To work efficiently while social distancing, it is important to understand the fundamentals of managing work-from-home effectively. Here is how you can work well from home during COVID-19.
The Importance of Social Distancing
It is crucial that you understand the importance of social distancing. There is still no definitive cure which is why doctors are trying everything they can find to treat those who get infected. Consequently, it is very important that you DON’T get infected or allow your Family to get infected. The best way to do this is by social distancing.
Social distancing is not just about looking after yourself but also looking after your family and other people who need your help. For example, if you know that your elderly neighbors — members of the group that are most at risk — need to buy some food, it’s better if you buy it for them instead. This will reduce the chance of them getting infected.
In other words, you need to become a responsible citizen and start being more mindful of your community as well as your family. But when it comes to work, there are certain tactics you need to use to remain professional about your job.
1. Be Over-Prepared
First and foremost, always be over-prepared. This will ensure that you will not only be ready for all the regular situations, but you will also be equipped to tackle more complex situations and overcome more difficult challenges. In other words, it is the perfect strategy for anyone who just switched from regular work to working Remotely from home.
To be over-prepared, you need to think several steps ahead. You need to create a daily schedule for yourself and have a workspace just like you did when you went to the office every day. This will change your mindset to the one you had when you came to work rather than being relaxed all the time and unable to focus. Think about what you need to do every day, what you should do by next week, and what project should be completed the next month.
Another thing you should do is take into account all the possible situations that could occur, even if they seem impossible or unlikely. For example, there could be a blackout on your street, so you would not have online access. Think about what you will do if this happens. You could catch a cold, your tech could be damaged, you might need to care for your family more if they get sick, and so on.
A Manager's Guide to Manage Remote Team
2. Actively Communicate with Your Team
The second thing you need to think about is communication. Actively communicating with your team is necessary to avoid misunderstandings between you and your team members. If some information is not communicated properly or is dropped completely by mistake, awkward situations are almost inevitable. Your responsibility is to create the best environment for you and your team, so such situations should definitely best be avoided.
It can be especially hard to find a comfortable channel for communication for teams that are used to primarily sharing information orally rather than typing or writing everything down individually after hearing whatever details they need. When working remotely, you will probably need to send text messages, share documents such as Word files or PowerPoint presentations, and perhaps even host video conferences or voice calls.
At the same time, you should also make sure that you check and double-check all the things you discuss with your team. You need to ensure that every team member knows what is expected of them and that every project is moving along at the right pace. Proper communication can really help you keep up with all the deadlines without encountering unexpected obstacles in the form of arguments or misunderstandings.
3. Set Goals and Objectives
The third step is to set clear goals and reasonable objectives for you and your team. You need to be clear about what your aims are and how you will be working to achieve them. Remember that having deadlines while working remotely from home is just as essential as having them when you worked in the office. It’s just a different setting.
Setting goals and objectives should be your number one priority because they can motivate and inspire you and your team to continue working even though the circumstances are different from what you are used to. You should also think about your deadlines, goals, objectives, and aims just the same way you do regularly while also keeping in mind the current situation and considering when you should back up a little and when it’s fine not to.
For example, if you know that you and your team would usually be able to complete a certain project within two weeks, you should keep in mind that such a period of time might not be enough as you all work from home. Instead, setting the deadline for three weeks ahead could be more reasonable. There is no way you can accurately determine how much time you will need now, but if you have enough experience, you will probably make objective assumptions.
4. Start Using Helpful Apps and Tools
The fourth tip is to start using helpful apps and tools instead of doing everything manually all the time. There are so many programs and software that can significantly help you reduce your workload and make work-from-home easier both for you and for your team. Some notable examples would probably include ProofHub, Slack, Asana, Zoom, and Google Docs.
To put it simply, ProofHub is an all in one project management software to keep things organised and keep everyone on the same page. It is a must-have for teams that demand a greater level of management proficiency.
Slack is a secure messaging platform where you can create threads for separate topics of discussion within your team as well as message team members separately. It was specifically created for professional use and is already very popular among businesses.
Another valuable tool is Asana which is a project management platform where you can create tasks within the projects that you are working on. It is suitable for small and for bigger teams and has pretty much all the customization features you could wish for in a platform like this.
If you are looking for an alternative for Skype because you are frustrated with the quality of the calls during poor connection, Zoom could be your savior. It is already used by numerous companies (and even schools) mostly for hosting video conferences.
You probably know about Google Docs by this point, but if you haven’t used them, you will quickly learn how to because it’s pretty much an online version of Office Word. The main advantage is that you can work on the same document with your team members in real-time.
Top 20 Remote Work Tools for Teams to Stay Connected - ProofHub
5. Anticipate Challenges That Come with Working Remotely
This is somewhat connected to being over-prepared, but it requires a separate section to properly discuss the matter. You should anticipate challenges that come with working remotely both for yourself and for your team members. Some possible challenges were already mentioned earlier including blackouts with no Internet connection, tech breaking down, catching a cold or family getting sick, and so on.
Think about what can be done if, for example, one or several of your team members can’t contribute to the project for certain reasons. Who will do their job and make up for their “absence”? If you had someone for such cases before, you will probably want to use their help now too. Alternatively, you could always hire additional freelance or remote workers who are used to completing tasks from home.
It’s true that these new working conditions could lead to more expenses and less revenue (e.g. if you hire additional freelancers, you will need to pay them too), but you should keep in mind that everyone is having a hard time now. Think about it as a test or a trial for you and your team to overcome. Treat it as seriously as possible but try to have some fun too to lighten up the mood.
6. Measure Your Business Metrics of Performance
Last but not least, always measure your business metrics of performance. It’s not just about how you do your job or how fast you do your job, but also about how well you do it and what the final results are. Of course, a different question is whether or not you can improve these results and what you should do to be able to improve these results.
Besides, if the quarantine ends up being as long as several months, you will probably be able to complete multiple projects during this time. This means that tracking the metrics of performance of your first project will allow you to compare them to your regular metrics and then make the necessary adjustments to perform better when completing your next project, and then the next project, and then the next project after it, and so on.
Final Thoughts
All in all, it is possible to continue being productive even when you are forced to work remotely from home during COVID-19. You need to find your own approach to the situation by using the tactics in this article, and then you will definitely be successful with your work.
Author Bio: Gregory is passionate about researching new technologies in both mobile, web and WordPress. Also, he works on Best Writers Online the best writing services reviews. Gregory in love with stories and facts, so Gregory always tries to get the best of both worlds.
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Managing Work From Home Efficiently During COVID-19 was originally published in ProofHub Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
