Everybody look what's going down...

In the midst of this crazy election we’re still dealing with this terrible pandemic. The political noise makes it hard to focus on the continuing problems that companies, and their employees are having with full or partial work from home practices (if they’re still working). I’ve written here often in the past 6 months about these problems – reduced hours or too many hours, reduced commute times or time conflicts between work and family, the effects of isolation from colleagues and supervisors, and the anxiety created by uncertainty. Everyone’s trying hard to make this work but there are too few measures to tell whether or not it is, and no training for managers trying to deal with these challenging dynamics. At the end of the day it comes down to employees having the integrity to do their work and leaders trusting them. Leaders should set goals and measures and communicate these effectively, stay in touch with and care immensely about the problems their employees are having, and offer continuing support; employees need to be open about their problems and concerns, ask questions, manage their conflicting affairs, keep focused, and stay positive. Let’s not lose sight of this continuing struggle amidst the political rhetoric that unfortunately is having little impact on this issue. Keep your focus on the continuing needs of your employees today.

James Hodge (born 1972): Chief Technical Adviser at Splunk