With COVID-19 impacting businesses across all industries, it may be time to consider if your team can work from home?
If this is an option for you, it is essential that you implement procedures and policies that keep your team accountable to ensure continuity of your business
Does your team have everything they need to work from home?
Ensure that your team have everything they require to productively work from home. Depending on the tasks they are required to perform, they will need to have all the equipment necessary available to them in their home office.
You may also be required to provide remote access and/or the ability to log into your cloud environment so your team can access your system. If you don’t have these facilities set up, speak to your IT support about options that allow people to work from home.
Find ways to utilise technology to stay connected as a team
When working from home, the feeling of isolation and disconnection can be a very real issue. To counteract this, we recommend utilising technology so you can conduct virtual meeting and stay connected to your team.
At Walsh Accountants, we use Microsoft Teams. This allows all employees to virtually call their team members, FaceTime into our daily team meetings, and create group chats to discuss work with others.
Some examples of other platforms that may be an option to your team:
Here are some useful links to fast-track your work-from home learning:
Set Clear Guidelines and Expectations
Communication is key for remote workers – set clear guidelines of what is expected each day.
Have each team member communicate their daily plan to you and be sure that your strategic priorities are clearly communicated to everyone – e.g. what will be completed, to what quality, and by when.
For transparency and accountability, you may like to have each team member report to their manager/team leader their progress vs their daily plan. This will help you to see that each team member is being productive in their own environment and quickly highlight any gaps/need for further support and training.
Life always gives us opportunities to learn. Lean into your team and grow together as you learn how to effectively work from home. Your employees are your most valuable asset and will be instrumental in getting operation back on track when business resumes to normal.
How can Walsh Accountants help you?
As always, our team are here to help! If you have any questions or we can support you in anyway, please do not hesitate to contact your Accountant. We are committed to supporting all of our clients throughout the difficult times we are experiencing.
