-person interactions while also allowing those that want to be remote 100% to do so.
References
Awada, M., Lucas, G., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Roll, S. (2021).Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience(Links to an external site.)
Baradello, C., & Dibble, R. (2020).Diverse and dispersed: Accessing the hidden benefits of your virtual team(Links to an external site.)
Bhimani, H., Dziunikowski, D., D’Paiva, V., Jiwani-Ebrahim, N., Roitenberg, J., & Yoon, R. (2021).A pandemic leadership program for managers to enhance staff resiliency and psychological safety during COVID-19(Links to an external site.)
Dyer, C. (2021).Rethinking leadership and culture in the new world of work: 7 pillars of culture success