Five Changes Remote Managers should make during the Coronavirus Pandemic

Photo by BRUNO CERVERA on Unsplash

It is hard to mention remote work over the past few days without the impact of COVID-19 entering the conversation. Coronavirus has acted as a catalyst in the conversation around working from home.

If you think you are ahead of the curve already as a Remote Company… Think again. Amid school closings in many countries and government restrictions rising even remote companies will have to change their “business as normal” outlook.

Here are 5 changes Remote Companies should make today given the current situation:

1. Cancel your All-Hands Retreat

SXSW, Coachella, the NBA, and Broadway shows have all been cancelled as recommendations for social distancing expand and in many countries gatherings over 50 people have been banned.

While it is still unknown when this coronavirus will reach its peak or when a vaccination will be available for use, chances are the feeling of safety around international travel and impact on employees’ lives will take significant time to return to normal.

The longer your company waits to create an alternative plan, or the more time that passes as you continue to book new logistics for an event, the riskier it may become to recoup financial losses if the event gets postponed or cancelled.

You can always reschedule a company scavenger hunt or karaoke party (or move them online!) and while I am one of the first people to preach about the importance of quality time with team members in real life, now is not the time to take any unnecessary risks.

As a business leader, being overly cautious about the safety and well-being of your employees shows how much you value them, something that is priceless in creating a strong sense of company culture and engagement in the long run.

So, what can you do instead?

• Use some of your retreat funds to send care packages to employees when possible — extra company t-shirts, pajamas, and games for kids could be a welcome treat for those stuck at home during the next few weeks.
• Organize remote hang-outs: I wasn’t joking about a Zoom Karaoke party 🙂 Other ideas include playing virtual board games with your team, or having a Netflix movie club (BYO popcorn of course)
• Take that time to innovate: Host a virtual Hack Days, Brainstorming Day, or skill-share for your team to participate in remotely.

2. Encourage ways for your team to balance work and personal life

While your team members may be used to blending work and personal life. The impact of school closings means they may need to redefine balancing childcare and educational needs along their normal responsibilities at work and at home. Even if you have childless employees, it is likely something as an organization you will notice, whether it be needing to move around recurring meetings, or the occasional kid or spouse sneaking into the back of a Zoom call.

As an organization, it would be a good idea to communicate your expectations around how employees should be communicating their new needs and availability.

Some things to consider:

• Have a shared schedule (if you don’t already) where teammates can add notes around personal time needed. This makes it easier to visualize overlap for synchronous calls and know when your team will be harder to reach.
• Recognize this flexibility is rooted in trust you already have in your employee as a remote worker — by offering them the time needed to focus on their home life or family, know there will be other times where projects can be completed, nights and weekends may offer more of an opportunity for them to do deep thinking.
• You may want to de-stigmatize the appearance of family members in the background of video calls, employees needing to take unannounced breaks during meetings for a family emergency or switching to audio-only calls.
• Get the family involved! Create a “Virtual Bring Your Child to Work Day” for older children stuck at home; it could be a great way to share more about different roles or career paths they have to look forward to.

3. Tighten your focus

It may seem impossible to hunker down on a project when news updates around the current pandemic seem to change on the hour. Work however, can also be a welcome distraction if done right. As a business leader, recognize the global feelings of uncertainty will likely have an impact on individual productivity.

Help your team by tightening the focus around clear high-impact goals. What work is most meaningful to the business at the time? Answer that question, and dive head-first into creating success and wins that will help keep your team motivated.

Another way to keep everyone on track is to create accountability sprints peer-to-peer or in small groups. Have people share a small specific goal and then check in with each other during a pre-determined time (i.e. I want to create a project roadmap within the next two hours and then check in halfway through and at the end).

4. Stay empathetic

Different people are being impacted in different ways, whether your remote team is distributed in one city or across the world, do not assume you know what this experience is like for them.

Now more than ever it is important for remote leaders to practice vulnerability-based trust. Continue to hold regular 1:1 check in’s and don’t just talk about the work, it is important to be more explicit in checking in on your team’s mental and emotional well-being.

If your company has a wellness policy in place remind employees of how they can seek support.

Additionally, continue to promote or create new dedicated time for social interactions at work, some ideas include:

• Virtual book clubs
• Online lunch breaks or recipe swaps
• Donut-style meetings
• “Ask Me Anything” style threads for getting to know each other in a new way (Some fun questions could be “What is your favorite memory at work?”, “If you could only eat three types of food for the rest of your life what would they be?”, “What is a new skill you wish you could immediately become an expert at?”
• Home workout or fitness challenges
• Photo swaps of how you are spending your work breaks at home

5. Share your knowledge!

Just because you are a remote company, does not mean all your employees know how to work at home, they may be used to going into a local co-working space or café. Take time to share best-practices from your company’s “Work from Home” experts and then consider sharing them more widely as many companies are shifting to remote work for the first time.

My top tips:

• Have at least one dedicated area that can be your workspace. If you have a home office that is best, but even removing some pillows and blankets from your sofa or setting up your laptop in a different seat at your dining table than where you normally eat can signify it is work time.
• Explain to other members of your house what your work space and work times are to ensure you are minimizing personal distractions when possible.
• Shower and get dressed! It is easy to want to stay in pajamas all day, starting the day by “getting ready for work” can be an emotional shift in your energy.
• Have activities that can be clear breaks in your work and personal time. I like to do even just five minutes of yoga before starting work, taking a lunch break away from my laptop, and getting up and stretching after the end of my work day.
• Unplug! When you are done work from the day, turn your space back into your home, sign out of work accounts and settle back into your home as a home.

There is no doubt as an already remote company your employees can and will succeed during this time of social distancing and working from home. Making these adjustments can help minimize anxieties and support your team even more during these tumultuous times.

Looking for more remote work advice? Connect with me on LinkedIn and check out my website.

Have other great tips? Leave them in the comments below!