As COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the globe and with the implication of the movement control order (MCO), most businesses are forced to change their workflow process and transform digitally. Businesses that have an older employee-base or are ‘traditional’ face a bigger issue in hand, as there is the problem of whether their employees are able to cope with the major transformation they have to go through including the various technologies that need to be implemented. Whereas, for a more traditional business, implications for transforming digitally becomes harder as they have no prior knowledge regarding it.
However, businesses still have to remain competitive despite the MCO. Therefore, various businesses have engaged in various technologies and applications in order to smoothen the workflow at work. Starting from Skype to Zoom, WhatsApp to Slack, Google Drives to iCloud, and many more. Despite the MCO, it is important for employers to know that their employees are still working from home, below are some ways of how a company can maintain their productivity and efficiency without necessarily needing visibility on their employees.
Elevate the level of communication
Prior to the MCO, most people spend their days in close proximity to their bosses, thus allowing effortless and easy communication. But now that it is mandatory for companies to work-from-home, communication breakdown is more than likely to happen especially when your workplace has no prior experience in remote working. Therefore, to reduce the communication breakdown it is important for bosses to be available for a 30 minute call to kick off the day and wrap up the day. It may seem small, but by doing such, it gives these ‘remote workers’ a sense of realization that they are told to do work rather than enjoying themselves at home.
Treat it as if you are in the office
Creating an office-like environment at home is vital to increase productivity levels. Sure, working on a bed is way more comfortable than working on a desk, but which would actually allow you to do ‘actual’ work, definitely the later. Therefore, instead of laying in bed with a laptop, try something more practical, such as working on a desk with an upright chair, like you would at your normal office desk. To put it simple, the lesser the interruptions the more productive.
Do Not Feel Isolated
As the Coronavirus is now pushing everyone to an extreme level of self-isolation and social distancing, employees and employers are faced with a major lack of communication barrier. Parents are majorly affected, as they have children to take care of whilst working-from-home. Prolonged isolation could also potentially impact the morale and productivity of these demographics, hence unconventional parties and fun sessions could be done amongst companies such as a virtual pizza party, or a happy hour where employees and employers take a break from work and just joke amongst one another.
Keep Everyone’s Morale Up
Working from home affects a company’s cash-flow due to the lack of income. With that being said, ensuring your employees that their position is safe and the company is still healthy is important to keep morale high. At this tough period of time, a manager should be a ‘cheerleader’ to their employees, in the sense that they motivate and not demotivate, give positive feedback instead of negative ones.
Source:
Work From in Home in a Pandemic, https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200312-coronavirus-covid-19-update-work-from-home-in-a-pandemic
Working from home? 4 tips for staying productive, https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/organizational-culture/work-from-home-tips/