Dear Gabi, my company has started working from home due to the current COVID-19 situation. I am concerned that my staff may not be suited to work from home and may create productivity issues down the road. What should I do?
Regards,
Mary
Hi Mary,
Many HR and business leaders activated their business continuity planning hastily due to the rapid progress of COVID-19 in Singapore. You are certainly not alone in feeling this way. Here are 5 tips to facilitate and set up your staff for success during this crisis:
- Invest
in a reliable instant messaging (Slack) and video communications tool
(Zoom) for everyone to communicate as often as possible.
- Invest
in secure cloud computing infrastructure or work tools like Google Drive,
Trello for collaborative project work. The team leaders/management can get a quick update on project statuses at one glance without face to face meetings.
- Adopt
a daily stand-up meeting for teams to check-in. This routine will also assist in providing a structure/routine for the staff to adapt to the new working environment. They should attend the meeting in appropriate attire
and not in their pajamas to simulate a formal office setting!
- Encourage
staff to set aside a dedicated workspace in their homes and follow official working hours. This practice will minimize distractions for them and prevent them from overworking. For employees who are more productive
in the mornings or late night, allow the flexibility for them to work
accordingly.
- Discourage the use of free WIFI. Free
WIFI give hackers unfettered access to unsecured devices on the same
network, depending on the confidentiality of
their team’s projects, it is highly recommended that virtual private
networks are used to protect your organization’s and your employee’s data.
Hope
these 5 quick pointers are of use! All the best!
Best,
Gabi
