When the times get tough, the tough get going.
This is how companies all around the world are trying to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak. For some companies, working remotely has become a norm as they have utilised various technologies to work across geographical boundaries. But for many companies, they are increasingly having to adapt to this new reality as the virus takes hold of our lives.
In this latest blog article, we share with you how we are helping our clients, and why most organisations can implement processes to ensure staff are working effectively.
1. Set Goals and Focus on Productivity
People can still be as productive working from home as working from the office. Many businesses have already embraced this as the norm and millions of freelancers can attest to that.
Many employers and businesses are currently swiftly adapting to the current situation and staff are planning to work from home. It is critical to ensure you set goals and have a clear plan of what they should be doing to maintain productivity levels, if not better, to transition into this new environment.
Set clear KPI’s, daily and weekly. Make it a bit of a competition and make sure they are set up to hit certain goals at the end of the workday. Keeping yourself and your people accountable and in flow with a task routine is essential.
2. Be in constant communication
Initially, adjusting to this new scenario may be challenging. Therefore, you need to employ effective strategies to be focussed on meeting expectations, deadlines and maintaining your targets.
Use easy to use platforms such as Zoom, Skype or WhatsApp to communicate with your team, and customers for that matter, while working remotely.
We strongly recommend you up the communication to at least once a day at this time, preferably twice. Make sure meetings are scheduled and not negotiable. Have a format to follow though we think it helps to try and create a collaborative and social atmosphere where your team members are engaged.
Have your morning one that starts with 10minutes of physical activity. This is a really important thing to encourage the health and wellbeing of your team.
This sense of community will also help your mental health (and your team’s) while all of you are trying to cope with these tough times.
3. Encourage them to ‘turn up” to work
Have a set workstation, have a start and finish time, dress for work.
Working from home allows people to have flexible options with their location and timings. As an employer, this may be good or it may be a curse depending on the type of work you do. If you work in a high-stress environment where you have to meet tight deadlines, having an unpredictable work environment may wreak havoc with your project deliverables.
That is why you need to ensure that all of your staff have a particular location where they work from. It could be their own home or some other place, but if it is a fixed location, you always know where you can reach them.
Work timings should also be rigid, and similar to office timings. In this way, you can create a predictable work environment and get rid of any unnecessary delays due to this new flexibility of your staff or lack of supervision from your end.
4. Prioritise your health and wellbeing
When people are facing unprecedented uncertainty, it has the potential to affect mental health.
Keeping in a routine is proven to be key. Maintaining physical and mental health will help you to work efficiently and maintain even moods. A positive mindset is critical in successfully navigating the challenge upon us.
Spend more time with your family once your work is over. Nourish yourself and keep hydrated at all times. Our diet plays an important role in maintaining both our physical and mental health.
Finally, avoid isolating behaviour as that might be bad for your mental health. Reach out to your friends and family and stay connected, host a virtual coffee catch up, because this is the strongest way we can all beat the adverse effects of this devastating virus.