Welcome back!
If you missed part 1 of work from home during COVID-19, you can check that out here.
Post-industrial revolution, we’ve spent decades training people to work in offices and neglected working from home. For those who have the opportunity to work from home, there are useful skills that need to be sharpened.
Managers play a pivotal role in training teams to leverage video conferencing and other digital workflows as customers demand face-to-face interaction. As they say, the show must go on, and the internet is equipped to help you stay open.
Follow these tips to help your team transition, albeit temporarily at home:
Transition In and Out of Work Mode
So you’ve lost the morning commute, congrats! What you might not realize is somewhere in the traffic, you lost alone time. Reclaim this time in your own home.
Transitions mean having defined working hours and setting a boundary for when you are and are not working. Create a new routine that kicks off your work day, such as making coffee, or reading the news first, before you start working. Don’t start working from your bed when you wake up! Give yourself even those crucial steps to get to your workstation.
Something that may seem small but is a massive help is getting dressed for work everyday. While it’s tempting to wear sweatpants and a hoodie, putting on or taking off clothes will help put you in the right mindset for the moment.
Designate a Home Office
Creating a dedicated office area doesn’t mean turning your house inside out it means having a defined space for where you can be productive. Work within your means; you don’t need a whole room for an office. Your workspace should only be used for work. If you need to take a break, leave your workstation. Have separate areas dedicated to each part of your day.
Offer Video Conferencing Tips
When setting up a video conference, you’ll want to create a quiet space with good lighting. You should still dress appropriately for your position. Remember to smile and engage with the camera. Otherwise, you will look distracted to your customer as your eyes will be looking away from them while they talk to you.
If you’re performing a walkaround or using a handheld device, consider purchasing a stabilizer for your phone. This will give live videos a smoother, less nauseating experience for the viewer A small investment can help land the sale.
Support Online Security Measures
We transmit and receive huge amounts of confidential data each day. As your own IT manager, ensure that you are using secure web browsers across all devices. Mobile wallets and financial information can be hijacked, so be careful what you leave on your phone.
- Set strong passwords (consider a dedicated password manager like Dashlane)
- Keep software up to date, as these contain security patches
- Set up fingerprint or face recognition
- Use a VPN, like ExpressVPN to heighten your security
- Set up remote wipe capabilities
Back-Up Your Data
Now that your data is secure, it’s also wise to consider how to back-up data. As you may be relying on your laptop and not your office computer, storing files in an online storage cloud means when you return to the office, you can easily retrieve that data.
Apps like iCloud, Google Drive, and Dropbox make storing files online a cinch. You can select the corporate plans to gain editing and access the right to stored data. This is ideal for file-sharing so that you can avoid the high-risk of emailing sensitive documents.
Creating a Healthy Work/Life Balance
Gabriel Weinberg, the founder of DuckDuckGo, said the following:
Working remotely, people are never forced to get a drink after work. You’re not substituting work socialness for community socialness. They are in their own communities. So you’re really getting real diversity of thought.
Be cognizant of how your team morale is each week or day. Everyone deals with stress in different ways and keeping a finger on the pulse allows you to smooth over small concerns before they become big waves.
Create team incentives or add an element of fun to meetings to boost the mood. Your team will return the favor with improved productivity.
We at FZA Digital hope you are staying safe! If you’re ready to generate more leads and digitize your business, we’re ready to take your call at 424-229-2923.