Transitioning from a normal, office-based business into one that is WFH friendly can be challenging to say the least. With so many moving parts of the day-to-day operations already fixed in stone, business owners may consider it an impossibility to adapt. However, the current COVID situation necessitates change, leaving those who refuse to adapt struggling to survive.
Change isn’t inherently a bad thing, especially now that the welfare of many people depends on it. Transitioning to WFH comes with certain benefits for both employer and employee – BUT only when it’s done correctly! Processes that’s been around for decades can be difficult to modify overnight. Abrupt changes bring more harm than good, causing disruption in productivity time and lowers company morale (worst case scenario).
I’m glad that you are jumping onto the WFH bandwagon. It’s a good initiative on your part to help your business. However, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail! So, to make sure that your transition goes smoothly, I’ll introduce you to a 5-step plan that helped the HTO team to become a fully remote team since 2019.
Step 1: Set up your communications channels
First thing’s first, you’ll need to be able to communicate effectively between team members. Whether it’s for important meetings, liaising with customers or to inform everyone that it’s your birthday! You need to make sure that you get everyone on boarded with a suitable online workspace. Here’s a few software that are free and easy to pick up!
Slack – HTO team choice! You can create channels, private message members, create threads and integrate it with other software used in your company
Microsoft teams – for bigger companies that wants to go for enterprise level platform. Of course made by MS, you can integrate it seamlessly with other MS apps
Rock – a new up and coming workspace! It includes a lot more features in the free tiered version as well as an in-built organization task management tool
The point being, there are plenty of workspaces to choose from and they all do mostly the same thing – i.e., better and organized intra-company communications! Get members segregated into channels or projects so there is clear definition of involvements. That way your employees will always be on the same page.
P.S. Just to get this out of the way, WhatsApp or any text messaging platforms are NOT viable options, ever! Important messages can easily drown in group messages, it’s difficult to keep track of things, and it mixes too much with your personal life. It becomes way too easy to start texting about work past 5pm, only to be met with resentment. Save that for emergencies only or if you need to contact someone privately outside of work.
Step 2: Set up your organization tasks management channel
In office, you’ll view it as whiteboard containing To-do lists, meetings and other agendas going on in the company. Likewise at home, you can set up organization tasks manager to help keep company related tasks in order. You can opt for a simple updates channel in your online workspace but the text-format can be difficult to provide a company-wide overview. For that, Kanban boards are a great way to simulate that same whiteboard.
Trello – HTO team choice! Provides a FREE simple Kanban board for listing out tasks, set deadline reminders and keep important resources under 1 roof
Asana – unlike Trello, the board is inclusive of the many other functionalities that the software provides such as Gantt chart and time tracking!
Notion – offers the most flexibility including being able to make product Wikis and posts. The only drawback is the starting price of USD$8/month per member
The simpler Trello board would be the better starter pick as having too many features can get pretty daunting! What’s most important is to have a single place to store tasks where it can be viewed at an organization level. That way everyone is informed of what each other is doing and can hold each other accountable on a task completion!
Step 3: Set up your call channel
There’s only so much you can convey through text messages alone. When there is a need for some face-to-face interaction or hosting a demo for the new product launch – you’ll be depending on a reliable call channel instead. Here’s a few that you may be familiar with already:
Google meets – HTO team choice! You can easily set them up on Google calendar and Slack provides an integration tool with g-calendar
Zoom – another obvious choice as it’s one of the most profitable video conferencing companies since 2020! A solid tool all around
Gather.town – this is a fun one. You get to create your own avatar and roam around in a map while on call! This is a great way to make video conferencing more fun
With any app you may choose, the important thing to remember is to have a balance in usage. Don’t use it too often as constant meetings can be distracting and tiring for your employees (see video call fatigue). On the other hand, do not be hesitant to call in a meeting for daily/weekly catch-up sessions! It is important to still feel included even when we are away in our own homes 🙂.
Step 4: Determine your “essentials”
There is this misconception that “essential” workers are those that holds an important role in the office – hence the need for them to WFO. I would redefine the meaning of essential by asking a few questions (and be completely honest with yourself!):
- Are they still able to perform with the implementation of the organization tasks manager?
- Can they still communicate or convey their work using the online workspace or video call?
- Do they have an adaptable and agile workflow that can be replicated using the 3 channels?
- Is in-person management necessary for them to perform?
- How experienced are they at their current job?
The more you answer these questions, the more you’ll realise that almost anyone is capable of WFH. Examples are like accounting, office admin, sales, IT engineers, copy writers, managers, content creators, advertising and marketing, customer support, data entry, human resources and so on. With the right foundation in place, your employees should be able to perform anywhere and with minimal interruption.
Step 5: Perform daily or weekly check-ins
This is something that I encourage even outside of the WFH setting. Getting to know the well-being of your employees is one of the most crucial aspect of being an employer. It’s even more so important now that everyone in the company is trying to adapt to the new environment in their own way. Some may flourish, while some may not – it’s ok, it just means that they need an extra helping hand. You can consider this as additional training. A small upfront investment to get an efficient remote team per say.
At HTO, we do daily check-ins (called stand ups) for both content and engineering team. This is brief and mostly just updates everyone on what work has been completed during the day. Weekly meetings on Fridays are reserved for company-wide updates, demos, QnA and tutorials. This is also the time we catch up on non-work-related matters i.e., from personal matters to what shows are good on Netflix 📺.
Keeping spirits high by showing care and appreciation for your employees goes a long way!
It’s a plan alright!
It should come to no surprise that adults, when left to their own devices, is able to perform what they are meant to do. The purpose of this 5-step plan is to ensure that you’ve built a strong foundation that allows your company to WFH. The 3 channels are productivity-saving tools and the catch-up sessions serve as a feedback loop to you and management on how things are progressing with the transition.
While it’s not an entirely foolproof plan, it’s not rigid either. Your company may belong in an industry where WFH isn’t applicable, BUT that’s ok! These plans can still be used to streamline your business operations in and out of office. Add tools or processes that you deem useful for your company as you continue. From the valuable input of your team, you’ll be able to modify and change aspects of the plan to fit your needs best.
Do drop some other examples of apps that you use to better your WFH experience! We’re always looking to expand our arsenal of productivity boosters in HTO. However, if you’re new to the game then these 5 steps should suffice to kick things off. Happy working~ 🚀
P.S. If you need additional help or have questions regarding going fully remote, just drop us a DM at our Instagram or Facebook pages! We’ll be happy to offer some free consultation to help sustain your business during this pandemic season.