Take a look around your office, assuming you're not workshifting of course. Now, take a quick
poll and ask people how long they've worked there. If you were to ask my team, the average is almost 5 years (that surprised me too!). I have been at Citrix Online for almost 6 years, and that's not uncommon. Why? When you work to develop a great culture, hire like minded people, and give them the freedom and trust to work from anywhere...they never want to leave. Simple, huh.
I have team members that work in London, Orange County, Hawaii and San Francisco. I have no idea what their real hours are and I don't worry about it. They know what is expected and the rest is up to them. They are measured based on their performance and engagement with their peers. We do show and tell with GoToMeeting, and see each other using Skype. We have iPhones, Blackberrys and every other imaginable gadget. We follow each other on Facebook and Twitter. We IM and DM. In my opinion, DM is becoming the new email, for better or for worse, but that's a post for another day. These tools are not limited to full-time remote workers. Most people I work with use them in a similar fashion.
It's interesting to talk about the tools but what is the real value? It's about quality of life. A major factor in peoples desire to stay with us is the ability to workshift. Many times it's not as black and white as working from home or being in the office. Most of the time it's connecting to the office computer at 6am and than freeing up an hour to take the kids to school. It's having a meeting online from your (insert any location) and than taking a half hour to catch up on reading, or going for a run. Let's be honest, life happens between 9 and 5. You can't turn it off and it can't be ignored.
So, as a manager, what are the proper ingredients for a successful workshifting culture?
1.Embrace the 24 hour day
2.Recognize that everyones workshifting needs are slightly different
3.Give them the tools
4.Trust
Do these few things as well as a couple other simple steps and you can start enjoying the shift to a better life-work balance.
Photo by: tswicegood
poll and ask people how long they've worked there. If you were to ask my team, the average is almost 5 years (that surprised me too!). I have been at Citrix Online for almost 6 years, and that's not uncommon. Why? When you work to develop a great culture, hire like minded people, and give them the freedom and trust to work from anywhere...they never want to leave. Simple, huh.I have team members that work in London, Orange County, Hawaii and San Francisco. I have no idea what their real hours are and I don't worry about it. They know what is expected and the rest is up to them. They are measured based on their performance and engagement with their peers. We do show and tell with GoToMeeting, and see each other using Skype. We have iPhones, Blackberrys and every other imaginable gadget. We follow each other on Facebook and Twitter. We IM and DM. In my opinion, DM is becoming the new email, for better or for worse, but that's a post for another day. These tools are not limited to full-time remote workers. Most people I work with use them in a similar fashion.
It's interesting to talk about the tools but what is the real value? It's about quality of life. A major factor in peoples desire to stay with us is the ability to workshift. Many times it's not as black and white as working from home or being in the office. Most of the time it's connecting to the office computer at 6am and than freeing up an hour to take the kids to school. It's having a meeting online from your (insert any location) and than taking a half hour to catch up on reading, or going for a run. Let's be honest, life happens between 9 and 5. You can't turn it off and it can't be ignored.
So, as a manager, what are the proper ingredients for a successful workshifting culture?
1.Embrace the 24 hour day
2.Recognize that everyones workshifting needs are slightly different
3.Give them the tools
4.Trust
Do these few things as well as a couple other simple steps and you can start enjoying the shift to a better life-work balance.
Photo by: tswicegood
