Recent government regulations required many types of UK businesses to close under COVID-19 restrictions. Though many businesses were equipped to deal with such closures and already had facilities in place to enable remote working, many others are now working remotely for the first time. We take a look at ideas for how businesses can navigate working with a newly remote team and what they should remain aware of.
Security First
Businesses should safeguard their operations and not put their own data or any client/customer data at risk. Ensure that your business has the necessary technology, security and IT assistance in place to support safe remote working with provisions such as secure servers, cloud based systems and regular system/data backups.
Accessibility
There are many ways to make your team more accessible and available to your clients and customers even when they are working remotely. Free video conferencing sites such as Zoom are a great way to offer face-to-face interactions with clients and customers. There’s also lots of free conference calling facilities available to businesses if you need to set up calls with more than one other person.
Staff Interaction
A number of social media platforms have been designed specifically for occupational settings such as Yammer, Slack and Microsoft Teams. Using one of these platforms, particularly if your business doesn’t have an intranet facility, is a great way to encourage staff interaction whilst your team is working separately. Staff can use these platforms to chat to each other, give credit to other staff for a job well done, share photos and discuss business ideas.
Communication, Communication, Communication
Your team may be completely new to remote working and therefore there may be some hiccups along the way until it becomes more settled and the new normal of working. Scheduling a morning call with your team each day will help to encourage communication and engagement within your team whilst they are all working remotely. This will help you keep track of everyone’s workload (it is much harder to gauge when you can’t see stress cues from those who are overworked or the under worked sitting and twiddling their thumbs). Daily catch-ups also give the team an opportunity the chance to catch up with each other, and for you to give any business updates.
Business Updates
This is a very unsettling time, characterised with constant change and worrying news updates. It is only natural that your staff may feel worried. Keep in regular contact with them about the latest goings-on, government updates and your business’ plans during the COVID-19 period. Encouraging clear, honest and open communication will be beneficial if you need to consider more challenging business decisions later down the line. Staff will feel more informed, prepared and are likely to be more open with you, should you need to consider furloughing staff.
The Loss of Social Cue Reminders
Remain aware that your staff are now working separately and therefore a team that worked together previously will receive less ‘social cues’ from each other. These are cues that may remind or encourage them to do something. For example, previously seeing a colleague go to a meeting reminds them to go too, chatting with colleagues in the corridor may remind them that they haven’t yet competed that e-learning module. Therefore, you may need to over communicate and remind staff more regularly than usual. Having regular team catch ups will also help with this.
Mental Health
Encourage regular interaction within your team via team catch up calls, social media platforms, emailing etc. Many people will be working remotely out of necessity and not out of choice. Others who are self-isolating may not be getting any other social interaction at all. Remind staff of any additional support you may have in place such as a mental health first aider, or an employee assistance programme.
Health and Safety
Even though working environments may have changed in the last few weeks, employers are still required to provide a safe working environment for their staff even if they are working remotely. Get your employees who are working remotely to complete a workstation assessment of their new desk space and provide any necessary additional tools that they may require such as ergonomic equipment.