Many working parents are now in the overwhelming position of balancing a career and caring for their children full-time. This shift requires flexibility and patience, not only from parents but from their managers. While there is no single approach to working remotely as a parent, here are some ideas to assist.
Remote Working Parents
#1 Communicate a Family Plan
It will take coordination and willpower to make the situation work. Explain the circumstances to your children and be transparent about your work schedule (and your partner’s, if applicable). Depending on the age of your kids, develop a plan around how everyone can help get through this time together.
#2 Set Up a Workspace
Negotiate a space within your home that is for your work only. It might be the home office or the end of the dining table. Regardless, establishing the context of that space as “work only” is important. For you, having a designated work zone will help you switch mentally into work mode, while your family will read the visual cue of you being in your workspace and (ideally) respect it.
Unlike this infamous BBC News interviewee who was interrupted by his children…
#3 Maintain Structure
There are plenty of jokes going around about attending conference calls in pyjama bottoms and pulling out the laptop in bed. While tempting, these habits won’t help to show your family that you’re at work. Do your best to shower, dress in workwear, and groom as usual.
A helpful routine for some parents is a going-to-work and home-from-work ritual. Whether it’s playing a song, or putting on and taking off your shoes, this can signal to your kids when you’re going to work and then when you’re finished for the day.
In terms of school age children, set up a structure for their daily education. Establish when they do online learning, outdoor activities, online activities, and free play.
Other routines can involve exercise before work, a trip to the park, or reading a book with your kids. It can also help to schedule important calls or tasks that require single focus for naptime or after bedtime.
#4 Set Expectations Early
This ties in with establishing structure. Set your working hours and do your best to stick to them. This might involve several blocks of time throughout the day, with a gap for dinner and bedtime, rather than one single extended period. Having these times will prevent you from unintentionally working too much or too little.
Also set realistic expectations for yourself. It’s unlikely that your working day will resemble that at the office. This is okay. Focus on being outcome based, rather than counting the hours you’re in the chair. Acknowledging that the situation isn’t comparable will help—this is a new way of working, with new expectations.
Read this story on Circle In of a full-time lawyer who is working from home with her two daughters in primary school. This tip seems like a winner: “Every time the kids show particularly helpful behaviour, they get a point, and once they get to 20, they can choose something from Amazon.” How is that for incentive to behave!
#5 Don’t Compare to Other Remote Working Parents
Excuse the above link and remember that the needs of your children and job are unique. Try not to look at isolation inspiration of glossy games and engaging education and feel like you’re falling short if you’re resorting to playing Bluey. The child in that post doesn’t have the same needs as your child, just as that parent’s job might not have the same demands as yours. Remind yourself that you’re doing the best you can and that is awesome.
Managers of Remote Working Parents
#1 Remove Your Unconscious Bias
Working parents are under more pressure than ever. To support members of your team who are remote working parents, first dispel common negative assumptions. This includes the belief that they are simultaneously taking care of their children while working. Ignore all the stock photos showing parents literally balancing a toddler on their knee, holding a milk bottle in one hand and important-looking documents in the other. The reality is that parents will be finding focus in structure and designated work time.
Another misunderstanding is that they’re working less than their non-parent colleagues. It’s more likely that they’ll be working differently, utilising several blocks of time throughout the day to fit in necessary activities with their kids, but not less.
#2 Trust Your Employees and Don’t Micromanage
Now is the time to be flexible with your employees and trust them to get the work done. Be okay seeing your employees’ laundry in the background or having a little one join in on a videocall. Just because you are exposed to other parts of their life, doesn’t mean they are less committed to their job.
Reinforce that you trust them to get the work done.
#3 Measure Outcomes
Focus on measuring success in terms of outcomes, not the time your employees spend at their laptop. Some working parents will work more efficiently in bursts than in long stretches of time. Be okay with this, even if it means they aren’t constantly accessible via online chat or email. Remind yourself to count their completed tasks, rather than their hours.
If everyone accepts that working remotely with kids is going to change the way work gets done, employees and managers alike, then this very difficult period will be that little bit easier. Be kind to yourselves, your team, and your family.
The Business Resilience program is designed to assist Victorian small businesses affected by COVID-19. Support includes free access to online workshops and resources.
Business Resilience Workshops
Eligible participants can attend free virtual workshops on topics pertinent to the impacts of COVID-19 on small business. This includes strategy and resilience, finance and technology, customers and marketing, human resources, and mental health and wellbeing. Visit our Business Resilience Workshops page for upcoming topics and booking links.
The Business Resilience program is delivered by Melbourne Innovation Centre and the Digital Solutions program.
