While the challenges presented by Covid-19 are unprecedented and continue to evolve. In order to cope with these challenges, the WLPD team wanted to share with communitymemberswho will be working from home some tips for doing so productively. The shift from face time management to virtual management is not straightforward or simple. Virtual teams are fundamentally different from regular work teams. These differences can be overcome with planning and intentional management. This resource is designed to help you navigate this shift while maintaining productivity, trust, and communication.
First, know that all employees, managers and non-managers are experiencing these changes at the same time. While the state of current events mandate a change, the process that individuals will go through is a transition. Individual people will move through the transition in different ways. While you may have some team members who are ready to implement a fully virtual work environment, some are still in the process of acknowledging that these changes are even necessary. Some of this difference is due to individual preferences for approaching change while some is a result of information and beliefs.
As a leader, you can gauge where an individual team member might be on this spectrum of change by talking with them about their feelings, concerns, and answering questions. Pay attention to whether the employee is focusing on the future or the past and whether they seem to be in more of an emotional or rational frame of mind. The following are general considerations that will help you prepare to implement virtual work arrangements.
