Remote working advice for businesses
In light of the Coronavirus situation, many businesses are taking steps to enable their staff to stay at home and work remotely. At Spectrum, we are committed to helping our customers to keep their businesses on track and stay productive. And as an established connectivity provider and advocates of flexible working, we have plenty of experience in enabling our own teams to work outside the office environment.
Here are some suggestions and advice that might help your business during this time. We’ve also included a selection of tips you could share with staff working from home, to help them troubleshoot any connection issues they might face and keep them connected
Work from anywhere with CloudTalk Hosted Voice
Our bespoke cloud services deliver a consistent communication service to employees, regardless of their location. Spectrum's CloudTalk hosted telephony service is easy to use and simple to configure so you won't need any specialist knowledge or skills to make the most of its features.
As a perfect alternative to traditional PBX systems, CloudTalk is easily configurable to match your exact requirements and can change and grow with your business.
We also offer annual maintenance and as a Spectrum client, you're fully supported by our Technical and Customer Services Teams 24 hours, 7 days a week. Click the link below to find out more about how Spectrum CloudTalk can assist your remote workforce.
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Unlimited 4G data for home workers...
Unlimited 4G sim (30 day rolling) connection is now available. Tether to your laptop and allow your work prioritisation over your overused home broadband connection.
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How can I support my employees during this time?
Create your work space:
Encourage staff to create a work station in their home rather than work from the living room sofa or bed. This way they'll will find it easier to avoid distractions, maintain good posture. and easily switch off from work at the end of the day. A dedicated work station will ensure your staff can switch to work-mode readily and relax in home-mode when away from their desks, they will certainly need this to maintain good work practices and mental health.
Ensure employees remain connected:
Remote working teams function best when connected so foster a culture whereby employees check in on one another often. With online instant messaging applications like Teams, this should be relatively easy. As a manager it is also vital that you continue to check in on staff as you would do in the office, your staff will feel valued and will also find it easier to remain focused on the job.
Communication is essential:
Without a shared workspace you'll miss out on physical office chats (around the printer or whilst making a cuppa) and transferring these little nuggets of information amongst colleagues. It's important to continue to share relevant updates and bits of knowledge amongst staff and encourage the same from your employees. This practice will likely increase productivity across your whole organisation.
Take regular breaks:
All home-workers need adequate time away from their screens to maintain good productivity. It's easy to forget you're actually at work when working from home, as a result, you'll find yourself working through breaks quite often. Whilst it seems good that staff are working long and hard this can have a detrimental effect on employee productivity in the long-run. Encourage your remote team to take regular breaks, this way they'll return to their desks feeling refreshed and ready to go again.
Look after yourself:
Employee wellbeing is paramount to business success and it's important to encourage self-care among home-workers. Make yourself available throughout the working day to answer any questions or even offer emotional support. Providing steady support will put staff members at ease, they'll feel secure and relaxed under your leadership and in turn, they'll work efficiently.
Focus on tasks completed rather than activity:
Unless you can trust your team and set clear boundaries from the beginning, you'll struggle to manage your remote workers. It's advisable to set realistic expectations and establish mutual respect. Trust your team to get on with their work and avoid micromanaging staff. Focus on tasks completed rather than time spent so your team to use their time in a way that suits them allowing them to be efficient with their productivity.