2020_03_20_coronavirus-teletrabajo

"Widespread teleworking is an exception, as around 58% of workers (56% men and 60% women) have never teleworked," says Professor Alberto Andreu Pinillos, director executive of the Master's Degree Executive in Human Resources and Digitalisation of the University of Navarra.

This is why, according to this expert, the coronavirus crisis is a real crisis challenge. "We are facing a full-blown crisis: of health (first and foremost) and of business continuity itself". But this crisis is also altering our daily lives in many ways. "In terms of work, teleworking is presenting companies, both large and SMEs, with a challenge that is not only technological but also cultural, because it involves a change in habits that can also last for a long time", he explains.

Alberto Andreu stresses that "we are facing an immense challenge, but also an enormous opportunity: the opportunity offered by technology to consolidate a new subject of work using collaborative platforms, from home... or from anywhere in the world". 

In his opinion, work has a large "social component that can hardly be replaced", but, perhaps, "the coronavirus is the trigger to accelerate a change in the way of working that allows an optimal mix between human-to-human and human-to-machine interactions". In this sense, he points out that many digital native StartUps, with people dispersed in several countries, have been working in this way for a long time: "Without offices, meeting once a month in a different city, and working on a daily basis with collaborative platforms". 

Faced with this crisis, Professor Alberto Andreu Pinillos, director executive of the Master's Degree Executive in Human Resources and Digitalisation, proposes five reflections. He points out that teleworking is more than just being connected by email or telephone and, for this reason, "companies must make collaborative platforms available to their employees". Likewise, companies must be present to their employees on a daily basis, as well as team leaders, because the day-to-day running of the business depends on them.

In his opinion, "the ideal is to organise it like a regular work workshop , but in the case of coronavirus, working with children at home is more complicated, so it may be necessary to modify routines and concentrate the activity that requires more concentration in the hours when the children are asleep". 

Five keys to teleworking

First. It should be borne in mind that not all companies and not all work jobs can be carried out by telework. Telework is possible in intellectual activities, related to research, development of science and technology projects, innovation and information, consultancy service... (i.e. what is known as the quaternary sector). In the other sectors (primary, secondary, tertiary and quinary) telework is applied only to some functions related to management. The data for Spain, in fact, shows that, at present, widespread teleworking is an exception, with around 58% of workers (56% men and 60% women) having never teleworked.

Second. Teleworking is more than just being connected by email or telephone. Companies need to provide their employees with collaborative tools for teleworking, known as the digital workplace. These are platforms that offer integrated email, instant messaging, chat, project planning, enterprise social networks, virtual meeting tools, human resources applications, access to internal systems... It is true that large companies already have this subject of solutions. In the case of SMEs with fewer resources, they can resort to open platforms, from Slack (paid) or Trello (free) to WhatsApp groups, via LinkedIn, Facebook, or Skype.

Third. The business as an entity has to be present to its employees on a daily basis. The challenge in teleworking situations, especially if it is sustained over time and involves the physical closure of offices, is for business (through its director or its HR department manager ) to have daily communication with its employees, not only to transmit in a transparent way the progress of operations, the health of its employees or the day-to-day running of the business, but above all to avoid the feeling of "withdrawal" and to foster a sense of belonging. This communication can be a simple email, or a voice mail grade , or daily videos, podcasts, etc. The important thing is to make generalised messages available to all employees.  

Fourth. Team leaders and managers need to organise projects according to a set schedule. The main burden of teleworking falls on team managers, because the day-to-day running of the business and the submission of projects to clients depend on them. Therefore, beyond the daily communications of business, managers have a greater (more operational) communication challenge . It is advisable to create specific online work groups with the entire direct team and, if necessary, with each group by type of project. Two situations can be distinguished. On the one hand, if mass teleworking was not installed on a regular basis, it is advisable to organise and monitor the progress of projects with the whole group team once or twice a day, preferably at fixed times. On the other hand, if teleworking had already started earlier and habits were already established, regular contacts every three or four days, for the whole group and one to one, may be sufficient.

Fifth. Professionals have to create new habits and routines. Ideally, work should be organised as a regular work workshop . But in the case of the coronavirus, where schools have been suspended, working with children at home is more complicated, so it may be necessary to modify routines and concentrate the most demanding activity during the hours when the children are asleep. It may also be useful to write down your individual to-do list to give you a sense of accomplishment.