Due to the global pandemic, many companies have opted to send their employees to the safety of their own homes. It was a move to protect people from catching the highly contagious and deadly COVID-19.
However, for those who are more used to the traditional office setup, working remotely may be a challenge. The sudden shift may reduce the motivation of your team.
Ideally, you already have all the tools you need to work remotely, including integration to cloud services like ServiceNow. Implementation can be done seamlessly and without disruption to your current workflow.
Set Clear Expectations
Before you begin work, explain what needs to be done. You have to establish instructions and guidelines for your team to follow.
Set meetings and deadlines on digital calendars that you can share with the team, do a team huddle every morning, etc. Establishing a new routine that everyone can follow can put them back to work mode and, hopefully, make them feel motivated to do their tasks as best as they can despite the current situation.
Communicate Constantly
Working from home can feel very isolating. Remind your employees that they are part of the team by opening avenues where everyone can reconnect.
There are several applications that you can use to establish strong communication between people who are very far apart. You can use Slack, for example, which offers not just direct private messaging but allows you to create separate “channels” for different topics. Skype and Zoom is a platform known for video and audio conferencing.
Communication enables the flow of information which will help your team finish their projects faster.
Offer Feedback
Employees who have no prior experience working from home will need a lot of reassurance. When you are present in the same room and sitting side-by-side, it is easier to tell your colleagues that they are doing a great job. However, in a remote setup, you have to make an effort to encourage your team and tell them that they are on the right path.
Utilize communication tools to share your observations. Praise them if they are doing a good job or point out where they have made a mistake.
Some employees will need frequent feedback. Some, however, would prefer getting feedback only a few times a week. Talk to your team so you know which they like better.
Talk About Short and Long Term Goals
With everything going on around the world, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Setting goals, both short and long term, can help your team focus their attention on being productive.
Short-term goals should consist of tasks that your team can easily deliver. This will provide them a sense of accomplishment which, hopefully, can motivate them to keep moving forward.
Long-term goals give your team something to look forward to. Right now, it is hard to see what the future will bring. No one knows exactly when the pandemic will end and everything will be back to normal. However, you need to keep an eye on the future. What do you want to have improved when the current crisis is over? How will it affect the company moving forward?
Shifting to a remote setup should not kill productivity. However, understand that you and your employees are living in a very stressful and scary time. Instead of forcing them to do their work, help them find the motivation to do their tasks as if you are back to the office.
