5 Ways To Make Work From Home Work For Your Business

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At the time, I did not realize we were so innovative. When I founded the agency in 2003, it was clear to me that with the Internet, email, phones, and the nature of our public relations and marketing communication services, not everyone needed to be in the same office all the time. I also recognized that I could more easily attract and retain the best talent for our agency – whether they were in California, Texas, Massachusetts or North Carolina – by not forcing them to relocate to our office in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In 2021, our agency looks prescient considering most of my staff have always worked from their homes. In reality, at the time, I was just doing what was best for my business. To this day, though, employee after employee tells me that the choice to work from home, not uprooting their families and starting a new life in a new town, was a major attractive feature in joining our agency.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues throughout most of the country—and survey after survey show how much employees prefer to work from home—some employers are considering that they may need to loosen their policies to allow more team members to work from home. Although it might make it harder for our agency to compete for talent, I would encourage you to do it. Here’s how to make work from home work for your company:

  1. Set Clear Expectations

Like all businesses, our agency runs on deadlines. Whether it is an article, press release, white paper or PR plan, having clear, accountable deadlines ensures that the distractions of working from home do not detract from productivity.

Another expectation we have is accessibility and responsiveness. We offer flexible schedules as long as the work gets done and clients are happy, but when a member of our team says they will be in their office, we expect that they will indeed be available either by email, phone or for web meetings. That availability is important for internal communication, but it is even more crucial to better serve our clients. Being available and responsive to them must always be the top priority during work hours.

2. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Although many companies use Slack and other business communication platforms, our team has still found email to be the most effective and easiest way to stay in touch with each other on a daily basis. Of course, we have plenty of phone calls and web conferences, but the bulk of our daily communication runs on email.

Once again, if one of our clients wants to use a business communication platform, our account teams happily use that method. The key is the consistency of communication and setting the expectation of a prompt response during a team member’s regular schedule.

3. Show Me the Schedule

Our account teams do a lot of writing, editing, and strategic planning, which is much easier without the distractions and interruptions of email and meetings. We also do not want to disrupt any of their client meetings with our internal questions or calls.

For these reasons and others, our account teams make their schedules public so their managers and colleagues can visualize their availability. Other than client meetings, our teams also make sure to block time in their schedule for writing, editing or creating a presentation. Blocking a schedule sends a message like an office door being open or closed. As a colleague, you know what it means when you see it.

4. Company-Wide Meetings Are a Must

Although the actual time seems to constantly change, our agency still meets regularly on a web conference to talk about agency updates, share success stories and best practices and even feature guest speakers. To keep it fun, we compile positive feedback that team members have received from clients or colleagues and share them. We also have a drawing where a positive comment is drawn at random and the person receiving the compliment wins a gift card. We call it our “kudos” drawing and it is always an uplifting way to close a meeting.

5. Check-in Regularly

Every six months, we have a formal check-in where a manager will talk with a team member about their work, accomplishments, challenges and solicit feedback to find out how we can improve as an agency. Since we are still relatively a small company with 25 team members, I also still check in with people I haven’t spoken to in a while on a more personal level to see how they are feeling about work, their life and if we can support them in any way. Since we can’t have impromptu “water cooler” or coffee machine moments, these random check-ins help nurture a sense of closeness and camaraderie that is difficult to cultivate when we don’t see each other in person as often.

A bonus tip: If your work-from-home team feels comfortable traveling, have a company-wide retreat either once a year or every couple of years, depending on your company’s size and budget. It is always rewarding when we can get together in a fun location, enjoy meals and learn from each other. The fact that we so rarely get to see each other in person makes the retreats especially meaningful for our team.

So whether you plan to bring all, some or none of the team back to the office once the pandemic is under control, I recommend instituting an option to work from home, if it is feasible for your company. Our teams appreciate the perk and show it to us every day in their high quality of work and client service.

4 Tips From A Former Healthcare Reporter

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Career changes are rarely easy, especially when you study a field throughout college and subsequently work in it following graduation.

In August, I left a respected healthcare trade journal after nearly four years and ‘crossed over to the dark side,’ as they say.

There were several professional motivations behind the move, but one that excited me about joining the world of public relations (PR) was that I had already worked with numerous agencies during my time on the editorial side.

As I’ve settled into my new role, I wanted to share four observations on the PR strategies that I found most effective while in my capacity as a journalist.

1. Understand who you’re pitching to

Every PR representative should take time to do their research on the journalists and outlets that they’re pitching.

In my time at the magazine, I primarily covered healthcare finance, policy, and revenue cycle, among a handful of other industry-related topics. Still, I received countless emails from aimless PR representatives pitching me everything from CBD oils to a historian for the band Aerosmith. (Yes, this actually happened.)

Even those that understood I covered the healthcare industry for an audience of payer and provider executives would occasionally float article ideas and interview opportunities that simply missed the mark.

If you’re looking to place a byline or secure earned media with an interview opportunity, make sure you know who you’re speaking with and why it’s worth their while. I always found myself most responsive to PR representatives who weren’t just looking for free publicity but could see down the field about how the interaction would lead to a greater result for both sides.

2. Get to the point (and have other options available)

The only thing worse than getting a random PR pitch that’s off-topic is being forced to read several paragraphs to find out it’s irrelevant.

Short, timely pitches are always winners. The pitch should tell me what the topic is, who can speak to it, and when they’re available.

Additionally, a pitch should offer flexibility for both the PR agency and the outlet. If you’re pitching a potential source as an expert on revenue cycle management but they can also speak to the price transparency regulations and the effects on provider organizations, mention that in your email.

You should be providing as many onramps as possible for a client to appear in a story.

3. Relay expectations to your client

Understandably, most clients probably don’t fully understand how the world of PR and media works. That’s fine, but you have to be the one who explains the dynamics at play so they’re not disappointed by outcomes that don’t match their expectations.

Not every interview is going on the front page of The New York Times, but every speaking engagement, written Q&A, or byline adds up to meaningful coverage.

Additionally, media training to refresh even the most charismatic leaders should be the standard. During interviews I conducted as a journalist, I learned quickly which PR contacts had adequately gone over their notes with my subjects ahead of time and which ones threw them headfirst into the fire.

Don’t leave your clients treading water; let them know what the opportunity is about, why they’re qualified to speak on the subject, and prepare them for any extraneous questions.

4. Create a conversation

Some of the most reliable PR contacts from my journalism days were people who didn’t just pitch me and disappear into the night.

They stuck around and actually engaged with me as normal people do. Whether this was sending the occasional email to see what stories I was working on, interacting with each other on social media, or reading my content, it kept them in my purview as I went about my job.

Additionally, whenever I had a story to write on a tight deadline, I knew I could reach out to these reliable PR contacts and get the appropriate sources on the line.

This doesn’t mean that you have to be chummy with every journalist you come across, (odds are they aren’t always going to chummy in response), but breaking down the at-times acrimonious barrier between church and state can be helpful.

I hope that these tips based on my understanding of how media outlets operate can provide the world of PR with some useful tips to be more effective in the work we do.