A number of businesses have started advising employees to work from home in the ongoing bid to curb the coronavirus outbreak. Many big companies have released contingency plans to UK-based staff that include compulsory working from home. It is hoped that keeping employees further apart from each other, it will reduce the chance of group spread as well as the opportunity for the virus to be caught during a commute or in communal office spaces.
Although the government hasn’t yet specifically advised all businesses to follow suit and adopt remote working yet more companies are adapting this practice. It’s realistic to assume that shifting to the ‘home office’ will become the new normal for many of us for a while, given recent announcement by the WHO that the coronavirus has officially reached ‘pandemic’ status.
Some employees will be working from home for the first time, which means figuring out how to stay on task in a new environment that may not lend itself to productivity. But there are ways to deliver results and avoid going stir-crazy, from setting up a good workspace to the way you talk to your team.
There are more companies than ever trying to make remote work feel more like on-site work, and they’re gaining in popularity as the number of virus cases increases. Video meeting softwares saw its share price nearly double over the past month and was the most downloaded app. An app that lets workers video chat, message, and share documents, has seen a 500 percent uptick in the number of meetings, calls, and conferences since January. Another app that allows team members to chat about anything, any time of day, through its instant messaging software.
Here are some pro-tips for working remotely, possibly for an extended period of time.
- Get your technology in order.
Make sure to take your laptop home, and don't forget your charger. Also, take home your mouse and keyboard — anything that might make working on your laptop from home a little easier.
Then there's the software. Make sure you have the right applications. Lots of remote workers are leaning heavily on apps allow desktop calling. Of course, you'll want to make sure all your technology actually works from home. Do you need a secure line? Are those applications accessible from your home Wi-Fi? Do you need a security key to log in? These are all questions to ask your supervisor or IT department.
- Make sure you have bandwidth.
Another thing? Internet access — is yours robust enough at home to allow you to video conference? Many conferences and almost all nonessential work travel are being cancelled right now, so people want to use online video conferencing, which requires a good Internet connection.
If your bandwidth is low and you're on a video call, try shutting down other programs to lighten the load on your connection. If your connection is really choppy, you can often shut off the video portion of a call and participate with audio only, which defeats the purpose of seeing your team but will still allow you to participate in the conversation.
- Embrace the webcam.
Conference calls are tough — there are time delays, not knowing who's talking because you can't see the person, people getting interrupted on accident. Webcams can solve a number of these issues: the sense of isolation and that confusion.
"To be able to see the person you're talking to I think is important because we miss cues when we aren't working together in person, make doubly sure all colleagues understand their marching orders.
- Stay connected.
One undeniable loss is the social, casual "water cooler" conversation that connects us to people — if you're not used to that loss, full-time remote work can feel isolating.
To fill the gap, some co-workers are scheduling online social time to have conversations with no agenda. Use Slack chats and things like that if you miss real-time interaction.
Are you tech-ready to work from home? Remote working is now a need for businesses and not a choice. Make sure it is business as usual, no matter where you work from. Savincom is here to support you with the rapidly changing needs, helping you to work from home.
