Linked: what’s reasonable for managers to expect of parents working from home?
Echoing my own thoughts from yesterday, this response to a question about being frustrated with an employee being slower to get work done because they have a toddler at home all day, is pure gold.
“In the past, it was reasonable to expect people to stay more or less productive throughout the workday. It’s not anymore. That’s not because people are lazy or taking advantage or somehow not understanding what work you expect of them. It’s because there is a global pandemic that has changed everyone’s reality. It needs to change yours too.”
Yesterday I actually saw a similar question addressed by the Manager Tools team about “distracting” kids in the background of calls and thought Mark’s response was just as insightful.
“They outrank you”
It’s always been true, but employers have never had to directly deal with the fact that to their employees, work is not the most important priority they have, nor should it be. Now that most people don’t have a school or daycare to send the kids to while they “go” to work, their entire lives are being re-balanced. And that’s not to mention the ones who are directly dealing with the virus itself in family members, themselves, or living with someone who is still going to work every day in healthcare or essential services. It’s not just parents who are less than 100% focused on the workday, we are all adjusting to new realities and lifestyles. As the article below points out, that includes the workplace.
Go read the whole thing. It’s a great response, and indicates just how much some managers simply don’t care about the people who work for them, which makes them 1000% unqualified to be a manager.
https://www.askamanager.org/2020/04/whats-reasonable-for-managers-to-expect-of-parents-working-from-home.html
