If you’re in the same boat as the majority of businesses across the globe, the outbreak of COVID-19 means you and your employees have to find ways of working together from home to avoid the risk of contracting the virus.
Working from home comes with many benefits apart from ensuring your employees’ health and safety. It offers great flexibility to your employees, allowing them to work in environments they are best comfortable in.
That said, it takes a lot of work and effort to ensure your employees working at home remain productive and connected with the office. Here are the top tips to help you set a home office for your employees.
Provide Your Employees with the Necessary Equipment
The first thing you need to ensure your employees have when setting up their home office is to make sure they have the necessary equipment. Some of your employees may have well-equipped home offices while others may not. Ensure they have a home PC, comfortable desk and chair, and internet connection.
For employees who may need to buy some necessary supplies, consider offering some stipend if you can afford it. Off-setting some of their expenses will go a long way in showing your employees that you want them to have a work environment that contributes to their continued success with you and your company, and you don’t expect them to make that happen all on their own.
Offer Tools to Make Remote Working for Your Employees Easy
If your company isn’t up-to-date with the latest technologies, then it’s time for an update. Working at home using cloud-based technologies and mobile-friendly software is essential.
Cloud-based software tools will offer the accessibility and flexibility your employees need. They will be able to access information on their home PC and across multiple devices no matter where they are in the world.
In addition, some of these tools offer a secure way where you can share company data. Tools or platforms like Asana, Trello, Google Drive, Basecamp, and maybe Slack will make it easier for your team to share important work updates, track project progress, monitor deadlines, and access resources. You gain visibility into what they are working on, and they can stay on top of their responsibilities when working from home.
If you are handling heavy data that may slow down your employee’s PC, instead of going for expensive upgrades to increase memory or the PC’s speed, you can reduce your costs by saving the files from the PC to external drives by burning them using Freemake DVD Burning Software.
Communicate Clear Guidelines around Accountability
The key to instigating a remote working policy for your employees is to develop a strategic and smart plan that ensures productivity and efficiency won’t fail. The first step is to communicate the company’s policy around working from home.
Ensure that you establish clear rules and processes that must be followed and be vigilant in monitoring your employees’ progress, especially in the early stages when you start remote working.
That is why it is helpful to give your employees access to a time tracker software that they can install on their home PC, and they can log in their working hours, and you will be able to see what they are investing their time in and where they could improve.
Ensure that you set clear expectations of the work hours they will be expected to work, take into account time zones, and hold your employees accountable for their deadlines and goals.
Other tools you can use are Microsoft Workspace Analytics, which can help you gain insight into remote employees’ efficiency, productivity, and behavioral patterns.
Provide Opportunities for Communication and Connection
Working remotely has its perks, but it can also be isolating. It’s normal for your employees to feel like they are missing out on opportunities. Ensure that you are offering ample opportunities for your employees to connect.
You can set up regular meetings on Zoom or Skype and keep them updated on any news or company updates especially concerning the pandemic. There’s a lot of uncertainty now. Don’t leave your remote workers guessing on how you are responding as a business.
You can ensure connectivity by hosting virtual social events where employees meet and socialize or even have days to come into the office where you can have meetings catch up and make them feel like they are still part of the team.
Everyone is focused on navigating these unprecedented times and figuring out how to tackle working from home, and ensuring productivity in a new environment. As an employer, when you help your employees set up their home workstations with the necessary tools and guidelines shows that you are invested in their growth and success.
