According to ABC News, the first reports of COVID-19 started in the US in January of 2020. Social distancing and statewide closures began in mid-March after the US declared a national emergency. But somehow, even as we live through an historic event, life must continue, with part of life being business. One major strategy for keeping people safe has been the movement towards working from home. Doubtless, you have seen changes in your workplace with either everyone working from home or a hybrid of working from home and occasional days in the office. For many, the transition has been challenging. After all, working from home means more than just taking a computer and doing your job in your pajamas. A successful work from home strategy takes several things into account. Perhaps you didn’t have the luxury to consider how to implement the perfect work from home culture for your company before recent changes in your workplace. As we move toward “the new normal” it’s a good time to take a breath and consider what you can do to make this new work environment successful. Here are some options for you to consider for your work from home business today and going forward.

Keep Your Employees Healthy

Encourage healthy work habits in your team members. This includes having a comfortable place to work as well as working normal hours. For some people, defining work time can be difficult when working from home. Some find themselves checking emails and doing work in hours where they would otherwise be sleeping. The best work from home environments set clear expectations of when employees will work – either by the number of hours (eight hours per day) or the times employees should be available (from 9am to 5pm). If you opt for the latter, have it mirror your typical in office workday. 

Get Rid of Paper Processes

Move to a paperless process. We at Majime know that paperless processes work. It’s what we are all about. But paperless processes are especially valuable when you are working remotely. When documents are digital from the start, your employees can still have access to them even if they never spend a day in the office. If paper is a necessity on the front end for your business, you may way to consider moving to a digital environment as restrictions ease. Our systems can do a smart conversion from paper to digital that gives you more than just a scan of a document. We can harvest data from hard copies and put that data into usable reports for your employees. If you are interested in learning more, reach out to us!

Keep Connecting

Keep communication and connection lines open. When working from home, it can be easy to feel isolated. People need other people to function at their best. So if you can’t be in the room together, find other ways to connect. Video calls are a great way to do this. Seeing faces as opposed to just hearing voices can make a big difference in how connected we feel with the people we are talking with. 

Also be clear about what channels of communication employees will be expected to use. Be clear and efficient. For example, choose Slack or G-chat but not both, as this may cause them to miss important messages. Decide what types of communication should happen through email and which should happen through chatting or other means. Clearly communicate these expectations to your team. 

Keep your team meetings happening, even if they can’t look exactly how they looked before. Your team members need to feel just that they are still a team. These regular connections are important to maintaining those relationships. They won’t be running into each other by the watercooler, so you’ll have to be intentional about giving your team time to connect with each other on a regular basis. 

Provide IT Support

When employees are working from home, technology is more important than ever. For employees who have been working primarily on site, moving to an at home option may be intimidating or confusing. Whether your employees are using their own computers or ones from the office, be sure to have resources in place that they can go to when they encounter problems. Also make sure your team knows how to contact IT support via multiple technologies in case they are unable to use one of them. For example, if your employees are unable to get into their email account remotely, make sure they have a phone number where they can contact the IT team to help them get their email back online. 

Be Sympathetic

Understand that there are distractions at home. No parent likes working from home while their child dances and makes noise in the background. The reality, especially in the days of COVID-19, is that some individuals don’t have any other option. With schools closed, kids are underfoot more than ever. Keep your expectations high, but also be sympathetic to the specific circumstances each of your team members is experiencing. 

Even if you weren’t forced to go to a remote working environment because of COVID-19, there are still reasons to consider moving away from your office space. Your employees will know that you trust them when you make it possible for them to work remotely. Your team will stay healthier when sick employees don’t feel pressured to come into the office and as a result get other team members sick. Your employees will likely be more well-rounded and have more fulfilling lives. When people are happier in other areas of their lives, they tend to perform better at work. Whenever you decide a remote working experience is right for you, it’s important to do it the right way. With these tips and what you already know about great business, you will have a solid foundation in place for the post COVID-19 world.