We remain in very uncertain times. The pandemic may seem to be winding down, however, a lot of the changes we have made to staff and team dynamics may very well be here to stay. Working from home is the new office for a lot of us and in many cases, this is for the best too.
There are some scenarios where working from home can be lacking compared to the traditional office, chief among which is the team communication aspect. Many larger companies have opted for the use of software like Microsoft Teams, but teams can lack a personal communication touch that is needed in smaller team environments.
Equipment
One of the most important factors often overlooked on a larger business scale is the equipment you supply to your team members. One of the most significant things you can give to the team is comfort, uncomfortable equipment is an easy way to hurt motivation, moral and possibly even the team members themselves.
Decent quality chairs, headsets, microphones and peripherals like mice and keyboards will go a long way in improving comfort on a day-to-day basis. Asking team members to stay on voice chats and in meetings for what can be several hours at a time, the comfort of a headset cannot be stressed enough.
Software Choice
Difficult to use, or unintuitive software will make for a bad experience in the teams. This may not be a very modifiable standpoint, as a lot of businesses have rather large plans for communication software, meaning you can’t just change the software to be used.
Another problem to contend with for a smaller enterprise is the cost of software, as a lot of it is far from cheap. Depending on the type of work and communication you do, software like Discord can be a fantastic way to host meetings and have one on one sessions with team members for free.
Keeping In Contact
Depending on the type of work your team does, working from home can become a lonely experience. If your team does not need to stay in contact on a daily basis, it can be difficult to keep communication channels open.
Try and implement weekly meetings where progress, workload and everything else that is needed can be discussed for all involved. Weekly meetings are great to get the information you require but can also be lacking in a personal connection or the communication of possibly sensitive information. It may take some time, but private voice calls with each team member at least once a week can go a long way in making the team member feel heard and appreciated.
The private calls do not need to be long and don’t need to revolve only around work, you can talk about interest, hobbies, what you enjoy at real money casino sites and just about anything suitable. In these uncertain times, any communication will go a long way in helping the staff members feel less alone. Communication does not only need to be between you and team members, encourage cross communication between team members to keep the team cohesive and acting as a unit.