In the current times, staying at home has become a necessity. However, the wheel must continue to turn because, even though the situation is serious, we must ensure the smooth operation of our economy. Telecommuting is the best solution to protect people while keeping value chains active. How to work from home? What are the tools, procedures, and best practices to succeed in telecommuting? Whether you are a beginner or a veteran of Work from Home, we invite you to discover our ultimate guide to remote work!
Remote work, working from home, work from home… All these expressions have become a full-fledged trend in Morocco since we were hit by Covid-19. Some will experience this for the first time, but we humble inhabitants of the digital sphere have been immersed in this culture for years, to the point that nothing changes for us, or almost nothing. Therefore, we have decided to share our expertise in this field, our tips, and our best practices so that all companies can adopt this model safely!
How to quantify work and ensure good productivity
To successfully maintain productivity levels at their optimal, you need to plan your tasks and keep in mind that the trust you have placed in your colleagues, or that your managers have in you, does not exclude control and measurement. Therefore, consider using workflow management software or personal assistants (many of which are free) to assign tasks to different teams and individuals and keep a dashboard of who is doing what…
Working from home: communication, communication, communication!
Even when teams are next to their managers, communication tends to be difficult or inefficient, so imagine what it would be like remotely! That’s why we emphasize this element, which we consider to be the driving force behind the success of remote work procedures.
To succeed, directives, tasks, and other exchanges between the manager and their collaborators, as well as between members of different teams, must be detailed, documented, and measured in a tool specific to each type of exchange, so that flows are controlled and no loss or oversight disrupts workflows. At Webeuz, we have made the following split:
- Task organization: Asana
- Instant messaging: Slack and WhatsApp
- Group meetings or one-to-one: Zoom
- File exchange: Slack
How to manage conference call meetings?
In telecommuting mode, the phone becomes the absolute means for meetings. However, this means has weaknesses that prevent the group of participants from guiding discussions and speaking, as in the absence of visual clues to indicate where attention is focused, group calls can end up chaotic. That is why the best ways to manage conference calls remain video conferencing applications such as Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, etc. Besides adding warmth to conference calls, being able to see the team in person allows non-verbal signals to be added to communication.
Another very important element is that someone must chair the meeting. This person will be responsible for determining the speaking order and inviting people to speak, one at a time.
Set up a separate workspace, away from the rest of the house, and maintain a WORK attitude
Yes, just because you work from home doesn’t mean you should forget about yourself!
Schedules are schedules. You need to ensure this so that you do not have time to fulfill your responsibilities, whether for yourself or your family. The best way to take advantage of your situation, both psychologically and physically, is to get out of bed and dress as if you were going to work. Certainly, you won’t wake up as early as usual without commuting, but maintaining your habits will help you feel active and avoid boredom or overload. Let’s move on to your workspace, which is crucial not only to be in a functional mood but also to separate your work from your private life and avoid exceeding limits. In the evening, after finishing your tasks, you can easily leave this space and attend to your personal activities.
How to manage your children during your workdays?
If you have children, you must realize that you cannot be a parent and work at the same time. Set your boundaries!
If there is one mistake not to make, it is not to set boundaries with children, even if you have someone else taking care of them during work hours. Children will always think of you as a parent first! To help children understand that mom or dad is working and they need to stay alone, create a “STOP, In a meeting” sign, and you can even turn it into a game for your children.
Stay at home, stay safe
Finally, allow yourself to remember that the watchword is to stay at home and limit your movements to the strict minimum. If you are a business owner and want to initiate a telecommuting procedure for your teams, or if you are an employee and would like to work from home, we are here to help you set up the necessary logistics and habits. Write to us!
