The Impact of COVID-19
As you would have noticed, many Australian businesses have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions that have been put in place by the government. Many businesses have been forced to close their normal operations and many are now having staff members work from home where it’s possible to do so.
This rapid shift to have employees work from home often poses many technical challenges. We are well equipped to support our customers in these challenges. We’ve been providing support to business and home IT users for many years which has positioned us as a great option for companies to call upon at this time.
We’re also seeing many students stay home to be ‘home schooled’ which is also set to put demands on households all trying to connect to the Internet during work hours. We can help solve all of these issues for you and have been helping many households through the process already.
In speaking with many business owners about their technical issues we’ve also noticed common concerns about maintaining company culture through these trying times. Some business owners have also discussed with us the potential to remain working as a remote company even when business can go “back to normal”.
Below are tips discussing ways to maintain or even create a company culture for your remote team who may be feeling isolated and disconnected right now.
Use Technology to Create Connection
When working online and potentially collaborating through apps it can be quite different to working inside an office together. Remote team members can feel disconnected and isolated without the right technology in place to facilitate the human need for connection.
Some personality types will need more human connection than others and that’s okay. Zoom or Skype calls can be a great way to create human connection. If you put the right technology in place and create the right culture for it’s proper use, you can allow different personalities to engage with it, as they need too.
Discourage Distractions
Without the right technology in place, people may try to fulfill the need for connection through social media. Social media is a distraction for many remote workers and its probably unavoidable for many. You can try to minimise its use by putting the right technology in place. Slack can be a great app to help keep the office conversation going in a similar way that it would function in an office setting.
Be Inclusive
When team members don’t feel they are included or feel like they are ‘out of the loop’ it can be damaging to a workplace culture. They need to feel they are a part of your brand story. This can be a huge challenge for remote teams where people may slip through the cracks. As a business owner or manager you may pick up social cues in a office setting that you can follow up on, making sure your team members are okay. You’ll need to be more intentional to create a sense of inclusion for your remote team members.
Create Balance
Your workplace should not be purely task oriented. In great companies, there’s always a sense of balance. When team members enjoy the place they work, they continue to work there for the long term.
The culture you are trying to create will determine they way in which you create balance. For some companies, keeping a healthy sense of humour may be worthwhile objective. For others it may be more about creating a healthy work, life balance culture. As this time of Coronavirus many are struggling emotionally which can lead to unhealthy activities such as drinking or emotional eating.
By creating a sense of balance in your remote team, they’ll realise you care for their personal welfare which is a fantastic for your workplace culture.
Create Opportunities to Grow
If your remote team members have the opportunity to grow in their role and see opportunities to advance their career you’ll help them maintain their motivation to perform well at work.
There will be some remote team members who are happy to plod along and do what they’ve always done, while others are motivated by success and achieving goals.
It’s the people driven to succeed that are usually the most productive team members so it’s important to set up a company culture that keeps them engaged.
We trust you find these tips useful. Please contact us if you’d like to discuss ways in which we can help with remote IT support.
