The ongoing covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on daily life for people across the globe. One area that has particularly felt the impact of these changes is the world of business. As communities seek to keep social contact to a minimum to prevent the spread of the virus, non-essential businesses have been encouraged to work from home. While keeping people protected and preventing the spread of the virus is a priority, you might have struggled to adjust to working efficiently with a remote workforce. To help you out, here is a short guide to efficient remote working practices.
Use A Collaboration Platform
One of the main difficulties you will no doubt encounter while working remotely is communicating and collaborating effectively on a project when you and your colleagues are not in the same room. A collaboration platform enables a team to work together remotely by providing a secure instant messaging service, along with file sharing facilities, enabling businesses to boost productivity when working remotely. One of the most popular collaboration platforms used by businesses is Slack. However, this is an expensive platform that may not be the most suitable for all industries, and as such, you may want to investigate popular Slack alternatives, such as Mattermost.
Monitor Productivity
Working in an office has the benefit of putting employees in a work-ready mindset; conversely, the home is full of distractions, especially if you do not have a home office space and instead are working from the couch. As such, it is easy for minds to stray when working from home, being distracted by household chores, or even the lure of a boxset. Use productivity monitoring software to make sure that employees are working when they are supposed to be. Armed with this data, you can approach any employees who are slacking and find ways in which their productivity can be increased while working from home. This might include implementing more flexibility into your workday, enabling staff to work after they have finished homeschooling their children, for example.
Check Up On Staff’s Wellbeing
Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic and the change in life this has involved, the past year has been an incredibly trying time for everyone. As well as adjusting to working from home, your staff may have other worries on their mind; they might be concerned about a vulnerable family member, for instance, or struggling with the lack of social contact. These worries may have caused a decline in productivity, so don’t immediately assume that they have simply been enjoying being out of the boss’s sight. Take the time to check in with your colleagues, acknowledging the strange situation that you are all in, and encourage people to talk about any concerns they might have. Together, you can work towards solutions to support your workforce and make working from home easier. This empathy will, in turn, result in more efficient remote working practices and a happier team.
