The Covid19 Coronavirus is spreading fast and has reached global pandemic levels. It doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon and more and more countries go on nationwide lockdown. To mitigate the spread of the virus, the most sensible precaution is to self-quarantine and practice social distancing. So for everyone’s health, working from home is going to be the new normal.

This is why a lot of businesses are encouraging their employees to work from home. Not a lot of businesses have the capacity to allow their workforce to work remotely though. So some might be making huge adjustments to the work from home setup. 

To keep the economy running, the workforce has to be operational. For employers, it has to be business as usual. That means adapting to online ways of working and taking steps to support a remote working workforce. 

While running a team from home, employers need to evaluate and recalibrate their remote working strategy. From time to time. Plan to do regular “health checks” to see if your business continuity plan is still aligned and working. Do you need to assess your readiness for supporting work from home employees? Here are a few questions to ask:

How are the employees working from home?

• Do they have the devices that will enable them to work from home? (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc)
• Do they have the correct digital tools? (Enterprise apps, Learning systems, Collaboration suites, etc.)
• Do they have a dedicated workspace or are they just making do with working off a side table? (Quiet space, spare room, etc.)
• Do they have a stable network? (Hardwired internet connection, mobile data, etc.)

What else do they need?

• Send out an online survey (which they can complete before a deadline)
• Send them private feedback forms (which they can choose to answer anonymously)
• Encourage them to send real-time messages for suggestions on how you can help them

How do we improve collaboration?

• Use project tracking and management tools (Wrike, Trello, Zoho Projects, MS 0365, etc.) and make sure to invest in the right collaboration software (one that doesn’t have a steep learning curve and is practical for the company – in short, you don’t need all the bells and whistles of collaboration software so carefully consider the features you need)
• Encourage innovation and idea-sharing 
• Deploy Subject Matter Experts to teams 
• Use a common language (especially if you work with different departments or lines of business)
• Encourage real-time project updates and feedback
• Celebrate wins, big or small
• Facilitate continuous communication (instant messaging or video conferencing)

How do we improve communication?

• Encourage feedback and discussion (now is the time to over-communicate, not only to keep the workforce focused and productive, but also to encourage social contact – it can get lonely in self-quarantine sometimes)
• Use the right tools (small business unified comms like Office 365, Slack, Zoho Meeting, BlueJeans, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, etc.)
• Hold regular meetings (morning check-ins, water cooler discussions, end of day virtual huddles, etc.)

How are you supporting your work from home team? Let us know in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp