SMART work design for remote work

Maximise the benefits of working remotely

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a trend in some workplaces of people working from home or other locations some days rather than all together in an office.

Working remotely has benefits for workers, organisations and the economy. It also generates personal benefits. The most obvious for many people is avoiding the commute to and from the office. Working remotely also gives people flexibility to manage family and other commitments.

However, without proper consideration, remote working can leave people feeling disconnected, isolated, confused or having to always be switched in to work.

Tips on designing SMART remote work

The rapid increase in workplaces offering remote work options means that this change may have been sudden or rushed. For example, during COVID-19 many teams used to working together in person were suddenly working virtually from home. They have had to come up with new ways to work productively.

Looking forward to longer-term remote work arrangements, here are some SMART tips for managers and workers working remotely.

What to do if you are a manager

If you are a manager, here is how you can help people working remotely:

• Check in and provide support – Ask people how they are going (e.g. at the start of a virtual meeting). And make sure they have what they need to work from home. This can mean technology and equipment, but it can also involve tips on how to manage work–life balance. This support is one of the relational aspects of work.
• Open lines of communication – It is important to enable workers to communicate any challenges they experience. They may include when they feel overwhelmed or when timeframes are slipping.
• Clarify how you will work individually and together – This supports the agency aspects of work. For example, discuss what hours people should work and what response times are reasonable.
• Focus on managing people’s outputs or their performance, rather than inputs such as their presence or when they are online. It is important that people have clear work goals, and you provide support and feedback.
• Make sure team members know each other’s schedules. Also decide how you will communicate and what happens if technology does not work.
• Do not forget the big picture – It can be easy to get lost in the details of work when you are working remotely. It may be helpful to zoom out to ensure everyone in the team is aligned on the ‘why’ of your work – what is happening with projects, customers, suppliers or other stakeholders, and how your team is contributing to wider organisational goals. You may need to change some priorities. These discussions support the mastery and tolerable demands aspects of work.

What to do if you are a worker

If you are a worker, here are some tips on working from home productively:

Structure your day

Working from home can offer more flexibility, but it can lack structure. On the one hand, this can mean you are easily distracted by other things around the house (e.g. household chores). On the other hand, you might find it difficult to disconnect from work.

One way to structure your day is to still dress for work. This simple step activates your ‘worker identity’ and helps manage the boundaries between home and work. It can even help your abstract thinking.

Organise your tasks

A basic time management tool can help you organise your tasks based on their urgency and their importance:

• high importance, high urgency tasks – manage these critical activities
• high importance, low urgency tasks – focus and schedule to achieve these key goals
• low importance, high urgency – avoid or minimise these interruptions
• low importance, low urgency – limit these distracting activities.

Work in short bursts and reward yourself with microbreaks

Concentrating takes effort, and studies show we lose focus over time. How long you can concentrate varies depending on who you are and what you are doing. One strategy is to work in chunks (e.g. 50–55 minutes), have a microbreak (e.g. 5–10 minutes), and then get back to work.

A microbreak is a short activity that is not related to work that boosts your energy (e.g. a coffee, a stretch, a walk around the block or a household chore). Another good idea is to turn off any notifications during focused chunks of activity, so you can control when you respond.

Stay connected

Humans are social beings, and working remotely can lead to social isolation and loneliness. Making and sustaining good relationships is the key to remote working (it is the relational aspect of work). Try these tips for staying connected with your team:

• Give people your full attention when you are talking or meeting online.
• Offer help and support to others (e.g. help them out with an IT problem).
• Talk about things unrelated to your job when you are talking with colleagues (e.g. share a funny story).
• Call rather than email when you can.
• Use videoconferencing when you can.
• Set up some virtual social activities.
• Create a WhatsApp or other social chat group.

Make your work stimulating

Working from home can be boring. You may not have enough to do, or the work may be repetitive, lack variety or not use your skills. You can craft your job to make it more interesting or stimulating. Here are some things you can try:

• Ask for more control over your work hours and tasks.
• Take on extra tasks that suit you your skills or interests.
• Develop a new way of doing things (e.g. improve your work systems).
• Learn new skills (e.g. do some online training or ask a colleague to teach you something new).
• Offer to help colleagues.
• Organise ways to connect with others.
• Ask for feedback from your manager or clients.
• Think about how your work affects your team, your organisation and the community.

Switch off at the end of the day

Work takes effort – physical, mental or both – so you need to recover at the end of the day. And the more demanding your job is, the more important it is for you to recover. Getting good sleep is essential. Other things that can help your recovery are doing exercise, learning something new that doesn’t relate to work, catching up with family and friends, or relaxing on the couch with a good book. Having a regular switch off time can allow for better sleep hygiene and routine.