Microsoft Supports "Telework Day" In Estonia

In February I told you about the Swedish “Work from home day”. On 31 May Estonia is trying something similar, and Siret Toots, kalmstrom.com Sales and Relations Manager, will tell you more about it.

Different point of view
In Estonia the “Work from home day” is called “Telework Day”. This gives another angle to the event, concentrating more on the technical possibilities to work via the internet rather than staying at home to work from there.

In Sweden Microsoft was the sole organizer of the day, but in Estonia it is arranged by a group consisting of Microsoft Estonia, the Estonian Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Smart Work and Elion, a company that offers a comprehensive range of telecommunication services in Estonia as well as other countries. The image below is a part of the nice banner used to advertise the event.

High tech country
As to telecommunications Estonia is an advanced country, with a 99% wifi and a 100% cellphone coverage. Therefore it is very suitable for being on the forefront when it comes to “teleworking”. Welcome to learn more about the Estonian technical revolution in my blog post on our Independence Day.

Microsoft employees work outside the office
Estonian Head of Microsoft, Rain Laane, points out that their employees already work remotely for about half of the work hours. “We save money and get an increased flexibility and efficiency”, he says. “And job satisfaction is beginning to increase.”

In Estonia as a whole 57% of the business meetings are done via the Internet, and 76% use a smartphone for work, according to a survey conducted by Microsoft and Elion in February.

High expectations
The same study showed that 80% of the respondents would like to work outside the office. Looking back on the development in Estonia during the last decades I am sure they will get that opportunity!

Swedish Offices Empty During The Microsoft “Work From Home Day”

As I told you in an earlier post, Microsoft Sweden had proclaimed a “Work From Home Day” for last Wednesday. It has been interesting to follow the discussion on social media, in newspapers and in television, and here is a summary and some more of my own thoughts on the subject.

Nearly 50 organizations joined the event
According to Microsoft Sweden nearly fifty companies and organizations joined the “Work from home day”, and that is not bad for a small country like Sweden. Below you see an image from the Microsoft office that day. Note that the offices were still open. The only difference was that the employees worked from their homes. Many of the participants were in the IT business, of course, but also a big organization like The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation closed their office and asked the staff to work from home. For them the benefits of less pollution when less people commuted were decisive.

Reactions on Facebook
Microsoft Sweden created a Facebook page for the event, and the comments were many and varied. In my opinion there was too much about unimportant things like how you dress when you work at home and too little about how to solve practical problems. Maybe the reason is that few of the visitors actually work from home on a regular basis? There were also comments from people who can never work from home, like teachers and nurses. And one visitor said “I would love to be able to weld from home!”

Mass media coverage
Many newspapers wrote about the Microsoft initiative, and it was also featured in several television channels. One of the news programs reported that people are not working more from home today than they did ten years ago, in spite of all the new technologies that make it easier. Many employers do not let their staff work from home even if it would be possible. Is it because of lack of confidence? Do they look more at time worked than at what is actually delivered?

Clear instructions make it easier
Sales Director Marie Ygge at Microsoft Sweden recommends clear instructions on what should be done when an employee works from home, so that both parties know what is expected. The SharePoint Task list is excellent for such instructions. We use a customized Task list for the kalmstrom.com staff, and it is easy to fill out and to check what has been done. And I know that at least one of our employees likes to look at the old, finished tasks also, for the encouragement that only a task well done can provide!

Working from home is not possible or even desirable for all, but for those who can and want to do it employers should cooperate. I firmly believe that happy people are more healthy and do a better job, and if working conditions can be improved to make employees more content it is in the end an advantage not only for the individual people but also for the company.