By Carina Américo, AMA – Agency for Administrative Modernization
The emergency situation that arose with COVID-19 accelerated the more widespread transition to remote work and teleworking. In fact, times of uncertainty serve as a catalyst for us to look at the world differently, pushing us towards new ways of managing our work, managing teams and even our own lives.
Almost 15 months after the first state of emergency, I would say that discipline, flexibility, empathetic communication with colleagues and managers, and a good work-life balance are some of the key tricks for making the most of teleworking and maintaining that all-important personal balance, both in terms of physical and psychological health.
Tips to improve your work from home
Among others tips that help overcome the challenges of working from home, I highlight some:
- Create a specific workspace with adequate privacy, lighting, IT tools and good internet access;
- Set concrete and realistic weekly and daily goals to ensure proper focus on what is important;
- Set a schedule that meets the needs of your organization and your role, but also your biological clock (remember to take several 10-minute breaks throughout the day to rest and regain energy and focus);
- Maintain ongoing contact with your colleagues and team to ensure work coordination, as well as to maintain good social relationships and leisure time together;
- Know when to stop. End your workday with energy. This way, you can spend quality time with family and friends and, most importantly, have time for yourself.
To learn how to deal with the impact that this pandemic has had on our lives (and since Covid-19 arrived without warning and without an instruction manual), AMA has made available, through NAU Platform, a service managed by the FCCN unit of the FCT, two courses to support Public Administration: “Teleworking in Times of Isolation” and “Team Canvas – for more aligned and productive teams”These training courses aim to support all public servants, as well as interested citizens and business owners, in adapting to a new reality.
As such, the courses present various techniques and strategies that contribute to the development of socio-professional skills, in the context of working from home., while facilitating the development of skills in balancing professional, personal and family life, in an increasingly digital context.
In my opinion, the The integration of several AMA courses on a platform like NAU immediately allowed them to be publicized among many people potentially interested in the topics., both within and outside Portugal. But it was also an opportunity for the AMA Academy to contribute to accelerating the adaptation and positive progress of new ways of working, alongside an educational network open to change and continuous learning, which we found in NAU's promoters, partners, and users.
The results we've achieved are significant. Participation exceeded expectations in a very short period of time, considering that we also had several public agencies contact the AMA to promote these courses to all their employees, ensuring they are properly prepared for the teleworking imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is also worth highlighting the very positive feedback and comments we receive every month about the training, at the level, for example, of the opportunity and usefulness of the topics for the most diverse professionals, the practical and engaging nature of the courses, the clarity of the information and the diversity of examples and exercises.
AMA and NAU: Joint Learning
The partnership between NAU and AMA has been a successful collaboration, with both parties focusing, from the outset, on joint learning and offering more and better online and multimedia training solutions. This work is based on meetings and brainstorming periodicals, in a close relationship between the NAU and AMA Academy.
We strongly believe in leveraging our respective strengths and years of experience in eLearning. By combining the knowledge of both organizations, we develop innovative training and knowledge-sharing methodologies tailored to the target audience.
Overall, it is worth starting by highlighting the adherence to the two courses: “Teleworking in Times of Isolation” had a total of 8,086 registrations (with a completion rate of 54%), and the “Team Canvas – for More Aligned and Productive Teams” Course, which registered 4,004 registrations (with a completion rate of 55%). These courses were mostly taken by Public Administration professionals and interested citizens,with a satisfaction of the formation of about 90%.
The commitment to the continuous improvement of the NAU platform, the structure and evolution of its technical and pedagogical solutions, with more and varied partners and training areas/courses at all times, make it an ideal partner for the joint promotion of knowledge and skills development for the entire Portuguese community and all interested parties.
The AMA Academy will naturally continue to invest in making its certified courses available on the NAU platform., in the same training areas, but also in other topics within their expertise, such as: digital identity; customer service (now with the support of technology); accessibility and usability of digital content & online leadership and services.
We are actually preparing some new features for this year.
AMA is confident that this partnership will continue to be beneficial for both parties.. Many ideas will emerge in the future, tailored to the professional and personal challenges of various target audiences. Solutions always focused on innovative and excellent services for the citizens and businesses that drive and inspire us every day.
Carina Américo is responsible for creating open and online training courses for AMA – Agency for Administrative Modernization.
