Turn off or remove electronics. Incoming e-mails delay confirmation. The YouTube that I watched every night is also goodbye. Instead, sit down and chat with family members. I play board games with my friends, read books alone, and take a walk. From Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, Google employees spend’No Tech Tuesday Night’. It’s a kind of’challenge’ with voluntary participation, and the response is good among employees. This is because it is effective in reducing fatigue caused by working from home. We are encouraging employees to hold weekly’online meetings’ with each other. They do housewarming with video and introduce children and pets. Although we cannot meet, the aim is to continue social exchange between employees. While working from home is getting longer due to Corona 19, Google is making various efforts like this to maintain’productivity’.
“There are a lot of employees who feel burnout while working from home, so I’m thinking about dealing with it. In addition, even if I go back to the office (after my work from home), the’mixed’ way of working from home for a few days a week will be in place, and in the process, we are preparing a number of ways to keep you productive.” Laura Mae Martin, Google’s Executive Productivity Officer, said this in an online session to reporters in Korea on the 27th.
Photo = Laura Mae Martin, Google’s Executive Productivity Officer, captured the screen of the online session on the 27th.
In a word, Martin’s general manager is the’productivity guardian’ of Googlers. Google sets macro targets quarterly and measures productivity by setting individual micro targets, because it is in charge of helping individuals increase productivity in the process. Finding a’work-life balance’ also plays an important role in maintaining productivity. “Google is macro-focused on meeting our quarterly goals. Even if I send 100 e-mails a day and nothing the next day, I think it’s important to go to the goal I have set.” “My job is to find umbrellas for employees when it rains. “As telecommuting became longer due to the pandemic, last year, I made and provided tips for telecommuting.”
On that day, Martin’s general manager advised that △preparing a plan △defining work priorities △grouping browser tabs such as Google Chrome (adding tabs to a new group) would be helpful when working from home. He also emphasized that mutual understanding is important as the work method and work situation of each member are different.
He classified, “There are’long-distance race marathoners’ who work from home all day, and’short-distance races’ that have work to do (other than work) for reasons such as having to take care of their children at home.” If you have little time to devote, it is very helpful to prioritize the day before.” “Mutual cooperation is important, such as flexibly adjusting work and changing working hours. Google is offering parenting support and vacation programs for short-distance games. The performance evaluation also considers the characteristics of each individual situation.”
In addition, he added that if you feel burnout due to working from home, you should take care of your mental health such as △ distance from electronic devices and △ walking. After the coronavirus outbreak, Google also said that △providing additional vacation time △expert counseling △meditation app support △supporting programs among colleagues were provided for the mental health of employees.
Google’s telecommuting is in September this year. However, even after employees return to the office, the policy is to experiment with a new working system. It means that only three days a week designated as a’cooperation day’ will go to work and work remotely the rest of the day. Martin is contemplating how to maintain productivity in a’hybrid model’ in which different work environments are compatible. We are also looking into ways to transfer the advantages of working in the office space to work from home. This is a task he will solve at Google this year.
“Because commuting times are not fixed while working from home, some employees stay productive by driving them to work in the morning, taking a walk or exercising in the afternoon, and working again after rest. When I went to work, I realized my own’rhythm’ that I didn’t know. Even if I go back to the office, I think I can increase productivity only if I can work with my own rhythm. I’m thinking about how to apply the lessons learned from working from home to maintain high productivity.”