On January 30, the World Health Organization labeled coronavirus (COVID-19) "a public health emergency of international concern". Presently the global coronavirus count has surpassed 1, 000,000 confirmed cases, with over 50, 000 deaths, raising fresh questions about how companies and individuals plan to adapt to growing public health concerns around travel and working in close contact.
As these global coronavirus fears intensify, businesses are seeking solutions to manage their increasingly remote workforce. In response to the rapid spread of coronavirus and subsequent public health concerns, some companies have canceled events, suspended non-essential travel, and many are asking their employees to work from home.
Tips for Working Remotely as a Coronavirus Precaution
Teams are working remotely during this time as part of the precautionary measures that many hope will curb the impact of coronavirus. Although remote work flexibility has been a sought-after career perk in recent years, teams still need the right tools and resources in place to ensure they can adapt to new work-related challenges around collaboration, accessibility, and logistics.
The thing is, while some companies are used to remote work, it may be a completely new way of working for others. And those companies that are not used to remote work may not be ready to successfully change their work arrangements right away.
1.Eliminate the need for meetings create a digital hub accessible to all team members At a time when face-to-face meetings are unrealistic or even impossible for some teams, a software solution that houses documents and tasks in one centralized, digital location can make working remotely more productive.
2. Build in new routines that involve checking in via video conference and team chat software Your weekly status meeting or 1:1s can be conducted as efficiently via video conferencing tools like Zoom. Collaborative work can also be hammered out through applications like Slack.
3.If employees require a VPN to access the company's private networks remotely, make sure to set that up sooner rather than later. Your teams may need to access your company's private networks from home. Speak to an administrator about setting up a secure VPN, so no one misses out on important tasks while working remotely. This will also ensure confidentiality.
4.Make sure you have access to a strong Internet connection A spotty or unreliable Internet connection can be a significant challenge for remote workers. Ensure your Internet connection is solid and there is a contingency plan, if not.
5.Make use of collaborative software and cloud-based apps Working from home has become more efficient thanks to cloud-based tools that allow for collaboration and remote access to documents and assets. Make the most of these tools as your teams navigate changes to their work schedule and environment.
Choosing the Right Work Software Solution for Teams While Working Remotely
One of the challenges of managing and working within a remote team involves choosing the right software solution to increase collaboration and productivity. This is where Prysm’s visual collaborative solution comes into play. Prysm Collaborative Solutions let you interact with remote staff via video call, and allow them to share content to your boardroom display, even when they're not in the room. Remote staff can display their content, and allow the team in the boardroom to annotate, add remarks, and give feedback in real-time, (and vice versa) allowing for a truly collaborative effort. Multiple devices can be conferred to the main display at once, making it easy for various members of staff to show their content. All this content, along with any footnotes or comments can be stored as a file, and emailed to all participants, saving the need for a designated staff member to take minutes or notes, and send these around. Prysm Collaborative solutions allow for a planned meeting software or ad-hoc idea-sharing. You can instantly link up a display in one place to a display elsewhere, and collaborate in real-time on an interactive whiteboard, or over the top of documents.
