We are still working from home

Many employees say "as long as we have to get back to work soon", but so far we will be working home until February 7, 2021, and the lockdown seem to be prolonged. It is important that we continue to follow the Danish Health Authority's advice to reduce the infection pressure.

In AGRO, we work with guidelines for physical presence at our service locations (https://agro.medarbejdere.au.dk/corona-i-agro/), however we have not yet had such a strong focus on home workplaces.

All employees are welcome to borrow chairs and screens to ensure that the physical work environment is in order. Mental well-being, on the other hand, is far more difficult to find and the problems are more difficult to solve. In the management, we therefore regularly raise the topic to maintain focus and ensure that the sections follow up on cases, where the mental well-being is not good.

Some of our colleagues have small school children who also have to be taken care of during the day. We all fully understand that it can be a challenge. I will encourage employees who have challenges to which they cannot find a solution to, to contact their section manager/operations manager to find a possible solution that can work for their family.

Some good advice for better well-being at home work, which everyone can follow

Remember to continue to reach out to each other both professionally and socially - as a colleague and human being. Use the phone or arrange a virtual meeting instead of an email. It creates greater community and helps reduce loneliness.

Remember to keep the social contact with short virtual coffee meetings. Or hold orientation meetings, which end with informal talk.

Remember to separate work and private life. Walk, run or cycle before or after work. And if you work in your living room or kitchen, you should clear your workplace when your work day is over,

Breaks during the day are important for body and soul. This can be done with online courses, lectures, or maybe workout in the breaks. Here are some suggestions:

• The staff association has, for example, offered lectures via this link www.athenas.dk/webinar.htm, they are mostly in Danish.
• If you did not see this in the spring, you can e.g. review webinars about Teams https://medarbejdere.au.dk/administration/it/vejledninger/samarbejde/teams-samarbejde/. Similarly, there is about Zoom https://www.loom.com/share/f6715a0dfc3649b79b2a57a4fa30f23b.
• Finally Firmaidrætten provides via their Facebook page the opportunity to participate in break gymnastics. It takes place at 11.50 everyday and is called Active Pause. See more here: Firmaidrætten | Facebook

As leaders, we work to continue to the use of methods that strengthen a trusting and respectful relationship with and between employees.

Together, we can ensure a better mental work environment in the home workplace by remembering each other and talking together at a distance. It may seem overwhelming, as it will probably take a long time before we are physically back at our workplace. Therefore, my call is that we must do everything to keep the good AGRO spirit so that everyone gets through as best they can.