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Remote work. You were either suddenly launched into it because of COVID-19 or you’ve been doing it for a long time. Either way, when the states first began issuing stay-at-home orders this March, we released this comprehensive list of remote work best practices for employees, and it was a huge hit. Even seasoned remote workers told us that these tried-and-true tips have immensely helped their teams. Scan through. If you apply just a few, you’ll feel an immediate impact too. Why listen to us? Fusion Alliance has a decade of experience supporting clients with remote workers. We’ve got two decades of remote work experience with our own employees, and even before the stay-at-home orders were put in place, we’ve fast-tracked many companies to get up and running remotely to ensure business continuity for their clients. And we continue to provide them with remote support today. Our experience helping on the technology side (including advice, implementation, and support) is so extensive that we can do it seamlessly and rapidly. But it’s the human side that takes some adjustment. So, without further ado, comb through these tips, and you’re sure to find some nuggets of gold. Best practices that will help you right now 1. Your mom was right. Routine will help increase your productivity If you’re new to remote work, your normal routine has been disrupted. But routine is your friend. It helps create calm and increases productivity. It is purposeful and sets expectations, including your own. Be strategic and proactive to take charge of your new situation. Set aside time to re-create a structure for your workday, even if you’ve done it for months. Stop and re-evaluate. What do you want your remote work life to look like? What do you need to accomplish and what variables make remote work challenging? Here are some ideas: Replace your previous commute times with something you do for your own wellbeing. Exercise or engage in an activity that gets you mentally and physically ready to do and be your best each day. Start your day by looking at your schedule and making a short list of what you need to accomplish for the day. Cross items off your list as you meet these smaller goals. This helps provide a sense of progress. Set up and maintain regular work hours. Communicate these to everyone affected, especially since everyone’s schedules are changing again and again. Schedule the most important and challenging tasks at the time of day when your mind is sharpest. Tackle other tasks, like responding to emails, when you’re not as focused. Give your eyes, body, and mind a break. Stand and stretch every 60-90 minutes. Set alarms or timers to keep you on track. Schedule a couple of short breaks to look away from your computer, get up and moving, take a brisk walk, or have a little fun with others in your household. Distractions and productivity are often the greatest challenges at the beginning of this process. Statistics show you lose more than 20 minutes of productivity each time you are interrupted. To combat this: Decide not to immediately react to messages, chats, texts, emails, and calls (unless that’s what your job entails). Turn off or ignore notifications during selected hours of deep work. Be thoughtful about setting aside two or three times a day to answer these. Communicate this system to any relevant parties. A recent study shows that 85% of businesses say productivity has improved due to increased workforce flexibility, so be encouraged by that. Set up your own visual system at home where others in your family can see if it is ok to interrupt you. Some people use a tented card that’s red on one side (busy) and a green on the other (ok to interrupt). This works for spouses too. If you have children at home, let them know when you are available and when you are “off-limits.” (That said, we know that babies and children are experts at testing best practices. Have reasonable expectations of them and yourself. You can only control so much. ) When your workday ends, stop working and leave your work area. Setting limits isn’t just for children. If you’re checking messages or doing “smaller tasks” all night, it’s probably taking its toll on you and your family. If you’re the kind of person who will work overtime regardless, define set hours to work each evening, and tell your family. Be fully present to those around you when you’re not working. They might even like you more. 2. Set up your setup for success The right setup is critical to productivity and your ability to maintain a work-life balance. The following will help you mitigate the challenges that come along with this transition: Rethink where you’re working. Did you choose a place that’s comfortable, apart from the main traffic in your home, and free from distraction as much as possible? Try natural lighting and fresh air. Clean up your space, remove clutter, and make it a setup that is something you enjoy, not dread. Ensure that it’s a place where whatever papers and notes you left out will remain untouched when you leave the area. Choose an ergonomic chair and desk. You have to be comfortable to be productive. Organize everything you need for work in your “office” area and keep it there. That way when you leave your workspace, you leave your work too. Get your technology in order. Is your internet reliable? Do you have enough bandwidth to do your work? If bandwidth is an issue, try designating a time when your kids can play online games or watch videos. If you still have issues, ask your employer about your options. Use a noise-canceling headset with a microphone, and make sure it’s compatible with whatever online meeting solution you use. Test your video-conferencing tool. Set up your computer or camera to look you right in the eye. Check to see what items will show in the background if you are in a meeting. If it doesn’t look clean or work-appropriate, remove it. Stick to your normal morning routine (showering, dressing appropriately), and be mindful that you may have to jump on a video call at any point during your workday. Consider the expectations of your potential audience and how you should appear on a business call. 3. You’re in charge: Take charge of your mind, mood, and tone We’re all aware which brands stepped up or didn’t during this pandemic. That’s going to have long-term impact on them Similarly, your actions and attitude are noticed. Are you handling remote work professionally? Be a positive, encouraging force, and show your ability to adapt. Work collaboratively with colleagues and customers who are going through stresses similar to or worse than yours. Behave with empathy and patience because you don’t know what someone else might be going through. Remember that different family situations are not as conducive to working from home. If you hear a toddler in the background or see a spouse/child walk into view during a videoconference, understand that everyone is doing their best. You can’t expect the same environment as you would in the office. If your colleague seems to be operating in the midst of chaos, think about their situation, and interact with flexibility and kindness. 4. Communicate well and feel the difference As a remote worker or manager, your job is to continue to provide the level of service your company and customer are used to, with minimal disruption. Your ability to communicate well will make the difference. Be fully engaged and collaborative in your interactions. Make communications personal. Take time to ask colleagues about themselves. How are their families? What’s new in their lives? Initiate a conversation with your team to make strategic decisions about communication channels, daily standups or check-ins, and team meetings with videoconferencing to keep it more personal and connected. Set expectations. It’s amazing how few people have asked others what’s the best way to communicate with them. Have you told people the best way to reach you? Text, email, Teams? If you’re checking emails and messages only periodically on Microsoft Teams, WebEx, Slack, Zoom, Skype, or whatever other channels, let people know how often you plan to do that and what to do when they have an urgent matter to discuss. Make sure you’re all logged into your business collaboration tools or chat channels all day or at whatever times are expected. Update your calendar. Block out time for deep work on projects where you shouldn’t be interrupted. And tell your colleagues to keep their calendars current too. Schedule regular meetings to keep people connected, organically increase accountability, and give your team a chance to chat. If anything, managers need to be communicating more, not less, until they find a comfortable cadence. Leaders and managers, some words of advice: Make sure you call each employee on your team to check in and see how they’re doing. Start with a personal conversation and ask if they need any help professionally. It will go a long way if you focus on your employees, not the business. Make meetings fun and personal. Maybe add a giveaway now and then, even if it’s as small as a $5 gift card to a coffee shop. Change it up. Make sure all members of the team clearly know their own roles, assignments, and the common goals you are all working toward. Be intentional with your communication. Figure out what works best for your company and team. A lack of communication often results in employees feeling isolated and uncertain. There’s a fine line between communication and over-communication. Don’t cross it. Employees of larger companies often complain that they get the same forwarded email from multiple managers. Employee mailboxes are getting filled with redundant information. Leaders, make sure you send your messages to your entire intended audience to avoid overwhelming your teams with the exact same message again and again. 5. Online meetings don’t need to be useless: Get the most out of them Video meetings help you connect with your audience both visually and audibly. Be mindful of your body language and gestures. Create a positive, collaborative tone. Here are more tips: Add your picture to the meeting app. It’s more personal. Include your contact information and mobile number. If you are meeting someone new, precede or follow up with a simple message welcoming them to reach out to you. That’s a nice touch. Introduce yourself. In larger meetings, say your name when you begin speaking. And, if you are in a meeting with people you don’t know, state your name and provide context about your role. “I’m Lisa Jones, operations manager.” Be present. Are you multitasking or listening intently? Mute your microphone when you’re not talking or actively participating in the conversation. The sounds of your dog barking or your kids arguing can be distracting. Be heard. Share your thoughts and ideas. You are in the meeting because of your valuable knowledge and insights, so share them. Dress appropriately for your audience. 6. Be social for your own sanity To many, the lack of interaction with your colleagues is the hardest part of working remotely. With digital resources, you can remove some of that isolation. Use audio or a video chat to work together on something small instead of doing everything through chat. And have a little fun. Plan a happy hour now and then, where you all videoconference and chat over food and drink as if you were together. Have virtual lunch meetings with your work friends. If your company can do it, have lunch delivered to the home of each member of your team. Have a group chat where you watch a video, read a book together, or work on a community project. Schedule a time to play games using a website that facilitates team-building activities or games. Schedule some after-hours fun with some close work friends. If you have the technology in place, use it to your benefit. 7. Exercise and move: Stand up as you read this Are you more sedentary now that you’re not in the office? Get up and get moving. Here are levels of exercise you should attempt: Good: Take a quick break and stretch every 60-90 minutes. Set a timer so you actually do it. Take a walk during a call or lunchtime. Do jumping jacks, situps, or some kind of exercise every time you finish a task or stop to get a drink or use the bathroom. Better: In addition to the above, block out one or two 10-minute sessions to raise your heart rate and breathing with a brisk walk or jog, sit-ups, pushups, or anything else. Best: Do all of the above, and also take an extra hour a day for walking, jogging, cycling, yoga, etc. Mix it up. Create a long-term goal, use an exercise app, find a plan online. Summary There you have it. If you start applying these best practices now, and you’ll definitely feel the difference in your personal adjustment to remote work. Celebrate your successes and take time to breathe! Meanwhile, there’s a whole technology side too. If you need help with that or in acquiring and implementing tools like free Microsoft Teams collaboration software licenses, we’re just a click away. We’ve gotten clients’ remote workers up and running on VPN in a single day, and that’s only one example. We can do so much more. Our teams are activated and ready to help.

74% of CFOs and finance leaders said they plan to move at least 5% of their workforce to working from home full time, according to a 2020 Gartner survey. Nearly 25% said they’d move 20% of their staff to permanently remote positions. That’s one in five workers. Organizations ranging from a handful of employees to thousands abruptly shifted to a remote-work model across the nation due to the pandemic. But just because teams have worked remotely doesn’t mean it’s being done in the most effective way. Managers, you’re on the hook to expand your skills and show that you are you can now run a productive, efficient, well-oiled remote team. We’re here to help. Read on to discover small adjustments that will make a big difference starting today. If you need more information, we wrote a similar article about best practices for employees. It has slight overlap, but numerous suggestions you can pass on to your team members. Why should you listen to us? If you’re like most managers, you probably have little to no work-from-home experience. But even if you’re a pro at working remotely, managing an entire team of people new to remote work and collaboration technology creates a whole new set of challenges. We have the know-how to help. Fusion Alliance has decades of experience managing our own remote workers. Additionally, we help organizations set up and support their remote workforces from a technology and collaboration standpoint. And our work in this area has only ramped up since the COVID-19 outbreak. 8 tips to being a more effective remote-team manager 1. Take the temperature of your remote workers, figuratively Pandemic or not, the most effective managers have their finger on the pulse of what each team member is feeling and doing. In a remote world, you need to continue to gauge how your team members are adapting and offer help. This connection will fast-track you to helping everyone meet your shared goals. If you haven’t had time to check on your employees one by one, begin now. Instead of talking about their projects, start by asking how they are, and let them lead the conversation. How are they coping? How is the family? Is everyone well? Was anyone laid off? Is it challenging with others in the house? Ask if they have questions or concerns that you can help with. We bring this up because it’s amazing how many people say their managers have done little more than ask a quick “how’s it going?” and move on to the “important” stuff – work. Other managers are so overwhelmed by their own new workload that they fail to reach out all. Yet others don’t even address this adjustment and see things as “business as usual.” On the flip side, we’ve heard instances of senior executives of organizations taking the time to email individual employees to check on them. Imagine the difference that makes in making employees feel valued and creating loyalty. Despite being remote for several months, one area that employees still complain about is feeling unsettled about their workspace at home. This is a good conversation starter. If your company provides guidance on how to best create work-from-home workspaces, share them or the tips you find here. All of this will alleviate stress. 2. Provide ample communication When you work on-site, you learn a lot about what’s going on from coffee-area and hallway discussions. With that channel gone, here are ways to help your employees feel less siloed: Be more “visible.” Change your status on your collaboration tool to “available” as much as possible. Let your team members know you’re there to help if small questions come up as they work on a project. Give a daily time where you have “open hours” and can be interrupted. Even a half-hour will help. You’re privy to more information than the average worker. Keep your employees updated on what’s happening at a macro level in the organization. How is the company doing? How are different departments performing? What are the company’s greatest challenges? What is the go-forward strategy? Tell colleagues when someone gets hired, takes a new role, or leaves. Make sure every member of the team knows their priorities, goals, and understands their individual roles. If possible, see if some need more frequent one-on-ones at times. Be intentional with your communication. Figure out as a group what channels are best for communicating and how to reach each team member when something is urgent. Set expectations if you want everyone to have a certain channel of communication open all day. Confer with the team about how this can happen without interrupting everyone. Use the chat feature for quick questions instead of scheduling 30-minute meetings . Don’t forget to praise your team’s accomplishments in public. 3. Set a routine, and the change will be remarkable In our article, 7 remote work best practices for employees, the first best practice is about creating a routine. Look at these suggestions to take charge of creating a workday structure. They’ll help you move from reactive to proactive. Try to be consistent in your routine before and during work. Stick to a time when you’ll stop working so that you don’t burn out. Add exercise into the mix, including during work. Do some cardio every 90 minutes, whenever you switch projects, or stop to get a drink. If you’re a leader who has figured out a work-from-home routine and you’re coping reasonably well, be patient and give grace to others who aren’t in the same place as you. Some are alone and struggling. Others deal with: young children; students and spouses competing for bandwidth; no real office space that is free of distraction; friends and family who may have taken ill; financial difficulties that are overwhelming; and on and on. As time goes on, many people’s personal challenges compound. Do what you can to listen, prioritize work, or offer flexibility like shifting hours. Your genuine concern will help alleviate stress. 4. Reduce distractions A UC Irvine study found that it takes 23 minutes to refocus after being interrupted just once. Just as you tell a child to focus when they get off task, train yourself to manage and reduce work interruptions. You’ll instantly see a change in your own productivity. Turn off social media and other notifications on your phone during work hours. Minimize notifications on your computer. Take a couple hours where you work non-stop, ignoring incoming emails, instant messages, and such. Change your status message on your collaboration tools or email to say you’re “busy now, but free at x time.” Ask your team to keep their calendars up to date and to schedule chunks of time on their calendars to focus on specific tasks. Either they manage their calendars or someone else will fill them with meetings. Talk to your team about your availability and theirs, and brainstorm how to collaborate with one another. (This goes back to the previous points.) Try responding to emails and communications only a few times a day at specific times. Come up with your own personal system, communicate it to your team, and encourage them to create their own. Finally, have discussions about how to reach each person if something is urgent. The distractions caused by those in your household are a different story. Each family member or pet adds another variable. Have a discussion about your schedule and meetings to set expectations. Try putting a card near your workspace that says “busy” or “free,” a visual indication of when not to interrupt. Come up with something that works for your family. We acknowledge that visual clues often mean nothing to young children, but using the bullets above will at least help with work distractions. 5. Meeting collaboration and expectations If your meetings have always been in person in the past, you may need a different formula for virtual meetings. If you haven’t already done so, set up processes and expectations. Ask your team not to multitask so that you can keep meetings shorter, and make sure you’re doing the same. If you’re heard typing in the background during a meeting or if you’re not responding when someone asks you a question because your focus is elsewhere, don’t be surprised if everyone else begins doing the same. Start meetings promptly. Ask everyone how they are. Chat a little while. Decide as a team whether you need to meet on a more frequent basis. But make sure your check-ins are brief and provide value. Set up agenda of one or two things you want to discuss and no more. If you’re doing daily standups, set the structure up front. We’ve seen highly effective 15-minute standups with a team of 20. It works. Start promptly. Tell each team member to give a quick update only if needed or if they’re stuck. Otherwise, they don’t need to speak if they’re working on something they worked on yesterday. For daily briefings that include slides, use graphics and images as much as possible. Don’t read slides to your audience. Let them read it on their own, while you discuss only things that have changed since the previous daily meeting. This is a strategy called “brief by exception” that lets you provide pertinent updates without wasting time. In a standup, start with yourself to demonstrate what you want them to do. If someone is going on a tangent, jump in and offer to continue that discussion offline. You’ll get into a cadence if you keep people on track, and they’ll get the hang of it. Don’t schedule meetings more than an hour long. If your meeting must go longer, take a 10-minute break so everyone can stretch and change the scenery. If group meetings are important, record them. They may be searchable or have transcripts available to those who cannot attend or needed to step away. After any virtual team meeting, send a recap of important takeaways. Not everyone is able to be attentive with a child shouting in the background or if someone’s Wi-Fi is giving trouble. 6. Virtual meetings and videos — do or don’t? It’s a no-brainer that communication improves when you see a person’s gestures, expressions, and body language. Many companies suggest video calls, even under normal conditions. Video calls can reduce the need for travel, as well. That said, not everyone’s remote-work setup is conducive to video. If you want to have a meeting with video, tell the attendees in advance. Some people don’t want others to see their makeshift office or the kids running around in the background. Many collaboration tools allow you to blur the background or change it to something else, so recommend that option. But if someone is stressed about using video, take notice and don’t force it as the norm. 7. Create energy and preserve the organization’s culture Do your part to create a fun, energetic, engaged remote culture. Here are some ideas: Send the team a meme or a trivia question every couple days. On a group-communication channel, share something personal. Have fun. Laugh a little. At the end of meetings have someone provide a fun fact. Or make a statement, and ask people to guess if it’s true or false. Ask people a silly question like “chocolate or vanilla?” Change it up. Try virtual lunches, happy hours, or group calls with friends. But also be aware of device and work fatigue. Some people are tired of looking at their computers all the time or they just want to do something else. If you act as an example of making time for lighthearted interactions and human connection, your employees will feel much more relaxed. 8. Accept that remote work is here to stay, and be a positive force As of Oct. 2019, just months before the coronavirus outbreak, nearly 16% of the U.S. workforce (that’s more than 26 million people) was working remotely part of the time, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For years, the data has shown that engagement, happiness, and health all improve for those who work from home: 2/3 of employers report greater productivity from remote workers as compared to on-premises workers. 75% of people say they are more productive as remote workers due to decreased distractions, according to the Flexjobs 2018 annual survey on telecommuting. 82% of remote workers feel less stress, according to a PGI study. Regardless, many traditional managers don’t it that way. There’s a camp that firmly believes that employees will slack off without direct supervision. Or that “work should be done at work.” However, months into our national remote-work experiment, so many of the myths about working from home have been dispelled. Many non-believers have been converted overnight. That’s good news because it looks like having a partially full-time remote staff will emerge as a new norm to reduce costs in a post-pandemic world. The takeaway is that remote work is going to continue to be a larger part of the fabric of work life. Embrace it. Understand it. Make it work for your organization. Let go of preconceived notions and be the champion of your remote work team. Model the behavior and attitudes that you want to see from your employees, and they will respond in kind. Final thoughts These tips only work if you apply them. Share them with your colleagues. And don’t forget to share our tips for employees with your team. Need help? Meanwhile, if your company needs help with the technology side, support, or a VPN set up in a day, our experts at infrastructure, cloud, and collaboration are activated and ready to help. Have questions? Contact us. We’re ready to help.