As the new year begins, it’s a good time to reflect on what we do and how we do it at Texas REALTORS®. We provide so many services at a high level that benefit members, the industry and consumers largely based on the talent and dedication of a tremendous and dedicated staff. One of the “how we do it’s” is collaboration. As we’ve discussed through our Core Value discussions and employee review process, effective communication and collaboration are critical components to not just getting the job done, but enhancing the outcomes to provide a higher level of service.
When we returned to the office as the pandemic allowed, we instituted a hybrid remote work policy for the first time. This allowed employees in eligible positions to work from home up to two days a week. Towards the end of 2021, we extended that benefit to allow for up to three days to be remote work. We’ve heard the positive feedback regarding the hybrid policy - appreciation for increased flexibility, the ability to avoid heavy traffic in Austin, the opportunity to better utilize focus time on projects. We appreciate the feedback and these are real, tangible benefits that the association is proud to be able to continue to provide.
We’ve also experienced and heard the feedback about some of the challenges that remote work presents as well as it relates to communication and expectations, especially as it relates to communicating our in office or remote statuses and our expectations of responsiveness and availability when working remotely. Earlier this week, Directors and Managers met to discuss our overall effectiveness of our collaboration in the context of hybrid work and to brainstorm recommendations aimed at addressing some of the communication challenges we've all experienced. Here are the highlighted best practices based on that discussion:
Zoom is to be utilized across the organization and open when working. Zoom serves a variety of key functional purposes - telephone, voicemail, video conferencing, chat - but it also assists in communicating our in-office/remote/out of office status, so please use the personal note feature and status icons in the Chat. In short, if you're working remote, indicate that as a personal note in Chat. Likewise if you are out on PTO, so those trying to reach you know whether are you are working or out on PTO. Don't worry, we'll train on this.
More on Zoom Chat. Chat is widely used across the organization, so it should be utilized by all. We'll communicate further on the types of messages appropriate for chat versus email.
Supervisor's responsibility. It is a supervisor's responsibility to ensure departmental availability, responsiveness and ensuring that departmental employees' in-office/remote/PTO statuses are communicated.
Accessibility makes remote work possible. If we are working remotely, it’s our responsibility to be in a location that is conducive to being accessible with sufficient bandwidth, just like being in the office.
Equipment expectations. Generally, laptops are provided to employees to provide for portability. Otherwise, Texas REALTORS® does not provide duplicative resources to accommodate remote work (other than those that are full-time remote - Legal Hotline and Field Representatives.)
Not a universal or mandated policy. Departments can and should adjust the availability of remote work based on various factors, such as effectiveness of collaboration, preparation for upcoming meetings, service level to members and staff and responsiveness, to name a few. Remote work does not apply to all positions within the organization.
Again, these are not new rules, but reminders to keep top-of-mind that facilitate an effective remote work program. Departments should regularly visit candidly about their own effectiveness and communicate challenges they may be having when collaborating with other departments across the building to ensure that the benefit that we all enjoy continues to allows us to uphold the Core Values we share.
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