Guided by the advice of the World Economic Forum (WEF), businesses have gone into action to help curb the maliciously contagious COVID-19 virus by practicing “social-distancing” and by accelerating their remote work participation.
By incorporating remote work arrangements:
- Employees’ individual needs are still met even though they’re no longer working in-house.
- Businesses discover new and rewarding ways to embark on environmental issues that result in benefiting humanity and deliver economic value.
- Remote work solutions benefit the social fabric of humanity by confronting public health challenges.
Remote Work vs Working-From-Home
Many employers, have suddenly been thrown into the world of remote work due to the coronavirus, are they are unaware of the differences between a “remote worker” and an employee “working-from-home” in many cases.
These differences must be taken into account if the transition from in-office to an external work arrangement is to be successful and productive.
Working-from-home is more temporal and employees are usually unaccustomed to the demands that make the transition to work at home environment successfully.
A remote worker is a pro and has completed the elementary steps required to be successful outside an office environment. Their permanent home office is usually equipped with all the latest tech equipment and software that make remote working productively.
Remote workers require a different set of skills and resources as well. Motivation is a given and efficient time-management is only to be expected. Additionally, remote work requires corresponding abilities and the willingness to stay up-to-date on other remote team workers since in-office meetings will be rare if required at all.
So, What’s an Employer to Do?
The COVID-19 pandemic caught scores of companies unawares, and in order to keep up with the developments, many HR departments naively believe that every employee will instantly metamorphose into a proficient remote worker.
Here are a few tips to consider when making the transition to remote employees:
- Create a business culture that encompasses your company’s changeover to remote work status that instills conviction, tolerance, and moral support for employees as a team.
- Offer access to online tools and collaboration formats that employees are skillful enough to utilize.
- Give every remote worker the opportunity to be heard. This may require a renewed interest in purposely listening to employee concerns.
- Address senior colleagues to determine the benefits and shortcomings of employees new to their remote work status and how best to approach them.
- Try not to focus too much on indemnities and impending costs that could get in the way of the actual purpose of the transition in the first place. Which is to exercise social-distancing and help save lives.
- Going remote may require reorienting and retraining staff members. Consider offering free training courses on cloud computing as staff members adapt to working remotely.
What About the Internet?
Due to the increase in remote workers during the coronavirus pandemic, concerns have soared about the increased usage of the Internet and whether the transmission infrastructure is equal to the challenge. Key concerns include changes in the quality of service and network fundamentals. Especially with the increased usage of SaaS systems and cloud platforms.
According to experts, the Internet can handle coronavirus traffic, and is designed to withstand a crisis. Nonetheless, much remains to be seen, as the global workforce has never experienced such a high incidence of Internet challenges. Regardless of a remote worker’s Internet connection, there are essential tech tools required to ensure peak performance.
Five important tech tools required for remote workers in the age of COVID-19:
- A productivity tool to help workers maximize performance by concentrating on a single goal each day; instead of scattering their focus on multiple tasks.
- An app that allows workers to set statuses like “away, occupied, not available” to help maintain a workflow and avoid the annoyance of notification interruptions during the workday.
- A time tracking app – designed to accurately track the time it takes to complete a task – that operates in the background during an employee’s working hours. This will ensure that invoices are accurate and workers are paid in an equitable manner.
- A platform for organizing communication into channels where employees can connect and disengage when required – preventing unwarranted messaging during the workday.
- Tools designed for corporate functions like webinars, virtual conferences, and other companies need to schedule meetings without excessive emailing. This is especially crucial for teams working in various time zones.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 crisis initiated an unexpected turn of events for companies worldwide. Yet, by embracing remote work arrangements, businesses are proving they are up to the challenge during humanities time of need.