6 Outdated Rules that Every Business should review.

Change is inevitable and is part of our life. However in last one decade the world has leapfrogged and changed a lot. And if that wasn’t enough, in just less than a year world has changed more than what was anticipated for next 5-10 years. Whether you like it or not, it’s time for Business to change and evolve as well.

The traditional “rules” of work simply don’t apply to a majority of jobs anymore, and that can be a hard truth to hear. Many of us are already overwhelmed with the sheer volume of tough decisions, changes, and new responsibilities we have to juggle, but — in order to do what’s best for our businesses — it’s critical to take a hard look at how things used to be, what’s changed since then, and, most important, how we must respond to those changes. 

While there were few pioneers who had started discussing these ideas for few years now; it is only in current times when many others are forced to make changes even for short term. But now many leading corporations like Microsoft, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Dallas Mavericks have already started making some of these changes permanent as they understand that it is beneficial for both employees and employers.

Old Rule: Work from office
New Rule: Work from Home
When COVID-19 forced companies all over the world to send their employees home to work virtually, remote work had a big moment.

Yes, the rush to give employees access to all the tools they’d need to work from home was a bit, well, sudden for many employers. But after everyone settled in, what quickly became apparent to many office-based teams is that employees could be productive and focused when not in the office—in many cases, even more so. Employers everywhere began to understand that remote work really works.

More and more businesses are understanding the advantages of allowing employees to work from home. As we’ve long known, remote work has a host of advantages for workers including better work-life balance, saving commute time, less stress etc. And now it more businesses are understanding that it also offers lot of advantages to them as well mainly in terms of higher productivity, employee over-head cost saving (real-state, facilities, utilities etc.), lower attrition etc.

Old Rule: Forecast
New Rule: Dashboard

The first piece of advice I’d offer a employers and leaders is forecasts are out, dashboards are in. The notion that you can now forecast the economy, healthcare, and other aspects of what can disrupt life, I think, is gone. Now we’re in an environment where we’ve also learned that what you really need to have a handle on are the metrics, insights, and what’s actually happening on the ground—the dashboard of daily life.

It also requires CEOs and other leaders to be knowledgeable enough about data and technology to be able to make informed decisions. The chief information officer, the chief technology officer, marketing—every decision is now powered by a set of data and analytics that you have to understand quite deeply.

Even if you are small business it makes sense to prepare a dashboard of the key metrics of your business and keep it visible so that everyone in your leadership team can view it and make informed decisions.

Old Rule: Traditional office hours
New Rule: Active hours
Before pandemic very few companies allowed employees to work remotely and even fewer allowed it for long period of time. And now for many industries, the introduction of remote work created a major shake-up that, if we’re honest, not everyone was completely prepared for. However, as working from home continues to change how we do business, it’s important that not just adapt to this reality but evolve our business practices and policies to make the best use of it.

Increasing evidence has shown that sedentary behavior in the workplace can be curtailed by making changes to the work environment, such as the introduction of active workstations. And therefore it makes more sense to not expect employees to be online through out those outdated office hours.

The traditional Monday-through-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule is the thing of the past and it’s time for businesses to make the leap. Many studies have been published that our active concentration only last for about 45 minutes before we start loosing it. Therefore it makes more sense to have few such sessions spread out in your day based your schedule.

Replace your traditional work hours with predefined "active hours" that work for you, your employees, and your business. That might be 6 AM to 8AM every day (or some other chunk of time that makes sense), and encourage your employees to be available and/or on call during these hours. Employers should let employees be the master of their schedule and let them come up with their schedule based on team’s requirement of collaborative task (which require coordination among other employees) and solo task (which can be completed alone).

Many studies have shown that when employees are trusted to work in their own schedule they require much less supervision.

Old Rule: Standard 40-hour work week
New Rule: Flexible scheduling
Now it is no surprise that so many organizations have reported higher productivity when they allowed employees to work from home. And therefore the standard 40 hour work week do not make any sense. Because many employees are more efficient when given freedom to work on their own schedule. And therefore employers should opt for more flexible scheduling based on work volume. Off-course there should be guideline to ensure no one party is taking advantage of the other.

We should all remember that the eight-hour workday is over 200 years old. Robert Owens, a Welsh labor rights activist, is credited with coining the phrase “Eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest” back in 1817, and it’s a concept that quickly made its way to America. By the early 1920s, the idea of the eight-hour workday hit the mainstream, and we’ve relied on that structure ever since.

Obviously, a lot of things have changed over the last two hundred years — so why are we still clinging to a concept that is literally centuries old? Research proves that shorter workdays (and shorter work weeks) are both fantastic ways to improve both quality of life and quality of work for your employees. We know that employees who are happier (and more productive) help improve the bottom line, so why aren’t we making the switch? 

Reducing the time employees spend in the office was becoming an increasingly popular policy, with companies around the world experimenting with shorter working hours.

Productivity jumped 40% when Microsoft Japan tested a four-day working week in August, while New Zealand firm Perpetual Guardian found engagement levels rose when the company trialed a three-day weekend earlier this year.

Another approach being taken by employers around the world is working five-hour days over a five-day week. Many CEOS experimented with this idea in last few years including legendry Mark Cuban (yes, from Shark Tank) and become advocates of the five-hour day and reported that they believed the traditional eight-hour workday would eventually become a thing of the past. And I believe now is the time to make that shift.

Old Rule: Supervision
New Rule: Accountability

One of the reasons why many business owners resist introducing flexible schedules or work-from-home options is because they’re worried it’s going to be difficult to oversee employees if they aren’t in the office or logged in at the same time. 

However it’s been observed that businesses that focusses on accountability instead of supervision can see increases in productivity, employee engagement and innovation. Employees work hard to come up with innovative solutions when they know they will be recognized for their good work.

Employees often fail when there are not clear about work goals and the parameters for them to be evaluated. Once you do a clear goal setting and have detailed discussion around it the chances of them succeeding increases many fold.

Instead of being disconnected from your team — or, on the opposite end, becoming a dreaded micromanager — try to create touch points. Like introducing weekly check-ins where employees can tell you the top three items they’re working on that week. You can do a quick check-in throughout the week via call, email or messenger but, for the most part, it’s about learning to trust the people you’ve hired to do great work and create a robust system/processes in place to help them do it and provide course correction as and when needed.

Old Rule: Be a good manager
New Rule: Be a great leader

When it comes to being a business owner, one of the most important things you can learn is the difference between a manager and a leader. Anyone can manage a team (with varying degrees of success), but it involves a lot of time, energy, and effort that you probably don’t have at your disposal right now. 

Instead of viewing your role as if you’re managing a team of employees, focus on learning how to be a fantastic leader as well. Be creative and flexible. Instead of pointing fingers at your employees (or the pandemic), learn how to be proactive instead of reactive. What can you do better as a leader? Where can your team improve? Learn how to empower your team to function autonomously and at a high level. 

Remember, this isn’t just about doing what’s best or most comfortable for you. It takes practice, but eventually you’ll find a solution that’s best for your customers, your employees and your bottom line. 

Bonus Tip - Professional Headshot is a Must
And since virtual presence plays a even bigger role in this post Covid world therefore you and your team members must have professional headshots across all communication channels. This create a great image of your business and also make communication much more humane when you can see your colleague in his best while interacting with him. Check out our detailed on why you must have a headshot for more reasons.