Recent events like the devastating bushfires and Coronavirus have seen the urgent need for companies to adapt their digital workforces mentality and functionality. Now, more than ever, there’s been a huge shift in the way we work not to mention where we work.
We here at Daily Addict we have been checking in regularly to support one another (and catch up on our lockdown ‘sthnacks’ of choice) yet we are used to working together digitally. For many others this is the first foray into the ‘digital nomad’ existence…which can be a baptism of fire to say the least.
Here are a few things we can do at this time to keep culture and productivity alive… and not find ourselves pacing the living room for the 497th time in our coffee stained PJs, bird-nest styled hair and mismatched socks. Are you also talking to your plant babies as if they were colleagues? (Asking for a friend). Let’s get a little remote control!
Get up. Get dressed. Get to it. Create a bit of a routine to gain some control in all this mayhem. It doesn’t have to be detailed or laborious, just adapting your normal day to day routine to motivate you in the morning. Did you play music on your commute? Why not make a morning playlist that pumps you up at home. Did you go to the gym before work? There’s plenty of great local online classes popping up now like Tim Sloan’s Online & Outdoor Training aiming to bring the workout to you. The ritual of getting up, making a coffee and stepping into the right frame of mind means when you jump online you are ready to slay the day.
Companies are using ingenious work platforms like Slack (the DA team love it!) Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Hangouts or Asana to streamline the day to day communications. I mean, anything to stop that colleague (we have all had one at one point) from sending yet another long winded email into the not-so-affectionately named (and downright painful) ‘chain of oblivion’. Keep the positive banter up and the boredom low.
Call your colleagues on your lunch break on facetime, Whatsapp video calls or the new app Houseparty and have a proper voice to voice screen/face to screen/face catch up. Better yet, order from your fav local business to keep them afloat – find some local winners at new local instagram i.s.o.m.a.t.e. You could even actually cook a meal together and share recipe tips! Bonus: they won’t be able to steal your chips over the phone…
Atlassian is sharing amazing tips online for remote work 101 – “Working from home isn’t easy, and the transition from the office to home isn’t totally natural, but with enough awareness and some good advice you can increase your productivity, improve your communication, and remain connected with your team. The best performing teams are the ones with the strongest bonds.” head here to check out more great tips from their team!
Bring in the household pets as ‘colleagues’. It’s always good to have a teammate to blame the stolen last cookie on “bloody Rex has done it again! Pull your (ever-increasing) weight mate!” or that missing powerpoint slide “I mean Pete is seriously dropping the ball today, I’ll have a word with him guys. Oi, parakeet Pete!”. Add a little humour and the workload gets that little bit lighter.
Keep up the positive feedback and recognition. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. A lot of people are rapidly adapting to the new arena and many have never previously worked from home (Let alone on the new platforms that have been rolled out faster than you can say ‘NBN WIFI speed’.) A little patience and a verbal or written ‘thanks and cheers for your hard work’ booster from a manager or teammate will go far.
Now last of all but VERY important. Be careful to be aware of your computer camera…Don’t get caught out like that poor *sheila on her video conference using the… ahem… amenities. We know TP is our version of gold bullion right now but let’s keep the digital boardroom out of the domestic bathrooms.
