7 Ways To Increase Your WFH Focus

With many American homes also functioning as an office-classroom-gym, remote employees are increasingly distracted. In fact, a recent survey by professional- services firm JDP reported that at least 54% of people are experiencing more WFH distractions than ever. Can leaders do anything to minimize these interruptions for themselves and their teams?

By simply adjusting the settings on devices — and modifying a handful of processes — you can encourage better concentration for your remote teams. And while my latest book, Why Simple Wins, offers hundreds of ideas for more productive workdays, the seven tactics below have become the new normal in 2020 for my team and our clients.

1.     Designate one weekday as 100% Meeting-Free. For workplace software company Asana, it’s every Wednesday. If an entire day seems impossible, start with a half-day like data platform company Talend, which named Friday afternoons as meeting-free. In your own org, choose a day that makes sense for your teams’ typical workflow. 

2.     Embrace airplane mode. Even with business travel on hiatus, rely on airplane mode when you need to focus on valuable work. Then move that smartphone into a drawer or a different room and check your messages just once an hour. 

3.   Reduce presentations to two slides. By limiting preparation for quarterly financial meeting to two slides, Novartis has shortened both the length of their quarterly meetings and the prep time needed for every level of staff. Other recommended timesavers for 2020 and beyond include limiting graphics and fonts so presenters invest time on content rather than visuals. 

4.     Disable incoming email alerts. Our lead writer adjusted her laptop settings to prevent pop-ups for incoming emails — and says she’s never going back. In addition to AirPods and a closed door, this change has enabled her to concentrate for long stretches in a household full of distractions. 

5.     Utilize the Rule of Threes. As in, make a phone call to resolve any issue that isn’t settled after an exchange of three emails or chat sessions.

6.     Simplify employee onboarding. Exchange long-winded orientations with self-led courses and videos like Amazon does. Assign an onboarding buddy to each employee for the first two to four weeks and then — when new hires have a better grasp on their responsibilities — schedule a remote Q&A meeting with their manager or director.

7.     Cancel annual performance reviews. Follow Accenture’s lead and cancel paperwork-heavy performance reviews. Instead of reserving feedback for once a year, Accenture managers now provide employees with more frequent and less formal reviews for real-time improvement. Pro tip: Link assessment criteria to strategy so employees understand how their performance impacts the business from a strategic standpoint.

Even the most intuitive of leaders can’t address every obstacle that remote employees will face during this pandemic. But by simplifying the processes within our sphere of control, we’re communicating support and understanding to teams amid tough times. After all, the next best thing to sending noise-cancelling headphones to every employee could be permanently gifting them with meeting-free Wednesdays.