Employee Best Practices

Employee best practices

Our company is excited to be introducing workshifting for eligible employees. A fast-growing workplace strategy, workshifting is based on a simple yet compelling premise: People become more productive when they can get their work done in the right place, at the right time—from home offices and cafés to customer, partner, project and field locations. This new flexibility and mobility can help you improve work-life balance, increase productivity, reduce the strain and expense of commuting, and become more satisfied with your work experience.

To succeed in a workshifting environment, it’s important to maintain the same high level of professionalism and performance that you would in the office, and to keep lines of communication open and active with your colleagues and customers. Setting boundaries between work and personal time will help you get your work done effectively while avoiding burnout. Your workspace needs to be comfortable, safe and as free of distractions as possible, whether in a dedicated home office, onsite with a customer or partner, or on the road. And of course, you’ll need reliable access to the resources your role depends on, including applications, data and tools for communication and collaboration.

The guidelines in this document will help you work effectively and maintain high performance in locations outside the office.

Note – This document is not intended as a complete guide for establishing a workshifting policy for your organization, and the sample policy outlined below is not intended to be adopted as-is by any organization. Citrix recommends that your organization consult with your HR, real estate, IT and legal departments, and with other stakeholders in your business, to define a policy that meets the unique needs of your organization and its operations. Citrix disclaims any and all liability for the use of this document and the considerations and policy outlined herein, either in whole or in part, in the definition and/or application of specific policies by any company or organization.

Performance and results

While workshifting, you should be as focused and dedicated to performance and results as you are in the office. Many employees find that they are actually more productive when they workshift. For example, a home office can allow long stretches of uninterrupted concentration, a customer site can foster deeper engagement and easier access to information, and a mobile-enabled workstyle can unlock new opportunities to get things done on-the-go.

Here are some guidelines to assist in maintaining your performance and results:  Establish clear objectives and expectations with your manager.  Set goals to meet these objectives and track your progress toward them on a weekly basis or other suitable frequency.  Communicate your accomplishments, outcomes and deliverables as appropriate to stakeholders in your team or company.  Encourage feedback from team members and your manager.  Follow timelines to complete work as you would in the office.

Workshifting How-to Kit Employee best practices Page 1  Evaluate your own performance in achieving results.  Understand challenges, work through them with your manager, and apply what you have learned to new objectives that are set.

It is also an employee’s responsibility to know when it makes sense to workshift and when it makes sense to go to the office. Remain flexible and remember that the demands of the business may occasionally make it necessary to be in the office at times you might otherwise be working from an alternate location.

Communication

Maintaining relationships with managers, team members and internal or external customers and partners is just as important while workshifting as it is in the office. Make sure to remain accessible and communicative no matter where you work.

Here are some tips on good communication:  Be responsive and follow expectations that have been set by your manager for individual, team, and internal and external customer communication.  Maintain interaction levels by being aware of who you ordinarily communicate with, and how often, when you are in the office.  Make effective use of communication methods and tools, and seek training in areas where your skills need improvement.  Choose the right communication tool based on what you are trying to achieve and follow communication etiquette guidelines.  Be articulate and choose a style of communication that is appropriate for the audience you are communicating with.  Listen effectively by giving your full attention, waiting your turn to speak, engaging in conversation, keeping an open mind, thinking before speaking and paraphrasing for clarity.  Build trust by behaving and communicating with integrity, reliability and consistency.  Consider mutually practical hours when setting up meetings or calls with team members and your manager.

Motivation and productivity

Workshifting requires careful planning and discipline. To maintain motivation and productivity when working remotely, it is important to set and prioritize goals, track your work toward achieving those goals and manage your inputs and outputs accordingly. You should also establish clear boundaries between work time and non-work time.

Time management Structure your time and plan your workload, measure how you spend your time and create and review a list of tasks to complete at a frequency relevant to your role, such as daily, weekly or monthly.

Working hours Set regular working hours in discussion with your manager and maintain a work schedule that helps you avoid becoming overly connected. If you find more appropriate hours to start and finish your work, speak to your manager to adjust your schedule accordingly.

Workshifting How-to Kit Employee best practices Page 2 Establishing routines Try to begin and finish work at the same time on most workshifting days. If you find this difficult or if your schedule does not allow you to begin and end at the same time each day, create routines to mark the beginning and end of each day’s work. Get coffee or take a walk around the block before starting work. Simply getting dressed as you would for the office can make a big difference in feeling ready to get to work. Be sure to take regular breaks for lunch, exercise and decompression—this is important for both productivity and ergonomics.

Getting organized Plan your work before you workshift. Consider taking time at the beginning or end of each day to develop a list of goals for the following day. At the end of the day, measure your achievements against this list.

Maintaining your workspace

It is important to find or create a workspace in which you can work productively and efficiently. If you work at home, set boundaries between work space and home space.

Your workspace should be safe, ergonomically suitable, free from distractions, designed for maximum efficiency and equipped with the equipment and resources you need to complete your work.

Reducing distractions Working from an alternate location can mean replacing your usual distractions with new ones—for example, the household responsibilities, childcare, family issues, friends and neighbors that can intrude on a home office. When working from home, you should define acceptable reasons to be interrupted in your designated workspace and communicate these with your family. While workshifting can be helpful for managing personal and work responsibilities, and personal errands or calls can provide a needed break, you should resist the temptation of using the flexibility of workshifting as a replacement for child or family care. Ultimately, it is your responsibility to make sure your distractions are minimized and your objectives, goals, and deadlines are met.

Health and safety No matter where your alternate workplace is, it should be in a safe environment, free from health risks and fire hazards, ergonomically sound and equipped with the furniture, lighting and tools you need to complete your tasks.

Ergonomics Proper positioning of your work tools and your body is critical for avoiding pain and injury. Where possible, alternate between different tasks so that you don't do the same task for a long period of time, and take regular breaks to move around and stretch your body.

Common ergonomic tips focus on maintaining a comfortable neutral posture. For example:  The monitor should be about an arm’s length away for eye comfort and the top of the screen should be at eye level so the viewing area is slightly below eye level. Adjust your chair height to enable this.  Documents should be even height with the monitor. Use a document holder.

Workshifting How-to Kit Employee best practices Page 3  Use a chair with lumbar support and ensure that your back is pressed against it.  Relax your arms naturally at the sides of your body.  If you use a mouse, it should be near the keyboard and easy to reach.  Elbows should be open 90 degrees or more and close to the torso, and should float naturally without resting on the armrests during typing tasks.  Forearms should lead into the hand in a straight line.  Wrists and hands should float naturally over the keys without resting the wrists on the wrist rest or other surface.  Fingers should be relaxed when typing, remembering not to touch the keys too hard.  Your mouse should be gripped with a relaxed grasp, and released and not held onto when not in use.  Your seat should be large enough to support your body, but short enough such that there is space between the seat and the back of your knee.  Knees should be bent a bit more than 90 degrees and feet should be planted firmly on the floor or on a footrest.

Technology

To be productive, you need to be able to access and use available technologies that let you function from an alternate location as you would in the office. If you are unsure how to use any of the technologies provided or have technical issues, seek training through HR or your learning and education department, or get assistance from IT. Technology resources available to you should include:

 Desktop, apps and data – You should have secure access to your desktop, applications and data from any location and on any device, regardless of whether the device is company-owned or part of a BYOD program, in the same way and with the same performance as in the office.  Secure file sharing – Effective workshifting depends on your ability to easily access and securely share files with anyone inside or outside of the organization and sync files across all your devices or locations.  Collaboration tools – A customizable social work platform will allow you to work and interact with any group of people inside an online workspace whether they are internal employees or external contractors.  Communication tools – You should be able to initiate communications on any device in the right form for your purposes, including email, calendars, online meetings, face-to-face video conferencing, phone calls and instant messages. This will help eliminate the need to coordinate office schedules or incur travel costs.  Internet connectivity – If a network is not already available where you are working, you may choose to set up a wireless network in a home location or log onto public wireless Internet in locations such as cafés or airports.

Workshifting How-to Kit Employee best practices Page 4 Training

Before you begin to work from alternate locations, or if your current workshifting practices have brought to light the need to improve certain skills, your HR or learning and education department may offer courses to improve your workshifting experience and productivity. These may include:  Effective time management  Maintaining a healthy workspace  Workshifting efficiently  Remaining productive and achieving results when telecommuting  Effective modes of communication, best practices and etiquette  Using technology for effective communication including email, phone, messaging, video conferencing, and social and collaboration tools  Communication skills and etiquette with remote colleagues  Build trusting relationships throughout your organization  Staying motivated for optimal performance  Ergonomics and personalization of your workspace  Cultural sensitivity when working in a global environment

Note – It is important to build an ongoing training program to support employees as they begin participating in the workshifting program and as they experience skills shortfalls or challenges. Consider offering the training above to ensure that employees are equipped with the skills they require for effective remote work.

Security

Make sure that you comply with all security requirements, including compliance and privacy policies for accessing work and disposing of work documentation when working from alternate locations. This may include the use of shredders or lockable drawers and filing cabinets.

While IT will control secure access to the business resources your work requires, including applications and data, it is important for you to be aware of and comply with the company’s policies for information security, acceptable use and bring-your-own device (BYOD) to ensure the protection of company and customer information. Contact the appropriate IT service desk immediately if you suspect a security breach.

We hope you enjoy and benefit from our new opportunities for workshifting. If you have questions or concerns about the program, please contact your manager or HR representative.

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