[Editor's note: The following tips for working from home have been adapted with permission from SCAO’s internal “Tips for Working from Home.”]
Starting in January 2020, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted life around the world. In Michigan, Governor Whitmer announced a state of emergency in March and signed the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order, which required those of us who could to work from home to lower the spread of infection. Getting accustomed to working from home has challenges in itself. Whether you feel isolated, have frequent family or pet interruptions, or just have trouble staying focused, there can be some difficulty working from home.
To help with that transition, here are some tips for remote work:
For Staff
- Use e-mail for formal communication with colleagues, and keep any instant messaging platform, like Jabber, for informal communication.
- If you have Zoom or other videoconference staff meetings, consider using your web cam so that you and your coworkers can see one another.
- Remember in video- or teleconferences to mute yourself when you are not speaking to eliminate any background noise (including accidental interruptions from your family, pets, or housemates).
- Choose a quiet place in your home to work. This is especially important during calls and meetings. Any distraction you are experiencing is amplified to the person(s) on the other end.
- Make sure that you understand expectations from your department and manager for working from home. These might include: deadlines and tasks; accepted work hours; communication tools; and notice for sick leave or annual leave, especially for personal appointments.
- Communicating through e-mail or text messages presents challenges. Proofread your messages before sending them to be sure your intentions and tone are clear. If you have a question about a communication from someone else, try to connect by phone or video to ask for clarification.
- Remember that communications you send using messaging or text applications (Jabber, Zoom, etc.) may be accessible to others within public channels, and are also recorded (cached) within each system. While it is important to maintain both professional and personal connections with your peers, it is also important to make sure that your communications are appropriate.
For Managers
- Be visible (as a manager or leader of a team). When appropriate, let your team know your availability/status to minimize frustration in expected response times.
- Check in on your remote staff as regularly as possible.
- Make sure to establish norms for how your team will work: communication channels; work hours; leveraging technology tools to stay connected. Ask the team for what they are comfortable with, and adjust as needed.
- Make sure deadlines are clear and check in to ensure that work is moving forward.
- Working from home is an exercise in trust, and remote work expectations should mirror in-person expectations as much as possible. An example is documenting activity in some form of a journal or log. If this is not an expectation for staff members in the office, it should not be an expectation when they are working remotely.
- Have check-in calls with your entire team as needed to touch base on items specifically related to COVID-19 and/or working from home. Let staff suggest agenda items and get their feedback on challenges to help them feel more connected.
Helpful Articles
- Top 10 Proven Tips to Set Up a Temporary Work From Home Office
- How to be an Effective, Collaborative Remote Worker
- A Guide to Managing Your (Newly) Remote Workers
