There is no doubt that the recent pandemic is putting a strain on our personal lives, and it is also putting a strain on our organizations. Amidst all the disruption, many businesses have mandated new remote working policies.
What can you do to keep your virtual team focused on productivity? Here are some tips to consider.
The pandemic is forcing people to start working remotely. For many this is a shift from the norm, and employees may not understand how to perform their roles away from the office. The availability of cloud technology for numerous business-critical applications provides employees with the access they need to accomplish their daily work. Here are just a few examples.
As more locations follow shelter-in-place orders or proactively mandate remote work, keeping lines of communication open and consistent is key. Here are some tips for achieving this.
Just because your team is remote, that does not mean important meetings should be canceled or put indefinitely on hold. Keep those meetings on track by facilitating working sessions such as vision or strategy setting, technology design and roadmapping, process mapping and prioritization, and requirements gathering.
If you don’t already, hold a kickoff meeting in the morning with your entire team to keep everyone on track and get them energized to conquer the day. You are in this together!
The business data and metrics you analyze in the office should still be available when your staff is remote to keep everyone pointed in the same direction. Make sure your team sees the goals and knows the progress. As management expert Peter Drucker is often quoted as saying, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”
Ensure your team can instantly reach each other during prime business hours by using collaboration software, team portals, chats, etc. If you don’t have these tools yet, G2 Crowd can recommend the top ones on the market. Some are even free for smaller numbers of users.
Common tools to stay connected during this time include Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting and Microsoft SharePoint. Some business applications like your ERP, CRM or financial planning applications also have collaboration tools built directly into them.
The goal is to make it as easy to connect with a coworker as if you were sitting right next to them in the office. Email works, but often there is a turnaround time that leaves employees waiting for a response before they can continue. By setting up a system to reach out to each other instantly, teams can keep productivity high.
Looking for more helpful tips and regulatory updates during this disruptive time? Visit our COVID-19 Resource Center for information on crisis management, remote workforce enablement, government aid and more.
