Changes in the Office?!?

Anthony Baker-Smith

Published Dec 5, 2019

What is an easy way to help employees live a healthier and stress reduced life? You may have come up with multiple answers to this question but the one we are talking about today is Flexible Work Schedules that allow employees to work remotely. The Society of Human Resource Management showed in a study that 78% of individuals said flexible work week would lead to a healthier life and 86% said it would reduce stress. Keep in mind, this comes from the opinion of the employee. Most of us would agree that avoiding traffic in rush hour, being able to stay home with the kids or pets, and not having to get dressed up for the office every day seem to be perks. Does that really reduce stress per individual? Yes is the easy answer. From reducing time in car to allowing people greater comfort in their own home, saving people time and money because of that commute will change their lives from finances to their interactions with others. The process now becomes how as managers/owners can we create a system that allows Flexible Schedules. Here are some best practices that I have seen and pulled from other sources on how to make this happen.

Implement proper technology to allow easy communication between leadership and employees. Whether it be individuals that work in and out of office or someone across the country, make it easier by providing some sort of internal instant messaging. Email and can be slow and not everyone is available for a call.
Project management tool. There are many out there and all of them work to some level. The best way is to go through and figure out what works best for the team. One program that I have used in the past and found useful was Asana (Not sponsored).
Keep it as an option. Certain employees enjoy going to the office and having the opportunity to see other individuals. It is part of their social interaction. On top of that, other individuals find it easier to stay focused at work.

There are many other tools and best practices. These are some high end ones that showed as useful in my personal experience. If you are afraid to make this change, that is okay. That is quite the different change to undertake as a business owner. On top of that, certain industries do not have this option either. If you feel your retail storefront cannot have individuals talking to customers over zoom on what shoes they should be getting, you are probably right. Web Developers? Yeah, they can get their work done on a computer in a coffee shop. Allow them some freedom. If you have no idea where to start and want some guidance, reach out to me or a consulting group. No excuses. You can do it!