For all its merits, working from home can bring with it the real danger of isolation for some employees.
A breakdown in communication between team members is one of the biggest risks of all when it comes to remote working - both for well being and productivity. Now you are no longer a few desks away from your co-workers, it is vital that you maintain regular, preferably daily communication with your team.
Remote working has become an abrupt reality for many workers throughout the nation who may be inexperienced with the concept. However, this is not a reality that is likely to go away too soon, with many people even predicting that Covid-19 could cause a permanent shift towards remote working throughout the UK. To help ease in this transition, we have put together this guide for employers and employees alike for maintaining communication whilst remote working.
Cultivate a Daily Communication Routine
It is vital for your communication to be over-emphasised from a remote location in order to maintain standard business operations and productivity levels. Email, phone, video call and messaging services (e.g. Slack) are your go-to here.
Regular communication needs to be maintained throughout a healthy workforce in order to support both productivity and team morale. Many employees will most likely spend the entire working day in solitude, therefore, making a point of having regular whole team “catch up calls” can go a long way to nurturing the mental wellbeing of a remote worker.
Having daily morning and/or evening meetings is a common strategy which businesses can implement in order to maintain a healthy working harmony and ensure that projects are being carried out as they should be. A simple daily 15-30 minute daily meeting should suffice here for smaller working teams, whilst it can also be a good idea to arrange a longer weekly meeting for the whole workforce.
Ensure Everyone Has the Right Tools for the Job
Moving from office working to full-time remote working can bring high levels of unnecessary stress if your employees feel as though they don't have the right tools, equipment or technology to fulfill their role to the best of their ability.
Of course, different job roles will mean you will require different tools. However, generally speaking - alongside a strong Wi-Fi connection - here are some other pieces of equipment which we advise for many people in remote working to have at the ready:
- Noise-canceling headphones
- Two computer screens
- Wireless keyboard
- Wireless mouse
- Webcam
- Ergonomic chair
Choose the Right Software for Virtual Meetings
The type of virtual meeting software your company is going to use can be the make or break when it comes to effective remote working communications. Ultimately, you want an application that is accessible for all members of your team, whilst simultaneously bringing with it enough technical features to allow your operations to run to transition to remote working as seamlessly as possible.
Whilst all applications have their benefits and preferred uses, Made in Group advocate Zoom as being the app of choice when it comes to effective, flexible and reliable online meetings for businesses. It is for this reason that we have implemented Zoom technology into the Virtual Meetings section of the Made in Group site for members.
Zoom is a great online meeting app for businesses of all sizes and industry, due to its flexibility, being able to scale to fit any user count and budget. This app is equally suitable for an entire team meeting (up to 100 participants) or a one-to-one sales pitch. In regards to both flexibility and simplicity, Zoom is the obvious choice. This application can be used seamlessly across a variety of platforms, giving you the choice to be able to connect via desktop clients, browsers, conference rooms & mobile devices.
Make Time for Team Socials
The importance of supporting your employees mental well being during lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic more broadly has been well documented.
Many employees throughout the nation are intensely worrying about the current coronavirus situation and how it may affect our lives in the short, medium and long term.It is important for us as individuals and business leaders to recognise how this increased prospects for stress and anxiety is likely to affect mental health and make sure that we are doing the right things to resultantly take care of ourselves and our colleagues.
Many employees will most likely spend the entire working day in solitude, therefore, making a point of having regular whole team “catch up calls” can go a long way to nurturing the mental wellbeing of a remote worker. We suggest that you should attempt to maintain "team socials" just as regularly as they would have occurred before remote working became wide spread. The likes of Zoom provide a fantastic platform for team catch-ups and playing games such as quizzes.
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