There has been a steady upward trend of companies allowing employees to work-from-home. The world today is experiencing a global pandemic which has only amplified this paradigm shift of working from home. For remote work to be successful, companies will need proper safeguards and guidelines to keep employees responsible, safe, and productive. If you are thinking about starting a work-from-home model in your business or medical practice, tune in to this podcast with Sonda Eunus and your host founder of PracticeForces, Kunal Jain.
The upward trend of working remotely
Work-from-home, or WFH, is not a novel concept. Smart businesses have been benefitting from the WFH model for a while now. Remote working allows employees to save on travel costs, maintain a better work-life balance, and the flexibility to set their work hours (of course, within reasonable limits). For employers, WFH is a way to improve employee satisfaction and attract a bigger talent pool. It gives companies the ability to create a contingency plan for unforeseen circumstances – like the ‘great coronavirus lockdown.’
We have all been confined to working from home. I admit that as a medical billing and healthcare solutions company, we were not prepared to migrate 100 percent of our staff to WFH. Although we were quick to respond to the required change, we did face teething issues.
That’s what made me think – hey, why re-invent the wheel when we could speak to someone familiar with the challenges of a WFH scenario? Preferably someone who has experience working with the medical industry, who has a company of their own, and is technology savvy. Enter- Sonda Eunus.
Sonda Eunus is the founder and CEO at Leading Management Solutions, a business development, and marketing consultancy in Florida. Her articles have been published in various industry publications, including the Orlando & North FL Medical News, the PAHCOM Journal, Florida Medical Business News, and others. Sonda is also the host of an online talk show called Business Secrets Revealed. In this podcast, she shares some wonderfully insightful ideas and facts about a WFH environment.
One of the things that struck me during our discussion was that (as per research) employees report increased productivity when working from home. That’s contradictory to the opinion, or shall we say suspicion, that most bosses and supervisors have of their staff.
The need to be a ‘helicopter’ supervisor is a thing of the past. Today organizations expect employees to spend their time more productively and be independent while being able to work in a team. Supervisors and leaders are expected more to drive cohesiveness and motivation while offering a vision. And to be honest, a WFH environment fits in perfectly with that kind of work ideology.
However, for a team that’s used to working in an office environment, WFH can seem unwieldy at first. The transition, as Sonda reveals, will require a shift in mind-set. Supervisors must move their focus from managing metrics such as ‘hours worked’ to tracking task achievements of individual team members. And though supervisors may feel a sense of loss of control in a WFH setup, the core responsibilities– performance management, training and motivation, and employee retention- remain unchanged. Employees, in turn, must be more self-driven, disciplined, and adaptive to the requirements of WFH.
One of the changes that WFH involves is the increased reliance on web-based platforms. During the podcast, Sonda shares her go-to project management software and online tools for managing a business remotely. She also reveals how every facet of regular office life, including conducting meetings and training, can be transitioned to remote communications, and sometimes with much more productive outcomes.
As we all adapt to WFH, Sonda’s tips are sure to make our lives easier – so listen in.
