The population is reeling as the country becomes accustomed to what is, at least for the moment, our new way of life. Increasingly, people of the U.S. are being asked to confine themselves to home while the potentially deadly Covid-19 virus threatens to destabilize everything for everyone. This means that many work teams that were working in their regular offices last week are suddenly having to hit the ground running and keep the business going in an uncertain time, all while losing the structure that an office and coworkers provide. Here are a baker’s dozen ways managers can help employees ease the transition to remote work, and then a further eleven essential tools that can help facilitate productivity and sustain a culture among a suddenly remote workforce.
Mitigate the side effects of change – Right now, the job of the manager in particular – and of every employee in general – is to soften the blow of the abrupt and fundamental workplace change most people who suddenly find themselves working remotely from home in their pajamas may face. And that’s no joke: we may daydream of working from our bedrooms in our pj’s, but it’s the fundamental level of change of the sudden shakeup like that that can give previously in-house employees potential rough seas, no matter how many creature comforts they can clutch for more easily. So everyone’s job – and the managers for sure – to mitigate those side effects to the best of their abilities considering the pace of a potentially overnight transition to remote working for the whole staff.
Get ready to write everything down – Writer, know thyself. I personally always scramble to write down notes about ten seconds after I should have already had pencil to paper. This inevitably means I’m depending on my indecipherable cocktail of strained cursive and block letters later when I need to get at the raw idea and turn it into work. Whatever anyone’s method is of jotting down notes on the fly, find the best version for you and stick to it. (I probably need to depend more on my notes app, and that’s one of the little challenges I’ll have time and cause to master during this uncertain period.)
Make sure everyone knows who is in charge for this period – Even if it’s the same people who are always in charge, make sure that everyone knows who that is right now one more time (more on overcommunication later) and – to the point – who is ultimately taking care of which new work traffic issue that this sudden transition to remote presents. Also: Make sure everyone knows exactly where to come for the latest confirmed company updates. Not speculation, not even the latest news posting on the coronavirus: just clean messaging on issues confirmed to be directly facing all employees.
Establish a new communication plan early – Know that the flock will wander, especially in times of uncertainty, and you can’t blame them. Present in everyone’s minds right now, at the beginning of a life-upsetting change like this, are alarms from from our personal lives: do we have our fundamental survival in place? What about our famliy? This is a time of stress for everyone as we reel with doubt as to how radically we’ll be asked to change our manner of thinking and doing in a matter of days, hours, seconds. It’s important for everyone to remember that now is the time to be flexible (more on flexibility later, too), and what everyone requires is quick understanding of the new paradigm. Leaders need to be able to establish new clear, clean methods of communication going forward as soon as possible, as employees will begin to peel off from the workplace at their own pace when they sense a growing societal panic.
Take advantage of technology – Now’s the time. For all that our best scientists and writers have warned us over the years about the effect of more and more technology on our lives, its times like this when even the most paranoid fantasist is glad he or she has a phone with a flashlight and a TV and a on it in their pocket at all times. So now is the time for everyone on the staff to sharpen their technological capabilities. It’s always worth it in terms of how much time it may save you, and time-saving is rarely more important than when a scary situation like this looms. All communication lines will be somewhat strained throughout this experience, so the team should be outfitted with the latest gadgets on their metaphorical utility belts. And always be consdierate of different levels of technical proficiency.
Figure out a work routine from home – It’s not as easy as it sounds to just roll over in the morning and dive into your job. That series of dry rituals involving getting dressed, grabbing a cup of coffee and driving a commute have become an essential part or many of our work-life routines – a time for us to change out mind’s settings for a while – and it can be hard to just snap your fingers and get into the workplace mindset without all the daily box checking. So designate somewhere in your home as your new office area, and then treat it as such: use it for work tasks but not for internet surfing or watching TV. Coming to this spot will become part of your new ritual for getting in he work mindset.
Do daily check-ins – And part of the above new communication plan needs to be agreed-upon scheduled check-ins with the whole team, preferably daily. Choose the time when the most employees can attend, and the scattered few will have to catch up (so also make sure there’s a dedicated channel somewhere for info about what an employee might need to know from a missed meeting.)
Always use video conferencing when possible – It should be obvious to everyone that the aforementioned phones with televisions on them in all our pockets enable fantastic channels of communication, and video conferencing beats audio-only every time when it comes to engaging a remote team. Video encourages participation, it allows for additional and essential non-verbal communication, and it frankly forces the team into a huddle that audio-only calls don’t necessarily foster. But whatever the office standards of dress are, make sure everyone can agree on dropping that standard two or three notches for the duration of the remote working experience.
Overcommunicate – And here comes that promised overcommunication regarding overcommunication itself: please do it. Now is not the time for glibness in any area of life, and certainly not in a somewhat startling work situation that can cause any work culture to feel like it’s floating in strange waters. So say it twice for that guy who’s currently on his phone and maybe not listening: now is also the time to give him a break and assume he’s checking on something important to him and still listening with his other ear. Everyone accustomed to all forms of modern brevity should just get used to the joys of reiteration.
Keep an eye on outcomes rather than trying to track hours – During this time, managers need to be less worried about small things like an employee missing a video group conference (once in a while) and more concerned about employees meeting clearly communicated goals. Managers need to be as clear and understandable as possible concerning the employees they oversee, but courtesy needs to flow in both directions: that employee who missed the meeting should make sure he gathers the info that he missed from somewhere.
Realistic expectations – Everyone needs to understand that stress will affect everyone differently at different times. Some of us will be more short-tempered, others more distracted, others more frightened, others compelled to project seemingly inhuman levels of confidence. Let’s all remember we’re only human, but we’re still expected to do the agreed-upon level of work if we’re lucky enough to have remote working jobs during a time where such a workflow is invaluable. Everyone should take a breath or two before responding in anger or frustration in all cases, and consider our own mindframes at the moment.
Time to get flexible – With realistic and clear delivery expectations, plus a little bit of the kind of understanding and affection that is hopefully already present thanks to a healthy and present culture, the transition to working from home will be an easy process during a troubled moment for everyone. The benefits of a remote team for everyone is hugely increased flexibility, so make sure to lean into that element as much as you can.
11 Essential Tools for Remote Workers
Zoom – Zoom offers a frictionless environment for video conferencing. This means the technical glitches that often make video conferencing less practical are a thing of the past with Zoom’s cloud platform, which runs across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems.
Slack – There are no two ways about it: Slack is already the household name in remote team communication. Users have the ability to install apps that automatically report on business activity. And Slack has a voice-call option.
Monday.com – Using Monday.com brings your remote team together so you can continue to collaborate, manage and track work in one easy-to-use platform, wherever you are.
Invision – In terms of a design collaboration app, InVision‘s suite of apps is the most useful and expansive. Design teams need to be locked into sync when working remotely, and InVision facilitates real-time collaboration beautifully.
GitHub – For developers, GitHub is tops. It allows the best home for code for engineers working remotely, while allowing enormous levels of flexibility.
DropBox – For those that find themselves elbow-deep in online information, DropBox has the edge over other similar apps when it comes to cross-platform file syncing. The software’s robust backup system goes the extra few features to ensure that work is not easily lost.
Headspace – Even if we weren’t all living through such surreal times right now, we could probably all stand to meditate a lot more. Headspace offers the kind of guided meditations that can really help a stressed mind when just focusing on something so seemingly simple as mindfulness can seem so hard. During times of work and stress, a tool like this can mean a lot.
Confluence – Further gird the company culture during times of an emergency shift to remote work from a more stable in-house norm with Confluence‘s collaboration tools, which help ensure team synchronicity.
AirTable – Airtable melds a spreadsheet and a database into a productivity tool that has remarkable flexibility built-in, and flexibility is key to helping keep a working team together when it has been forced into a new shape.
SmartSheet – SmartSheet‘s familiar spreadsheet-style interface greases the path from from idea to impact. More than 75% of Fortune 500 companies rely on the company’s platform to drive innovation.
WooBoard – For a peer-recognition platform, WooBoard helps a remote team celebrate wins in confident style. Each company can easily create customizable Wooboard, and each setup measures peer recognition in terms of points that can elevate each employee to the next level.
