This article was originally published by David Saltsman on LinkedIn, and has been modified for the T1V Blog,
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I don’t really post advice. Mostly because there are plenty of folks doing that already. But given the recent events, I have some tips and tricks I genuinely think are helpful to the community.
I applaud the organizations who have implemented, and are enforcing, a work-from-home policy. That being said, this is uncharted territory for many organizations, having a majority of their workforce working remotely.
I am by no means an expert, but I’ve worked remotely off and on through my career and work from home in my current role. Below are a few of my recommendations, both for employees and employers, to ease this transition.
Employees:
- Be available: It’s called WORKing from home for a reason. You still have to answer your phone, respond to emails, etc. Seems obvious, but stay disciplined to not abuse this new feeling of ‘freedom’ you will experience.
- Create a new routine: This is so important to maintaining a productive day. Losing the structure that a commute provides can totally throw you off. Proactively adjust to keep a routine.
- Keep your calendar up-to-date: This is a tool for organizing your day, but it also provides your team with visibility to your availability, and your actions. You’re going to schedule a lot more remote meetings and making sure everyone can join will be critical.
- Designate an ‘office’: This can be anything from a spare room to your kitchen table. Just make sure it is quiet, well-lit, and when needed can provide privacy (still going to be having confidential convos). Call volume is going to increase, with a lot more video, so respect that and be prepared.
- Learn your video conferencing software front to back: You’re still going to have calls, meetings, demos, etc. They’ll just be remote over VC. Don’t be ‘that guy’ that doesn’t know how to share his screen, or unmute his microphone. Call a team member and practice. And if your company doesn’t have a VC tool (like Zoom, Teams, WebEx, etc.) starting asking for one, asap, like yesterday.
- Embrace your company's chat tool: By this I mean Slack, Teams, Mattermost, this list goes on. You may not physically be in the office but these tools allow you to still be an active part in the office community. Again, if you don’t have one, demand demand demand.
- Check your network: You’re going to want decent down/up speed, reliability, etc. When I went full-time remote I was dropping calls all the time. After a simple router reset it’s been smooth sailing. Take a few minutes and just check.
Employers:
- Be flexible: As Uncle Ben says ‘with power comes great responsibility’. Provide that option to work remotely. Encourage the transition even, but enforce accountability. Stay involved and adjust based on your businesses demands.
- Check your VPN: Are you ready to support a majority of your workforce working offsite? Most organizations are not. Contact your local IT professional and be prepared. Avoid decreased productivity by providing that remote access.
- Embrace video conferencing: This is such a strong tool for remote workers. Check your licenses are up-to-date, everyone has a license, calendar integration is complete, the list goes on.
- Provide support for office equipment: Be reasonable about it, but give workers the opportunity to bring a display home, or their keyboard/mouse, a webcam, etc. We rely on our tools to be productive and all those peripherals make a huge difference.
- Lean in to a ‘bad’ situation: Culture is, and will continue to be, a massive focus for organizations. Don’t lose sight of that just because you’re not in the office for a few weeks. Instead, have fun with it. Create fun events like ‘best lunch’, best ‘work from home’ outfit, coffee-of-the-day, etc. I’m by no means a driver of culture, but you get the idea.
I think one lasting impact from this current crisis will be an overhaul of our work-from-home policies. As employees, and employers, we will have experienced the value this adds to our companies, our work, and our life.
Take the time now to embrace this change, and adjust your expectations accordingly, both now and for the future.
For more information on video conferencing and remote collaboration, join T1V on one of our upcoming webinars: t1v.com/webinars