5 Tips To Make Remote Working A Little Less Complicated
Remote working is the new normal for many businesses, at least for ones that have the option to do so. Even as some states are moving to begin and cautiously reopen in phase one,
When it comes to teams, there are obviously different ways to navigate through the process of creating the right atmosphere for remote work to be possible, and so we’ve developed some tips and tricks that should help you and your businesses be able to do it well.
5 #WFH tips
- Make sure you have all remote work policies outlined: Ensuring that you have documented work-from-home or remote work policies documented
ensure that your entire team on the same page. If your team is used to working in an office, there may be some confusion caused by this change, so having policies in place keeps confusion low, and may actually improve productivity. - Use Zoom or Skype (or any other video-conferencing software) to have check-in meetings with team members: Whether your team is local or global, stay at home orders have ensured that every non-essential employee must work from home. And if your teams are used to working in tandem, this can be particularly isolating, so having teams talking to each other and with any supervisor on a consistent basis can help to keep communication consistent and also provide for a better working environment, and keep employee morale high. Having a regular weekly call where team members can voice their concerns or ideas (this obviously depends on the size of your business) can also be incredibly helpful.
- Make sure that all of your team members have the proper tools to work from home: Obviously, many of your team members may be using computers (and many may be using their work-laptops) but there’s also technology to think about. Whether it’s Zoom/Skype or productivity tools that a team member might use to keep themselves organized, or a collaboration tool like Google Docs or Bundle IQ, ensuring that team members have access to relevant tools is crucial. Have a list of tools (suggested and mandatory) pinned on your team’s Slack page (or other communication tools) to ensure that everybody knows what they need to be using and how to gain access to anything that requires a shared password.
- Make sure your team members have access to each other: When people who work with each other can stay in contact and communicate, the quality of work stays more consistent. This might mean setting up new communication channels or installing new tools like Slack or other messaging tools, but it’s worth it to keep everything together and your team on the same page. And don’t be afraid to try out new methods, because ensuring that your team is happy, healthy, and staying safe is as important to your team’s success as any other metric.
- Review current customer service success regularly: This is really two things in one:
- Ensure that your customer service team is ready and prepared to handle customer concerns. This means ensuring that they have the right information to relate back to customers when asked, and also those customer service team members have protocols in place for them to best understand how to best offer high-quality service to customers during a very chaotic time
- Celebrate customer service-based accomplishments, thereby showing those team members that you appreciate them. Obviously, as a business, you are constantly focused on how to best assist your clients, and your customer service specialists are your warriors on that field, so make sure you’re celebrating their hard work during such a tough time.
I hope these tips are helpful as we all continue to process the situation on the ground. Some states are looking at reopening, but it may be a lot longer for others, and having proper protocols for remote work may be essential to navigating not only this crisis but also future situations where it is necessary.
