If you are one of the 60 per cent of the UK population who has recently started working from home – you may by now have come to the realisation that remote working is not always an easy transition. Getting used to new routines, adapting to a make-shift home office and trying to maintain a sense of normalcy can be a challenge even for the most organised team. However, there are some tips and tricks that you can use to help your organisation during this lock-down period.
Here is some advice from what we have learned on how remote teams can work effectively:
- Schedule regular ‘face-to-face’ meetings Although routines will inevitably change, it is important to maintain a schedule of regular team meetings. At Jersey Road PR our morning catch ups, weekly creative campaign calls and afternoon debriefs, have kept the team up-to-date, ask any pressing questions and has helped to avoid feelings of isolation and of being on our own.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate! Where possible, set up communication tools e.g. team messaging groups, email distribution lists, productivity tools and video-link facilities to help ensure essential communication channels remain in place and enable individuals to share successes and issues as a collective.
- Focus on outcomes not activity Working remotely as a team requires trust. It is important that individuals don’t feel that they need to go over the top to ‘be seen’ to be working hard. Trust your team and give them the freedom and flexibility to stay on-task and be productive just as you would in a traditional office environment.
- Work-life balance With the line between work and home-life more blurry, it’s surprising how easy it is for individuals to keep working beyond their contracted hours when at home. It is important to encourage colleagues to switch off at the end of the working day in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
- Keep your team motivated Motivating a remote team can be challenging, but there are things you can do to keep spirits up and drive your team. ‘Mindfulness Mondays’, ‘Workout Wednesdays’ and ‘Fun Thursdays’ are a part of our virtual reality here at Jersey Road PR. There are so many options to be creative and have fun!
During these unprecedented times, companies are having to adjust to new ways of working without the option of a smooth transition period for their teams. If you implement what we’ve learned, our hope would be these will help you in creating a productive, motivated and healthy remote team focused on the mission of the organisation.