With businesses being faced to move their workforce into a remote working environment amidst the global pandemic that is COVID-19, questions are beginning to arise about how workers can adapt during these uncertain times.
Are you a line manager wondering how you can support your employees remotely?
Are you an employee wondering how you will stay engaged?
Wondering how and where you will find your get up and go?
As a Virtual Assistant, I work completely remotely from my own home and I am currently a one-man band meaning that I have to drum up my own motivation on a daily basis.
For some people, this will come naturally. However, for those of you who are used to being in a busy office environment where you can bounce your ideas off like-minded colleagues, this may feel totally out of your comfort zone.
Amidst the current pandemic, it seems inevitable that those who are able to will be asked to work from home sooner rather than later. For this reason, it felt right to compile a list of my top 10 steps to remote working to help those that may be struggling with the idea:
1. Get up and get dressed
Set your alarm for the same time that you normally would. Continue with your normal routine in the morning whatever that may be. If you can get yourself out for a walk or some exercise before you start work this can really help to put you in the right frame of mind.
2. Communication is key
Discuss among your team how is best to communicate with each other in different circumstances. Groups emails? Phone calls? Instant messaging service? Announcements on a program like Slack?
Ensure that you make your employees aware of what your expectations are of them. Are they to work specific hours? As long as the work gets done, does it matter what hours they work? Do they need to be available at certain times of the day for phone calls?
Whatever your agreed communication channel is, discuss how often it is acceptable to be contacting each other throughout the day.
This is likely to differ depending on the sector you work in and the type of work that you do.
3. Trust
The situation that a lot of people have found themselves in over the last couple of weeks has meant, that companies have been forced to consider home working when they don’t necessarily trust their employees to do this.
There will undoubtedly be a few employees who will take the situation as an advantage to ‘skive off’ however the majority of people will go above and beyond to ensure the work gets done.
Constantly checking on your staff to make sure that they are working at specific times will likely just lead to disengagement.
Try to measure the work done by the output that you are getting rather than the number of hours that a staff member has made themselves available during that day.
4. Virtual Meetings
Organise the set-up of virtual meetings via communication channels such as Zoom (this is my preferred method).
If you normally meet for a team meeting at the beginning of every day to discuss the day ahead, continue to do this. It will mean that everyone will still be in the same routine as they would on a normal working day.
Zoom allows you to all share access to your webcams and microphones. All you have to do is make your own coffee and you have got your usual staff meeting in place!
5. Cloud Based Systems
Cloud-based systems such as Google Drive and Dropbox are almost essential when you are working from home. These systems ensure accessibility from anywhere and give you the ability to share with anyone who is necessary.
6. Templates
Make sure that you have planned ahead and saved your regularly used templates and relevant files to your cloud-based system which you will have now set up. These will ensure that you can maintain your brand and allow for consistency amongst your team.
You may need to ask your IT department for VPN access depending on your current set up at work.
7. Work Buddy
Consider asking members of your team to choose someone to be their accountability buddy that they can contact via phone, Zoom or any other form of messaging that they feel is appropriate. This can then give them someone they can bounce ideas off and help keep each other engaged and motivated. This will help to mimic the normal working environment.
8. Breaks
It can be so easy to get sucked into what you are doing when you are working from home and sometimes you can find yourself sat at your desk for hours without taking a break.
Try setting an alarm to remind you to take a break, as you would if you went to make yourself a coffee or popped to the loo at work. This will help to keep you feeling alert and will prevent the inevitable brain fog that you get from staring at a computer screen!
9. Eat and drink
It might sound very simple that we still need to eat and drink. However, it can be really easy to become a grazer when you are working from home leading to poor food choices. Particularly if you have set up your work station in the kitchen!
Try to ensure that you are taking a proper lunch break and try to choose healthy options still rather than just choosing the easy to reach things such as biscuits and crisps!
Move away from your computer screen if you are able to in order to have your lunch. Drink plenty of water as this will help to increase concentration.
10. Distractions
Some people are very wary about working from home as they feel they will be distracted by certain things. If you know there are certain things that will distract you, hide them away!
Find what works for you. There are some people who like to have the TV on especially if they are used to a busy office environment as it will add to the background noise. I personally can’t work without the radio on but for someone else this could prove distracting.
So, there it is. These are my top 10 steps to remote working. Not everyone will be sold by the idea of working from home on a regular basis and for some sectors and job roles, it just won’t work long term. However, for the short term a lot of people don’t have much choice on the matter so the best thing to do for now is to make the best out of a bad situation and do what you can. Following these 10 steps will help you to get the most out of it.
If you find yourself needing additional administration support in these testing times, where you may be finding that staff members are unable to work due to illness or childcare issues, I am on hand to support as many businesses as I can! Check out my website for more information www.vivasupport.co.uk and get in touch with me emily@vivasupport.co.uk to see how I can help you.