Thanks to COVID-19, working from home is a new reality for many. To ensure that both you and your team are equipped to stay connected, here are a few ideas:

What your team should do:

• Be transparent: Projects and files should be accessible for everyone.
• Prepare communication before and after every meeting: Make sure the conference line is free and double-check to make sure you’ve included every team member that’s needed. Provide the agenda beforehand, and make sure everyone can contribute to the conversation successfully.
• Be responsive: Even if you can’t help them with their problem immediately, respond and let your teammate know when you plan to follow-up.
• Leave room for fun: Check-in with your team on their personal lives with icebreaker questions, and celebrate milestones and birthdays.

What you should do:

• Design a dedicated workspace: Pick a spot in your home that has accessible WiFi, a comfy chair, good lighting, and limited distractions.
• Set a routine: Get up, get dressed, and get focused just like you’re going into the office. Try to set dedicated quiet office hours too.
• Ensure you have the equipment: Make sure you and your team have access to a strong internet connection, a working webcam and microphone, and any digital software tools for collaboration.
• Make clear communication plans: Establish guidelines with your team before you start your workday.

Here are a few tools to test – use what works well for your team!

Video:

• Skype
• Google Hangouts
• Whereby
• Zoom

Communication/Collaboration:

• Slack
• Microsoft Office Teams
• Google documents
• Trello
• Basecamp

Storage:

• Dropbox
• OneDrive
• GoogleDrive