Tag Archives: Checklist

Jul21

The Remote Teams Checklist

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The Remote Teams Checklist

There are a lot of advantages to remote work, but having remote teams tops the list. Why? Because, first of all, having remote teams means that a business can expand their talent pool and employ top talent from anywhere in the world. Second, and this I think is of equal importance, remote teams add diversity to an organization.

A lot of businesses are moving to remote work or some sort of hybrid work arrangement. How can they make sure that their employees will thrive in a remote work or hybrid environment?

Structure
Every organization needs structure. Remote teams are no exception. First of all, establish a workflow. Then, map out the reporting hierarchy. Keep all the members visible to one another so that teams know how the dynamics work and how to collaborate with other team members to accomplish their goal.

Technology
Once a structure has been established, equip your remote team with the means to accomplish their objectives. How will you do that with a distributed workforce? Laptops aren’t the only means to collaborate and help your remote team work together. You can also use collaboration apps and tools that are company approved. Make sure that security protocols are in place and strictly enforced. Business licenses to company approved programs are the best way to go, but if you are a small company, make sure that there is no disparity between apps used and make sure that the laptop is pre-equipped with approved tools and programs. Cyber security tools like Crowdstrike or similar tools can give enterprise grade protection to entrepreneurs and SMEs at an affordable price. Explore your options.

Staffing
People are the heart and soul of teams. Not everyone is equipped with the skills or the aptitude to work remotely. Teams or team managers might miss the non-verbal interaction that takes place during face to face meetings or -in-office work models. Assessing who is right for what type of job is critical in remote working. Choose wisely.

Expectations
Let your remote teams know how many hours daily are expected of them and what output is required. Remote teams are built around the basis of flexibility, but make sure that teams know when they are expected to be contactable and online for questions, meetings, collaborative work, etc. Your remote working policy should be in place and must be fair and equitable. Enforce this policy as soon as a team member is granted access to remote work benefits.

Engagement
As mentioned earlier, not everyone has the aptitude to work remotely. They may lack tech, for example, they might have an old laptop model that’s not compatible with most of your tools and programs. They might have spatial issues like not having a quiet place to work or enough privacy as they might be sharing a house with roommates. Or they might just not be accustomed to working from home, hate the isolation that comes with remote work, and crave the watercooler interactions at the office. Whatever, the reason is, make sure that your remote team is actually amenable to remote working. Look for ways to connect in-office teams with distributed teams and do this on a regular basis. One way is to engage in hybrid work where everyone is required to work in-house for a set number of days and still have the flexibility to work remotely on some days.

Have a clear and enforceable policy for each item on the checklist and regularly revisit them to improve your remote working processes. What are your tips for successful remote working teams? Share your tips with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Jan18

Not A New Year’s Resolution: A Checklist

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Not A New Year’s Resolution: A Checklist

I know how averse you are to making new year’s resolutions. So I’m not making a mock-up list for you. Don’t worry this is not a new year’s resolution. It’s a checklist of things that you need to pay special attention to and should get around to doing, at least once a year. Why do you need a checklist? Well, nothing can hold your attention for a year, except for your birthday. So if you don’t need to remember after 365 days, you’re most likely to forget, right? I’ve got you. I’ll do the heavy lifting so that you don’t need to. Here are 5 things to remember to do with every trip around the sun:

  • See your doctor for an annual physical checkup. Things crop up over time. Like a car, we all need a little maintenance. Go see your doctor to make sure that everything is in working order and that you are in tip-top shape. Get your blood work done and get a stress test, too. In the event that your doctor does find health issues, address them immediately.
  • Take your pets, too. It’s not just humans who need an overall physical check. Pets need them, too. Unlike us, pets can’t tell you if there’s something wrong with them. Make sure they’re also in the pink of health. Getting blood work done and updating their vaccinations ensure that your fur babies will stay with you for a long time.
  • Spring-clean your house – spring cleaning isn’t just for spring. It can be done anytime. Purge your belongings to make way for new ones. Gather them into 3 piles: to give away, to throw away, and to sell. Be honest when purging.  Contrary to what my mom believes, not everything can be repurposed. If you know someone else can use it, sell it or give it away. It’s good practice to get rid of the old in order to make room for new things to come into your life.
  • Do a thorough audit of your digital life as well. You might have subscriptions that you no longer use, social media platforms that aren’t relevant anymore, or just electronic waste accumulating over the years. Purge that, too. Unsubscribe yourself from newsletters you no longer read. Delete selfies or pictures that you have multiple copies of (or are too dark or grainy to make sense of). Get rid of social media platforms that you very rarely use (are you really that interested in Snapchat?)
  • Get your wheels checked. Worn out wheels decrease a cars’ performance and leaves it vulnerable to wear and tear over time. Also, a bad alignment can be a disaster waiting to happen. For your sake and everyone else’s road safety, have your wheels checked.

Is there anything else you think should go on this checklist? What activities do you religiously do on an annual basis? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

May20

How to use lists to train your brain to be more productive

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How to use lists to train your brain to be more productive

Aaah, the joys of checking off all the tasks on your checklist is comparable to the feeling of success. Don’t you feel accomplished after being able to cross things off of a list? It makes you feel like you’ve made it and that you’ve got it together, doesn’t’ it?

All of us use lists to track down work projects and personal projects – especially since most of those involve many moving parts or other people. The most important reason why this work is because it serves as a central “command center” to keep you organized and on task.

Why do lists work?
List works because they break a project down into smaller goals. Smaller goals are inherently short term. If you’re going for S.M.A.R.T. goals, the list already takes care of the specific, measurable, and time-bound part of it. It’s now up to you to take care of the attainable and realistic part in S.M.A.R.T.

How can we use it to train our brain?
Whenever we experience success, even if it is in small doses, our beautiful and amazing brain releases dopamine – a chemical that is both hormone and neurotransmitter often connected to a feeling of pleasure, reward, and motivation. The release of dopamine whenever we complete a task facilitates “self-directed learning”. This is why we strive to keep repeating the same actions that drive us towards success.

Once we are positively motivated, we learn to take the same actions to get the same feeling over and over. Now, back to checking things off of our list. We feel a sense of accomplishment whenever we cross or tick things off of our list, right? That’s because our brain releases dopamine to help us feel good. If the goal is to cross as many things off the list, our brain rewards us every time we do so with the feel-good chemical. This ‘motivates’ us to keep doing what we’re doing to achieve positive results. It now becomes a habit.

Get into the habit of creating lists
You can use your smartphone for this. With apps like Google Keep, Google Tasks, Trello, etc. All of these have checklist functions that you can build on or even share with others. Or if you’re old school, good old trusty pen and paper will do. Just make sure that your list has all the important details of your task. For example, you can write down ‘go to the grocery store’ on your to-do list but a better way would be to write ‘go to the grocery store to get cleaning supplies’ and then proceed to list the cleaning supplies down. Makes more sense, right?

What about you? Do you like having lists written down or do you prefer to use mobile apps to keep your lists? What are the apps that you use? Care to share them with us in the comments? Always remember to stay humble and hustle hard.

Written by Jaie O. The Help