- Virtual “study halls” are things I’ve seen work in some places, where you just do IC work in a zoom room with cameras on while a few other people are there.
- Managers can also try to help people psychologically by sharing articles with a balanced perspective on the situation. It’s important for people to stay calm about what’s happening the world while they are isolated at home. Ex) Some factories in China are getting back up and running because they feel like the situation is more under control, etc.
- Reset expectations with your team: Clearly define and align on deadlines, goals/KPIs and job roles as a team and at an individual level. Remote work can shift team dynamics when you’re so used to interacting face-to-face. Approaching this transition thoughtfully can go a long way to set yourself and your team up for success.
- Set work boundaries and create routine: A strong work routine can help you stay on track and set work boundaries that prevent burnout. Think about creating a new routine that works for you that includes start and end times for work every day.
- Hold regular meetings: Managers should schedule standing team meetings and one-on-ones, and opt for video conferences over emails and standard phone calls. Encourage everyone to have cameras on where possible.
- Optimize your physical work environment: The environment you set up for yourself can have a huge impact on your happiness and productivity when you’re working remotely.
- Over-communicate: Don’t make assumptions about things that may seem obvious to you; instead, spell out the obvious. Describe exactly what you mean, even if you think you’re repeating yourself. Do not assume that everyone has the same information you do. A daily stand up via Zoom can help connect your team and ensure everyone has the information they need to be successful.
- Acknowledge the constraints of others: Remember that each person on your team has a different home environment (e.g. roommates, barking dogs, children, etc.) and be flexible as a manager to meet the individual needs of your team.
- Additionally, if you know there will be distractions in your WFH environment, set up an environment that is as ergonomically-friendly as you can. This might mean bringing your mouse and/or keyboard from the office, clearing off a table at your house to work, or maybe working from a local coffee shop, library or friend’s house, if that works for you.
- Build habit of on the go calls (phone, Slack, etc.) and not always schedule – reach out and hop on videocall.
- We set core hours for the company (we are majority East Coast) from 10 am to 4pm – was actually already the norm for meetings to be scheduled as much as possible within that core time.
- Remind of Donut and tips to best leverage it remotely (Donut provided some great ideas – play games, have lunch, and more).
- We curate best practices, tips and online training on WFH and managing a team remotely.
- Curate tips on tools (virtual whiteboarding etc).
- We have a virtual workshop end of month on Wellness at Work (building resilience) that we are adapting a bit for the context and provide tools for the challenge and stress and anxiety that WFH and the pandemic is bringing.
- Implementation and clear communication of ‘core work hours’. Any guidance that leadership in your organization can give surround the timeframes when employees are expected to be full engaged or reachable would be helpful, given that every individual has a very unique WFH environment.
- Managers to schedule a 1:1 with each of their reports to individually try to understand how their new worklife is impacted. EG a number of our staff have kids that are suddenly not in school and it’s not easy to get other care. So those people are bound to have a much harder time scheduling than folks who are healthy and single (and not caring for a parent, etc). Some folks are doing a 50/50 split day with a partner/spouse, others are doing 1 day on/1 day off, others are way less structured.
- Suggest you let staff know what constitutes a full day. We basically told people if they were working more than 4 hours a day it would count for now.
This is a crowdsourced collection of resources for HR and business leaders to help inform and support Coronavirus response plans. Here you’ll find a curated collection of public Coronavirus response communications.
HR Communications & Resource Guide
- Response Plans
- HR support resources
- How companies are responding w/ remote work and children at home
- Employee support resources
- Remote work
- Legal and employment law resources
- How recruiting is adapting
- Travel impact
- Hosting virtual events
- HR communities and support
- Coronavirus news and resources
- Employee Updates
- Companies giving back
- Publicly announced hiring impact
