The Five Commandments for Remote Workers During the Epidemic

Since the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic raged around the world a year ago, many companies have been forced to change their interactions with employees, partners, and customers to complete their work. What have the management and employees learned?

Every senior executive in a company should undergo the leadership test under the epidemic, which is helpful to clarify his ideas; even more powerful is to be able to summarize the lessons learned into the "five commandments"-just like NXP What Lars Reger, Chief Technology Officer of Semiconductors (NXP) recently did in his mind.

Since the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic raged around the world a year ago, blockade orders in countries around the world have forced many companies to change their interactions with employees, partners, and customers to complete their work. The above test can measure whether the senior management has really understood themselves and their employees in the past 12 months, rather than boasting about theories learned from business management schools or best-selling business management books.

The most significant result of this test will be the lessons that business leaders can apply to workplaces in the post-epidemic era. Today, most corporate executives rely on their own mechanisms to judge what is useful and what is not useful, mainly from the experience of repeated attempts and mistakes in the past. In this way, what they have learned in the past year is how to accept and manage a workplace that is subject to unprecedented restrictions.

If the CEO conveys the message "We will pass this period together side by side" to the entire company, that would be great, but a message that makes people feel good can only last for a while. Leadership under the epidemic requires the senior management to Conduct honest, urgent, and open communication. Openness is the first step in passing the leadership test under the epidemic, which means that in addition to achieving something, mistakes and personal fears must also be discussed.

"Harvard Business Review" (Harvard Business Review) has an article discussing how to demonstrate excellent leadership skills in the epidemic. It is stated that the most serious mistake that a business leader can make is to "get into a wait-and-see situation to clarify how to act and to downplay threats." Take the trap of peace of mind.” Under the same unqualified leadership in the epidemic, and lack of self-doubt, if you can’t question the status and sustainability of your employees’ working environment, you simply don’t understand the plight of your people every day.

During the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2021) held online, the author asked Reger about his own experience and what he thinks (business practices) "new normal" will overcome the epidemic.

At the beginning of our discussion, Reger recalled the time when all employees suddenly became "homeworkers" in March 2020: "Of course, we are afraid that productivity and job performance will decline-very afraid;" he admitted. And such fears prompted NXP to launch a company-wide investigation. They must objectively assess any changes and losses in their workplaces under the epidemic; however, the results of the investigation show: "The situation is exactly the opposite, which makes us surprised and excited."

"Our employees in India, the U.S., and Germany started designing chips in their living rooms... The images seen from the video conference are very interesting: Dad sits in front of his computer and runs simulations, and children draw pictures on the living room table in the background;" Reger further explained "We thought that our productivity would decline, but it didn’t. This is partly because people don’t need to commute to and from get off work, and they don’t need to travel. Even people like me who are always flying around can suddenly find it at any time. "

After nearly a year of long-distance work, "One of the disadvantages we found in our survey is that people still face the challenge of balancing work and life;" Reger pointed out: "So, "taking it for granted" is a mistake, because everyone is still Productivity is maintained and everything works well.”

Reger also said that he has found a rhythm-his own way of responding to the new workplace ethics in the epidemic era. "My wife is a family physician. She is currently busy with vaccination work, and she has left home at 7:30 in the morning;" Reger has developed the habit of running at 7:45 in the morning. Last year he had a total of After running 2,000 kilometers, "lost 7 kg."

This is very important to his physical and mental health, because after he finishes running, "I will be stuck in front of the computer for 10 hours; if I decide to exercise later, I may never stand on the treadmill, just count. Up"

Reger is aware of the difficult reality that affects every homeworker. If a new daily routine is not developed, people working at home may turn on the computer first thing in the morning, "maybe just read the news first, and then from then on. I got stuck in emails. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all solved in front of the computer until I went to bed...the next day I got up and fell into the same cycle; "This is endless torture, "It will make people in a short time. Exhausted energy."

Based on his own experience and feedback from employees, Reger sorted out the "five commandments" for remote workers during the epidemic.