If this week marks the first of many of home working for you and your team, you might be concerned as to whether the change in situation will affect your business or the quality of your team’s work – if so, you’re not alone.

But the good news is that there is no reason a transition to home working will affect your team’s ability to perform.

Yes, it might seem unusual at first, but by being prepared, practising resilience and some forward planning, your team will be up and running from home in no time.

Here are some things you can do to help your team make the transition from office to home working as smooth as possible.

1. Change as Little as Possible

Despite working from home being a significant shift from the norm, the first way to ensure a smooth transition is to keep to your regular schedule as much as possible.

This means having your team at their desks and ready for a conference call or a video call (more in this below) at the start of the working day.

Make sure your team are aware of how important it is to wear their regular working clothes, have lunch and breaks at the same time, and liaise with whoever they would typically liaise with.

2. Daily Briefings

Remote working should not mean that your team are figuratively ‘apart’ from each other – if anything, it should bring you closer together.

Daily briefings might not be a normal part of your working day, but now is the time to start. Without physically being in your place of work, it is essential not to lose that connection and camaraderie that being in the workplace naturally provides.

Try having a briefing in the morning and at the end of the day, so that your team can share any issues and check-in. If twice a day isn’t possible, aim for once a day at the minimum.

3. Stay Connected Via Video

With Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp Video – there’s no excuse not to have a (virtual) face-to-face catch up with your team, and it is recommended that you do this as often as possible – aim for at least once a day.

People who regularly work from home report that seeing the faces of their manager and their colleagues helps them to feel connected. And if this is the first time that your team will be working from home – this will be especially important for them.

4. Weekly Wins

It’s a challenging time for many businesses at the moment. If you or your team are feeling under pressure, a great idea is to celebrate your wins of the week on a Friday. This can be a part of your conference or video call, or they can be shared in a messaging group or email.

Knowing that their colleagues are going through the same difficulties but also being able to share in each other’s wins is a great way to make the team feel at ease with their current situation. The ‘wins’ can be big or small, it could be ‘I got through my first morning without having to check something with remote IT support!’ and you should kick off the wins yourself to get the ball rolling.

5. Practice Adaptability

Of course, things will feel different at first, and we currently don’t know how long remote working is going to be in effect for.

As a manager, it is your responsibility to help your team navigate the likely unsettling weeks ahead.

Remember that this is a significant change, and not everything will always go to plan the first time. Some team members will find it easier to adapt than others, and there may be some obstacles along the way, so be supportive of your team at every step of the way.

6. Don’t Forget

There are millions of people across the UK in the same boat as you right now. Teams who weather the storm will come out stronger on the other side.

Many businesses have seen an increase in demand for their products and services since the coronavirus outbreak, and there has been a shift in recruitment needs across the UK.

If your business needs have changed in the last few weeks and like many, you have different recruitment needs – we can help.

As experts in recruiting commercial talent in the North West, we can put you in touch with the employees you need, right now. Contact us on 01772 259121 or using our contact form here.

About Clayton Recruitment

Clayton Recruitment has been partnering with organisations across the country since 1989 and during that time has built up an excellent reputation for trust and reliability.

With specialist divisions covering Commercial, Financial, Industrial, Nursing, and Engineering appointments, on both a permanent and temporary basis. If you are looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to download our latest interview checklist, you can do so here.