Make a COVID-19 Backup Plan Before Returning to the Office
After several months of working from home and only at home, you may be thrilled by the prospect of returning to the office. Common microwave ovens! Cooler chatter! Conference room reservations have been exhausted! All the inconveniences of the past, but the novelties of the new are normal.
But while some offices are starting to open, coronavirus cases are still piling up and we are far from clear. Before you get too comfortable with your old office routines, you need to plan what happens if someone gets sick. In this case, it is you or someone you care about.
Be transparent about open source projects
When you have ownership of a project or part of it, you may be accustomed to keeping the parts under your hat until your part is ready to go – or until it’s time to collaborate with others. But if there is a chance that you will not be in the office and will not be able to work for several weeks, you need to share what you are working on and where you are in the process.
Art Markman of Fast Company recommends creating a generic document that lists the projects you are working on, your role in them, and the current status of each one. Update it weekly so the assigned employee can pick up where you left off.
In theory, your manager and other people you regularly work with will know where your projects are. But if they can’t just call to talk to you about a question or problem, you shouldn’t leave them guessing.
Don’t send teammates out on a treasure hunt
When setting up this shared document to update the status of your projects, try to communicate too much. This does not mean that you have to keep a detailed diary of your progress on each of your projects – you just want to make it easier for others to get up to speed during your absence.
Customer contact information and preferred communication methods? List it. Are there any timelines and components you are waiting for? List those. If you have any “what-if” thoughts that you didn’t have time to think about or bring up for discussion, mark them in your shared document.
The idea is to give your team a holistic view of your projects, not just a to-do list while you are away.
Notify key parties
If you regularly interact with customers, suppliers, or other colleagues, be sure to assign someone to contact them to tell them that you may be out for several weeks. Your designated person can outline their options for communication during your absence.
And what about the rest? Do not worry about it. Dive into your email for five minutes to create an out of office message with instructions on who to contact if needed. Then turn off notifications and rest.