4 Stages to Implementing a Work-From-Home Program

A new mom might desire to work from home for a few years. Perhaps work from home was imposed on your organization as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It's also possible that your hiring managers are realizing that today's top talent expects to be able to work from home at least a few days each week.

It's more vital than ever for business executives to understand how to set up and sustain a successful remote work program for a variety of reasons. Putting together a virtual team needs thought, planning, and, more than likely, some technological investment.

Here's everything you need to know about starting a successful work-from-home business.

1. Establish the scope of work and expectations.

Granted, not every career fits itself to working from home.

A receptionist, warehouse worker, or warehouse manager, for example, all need to be physically present. Customer service representatives, salespeople, and IT specialists may be able to conduct business successfully from a home office or a co-working environment.

Not every employee is suited to working from home. New employees may need weeks or months to understand systems and acquire business culture in your office. Other qualities to look for in a remote employee include:

• Possessing a self-starting mindset

• Maturity

• Communication and collaboration skills

Yet, as the COVID-19 outbreak has shown, many employees who would not typically be allowed to telecommute did so while maintaining or exceeding their usual production levels.

It's obvious that setting clear expectations for behavior and the task to be done is vital. Otherwise, you won't be able to tell if that person will be successful on a virtual team. Consider the following questions:
 

1. Is it necessary for the employee to come into the office once a week or only for important meetings?

2. Is it necessary for the person in this position to be available during specific hours? Is it necessary for their accessible hours to correspond to a specific time zone?

3. What does it mean to be "available"? Are you able to allow parents or other caregivers to work irregular hours, for example?

4. Is there a space at home where the would-be telecommuter can make calls with little to no background noise?

5. What method will be used to allocate projects and set deadlines?

6. Is there a list of all the important responsibilities that come with this job?

7. When it comes to responding to emails and phone calls, what is the normal response time?

The answers to these questions will form the basis for defining accountability for remote workers.

2. Technology: the secret sauce of work-from-home programs.

Virtual teams' performance is largely dependent on technology. These employees will require the same level of complete and easy access to information as those in your office. Everyone will require access to calendars, phone lists, and other tools.

You might require an intranet, file transfer software, remote access software, client management software, video conferencing, or communication tools like Google Meet or Zoom to make this work.

This investment does not have to be costly; it simply needs to be well-organized for the task at hand. For short, informal talks, FaceTime or Skype can be used, while Zoom can be used for bigger, more official meetings.

Because there are literally hundreds of technology possibilities, your organization will need to figure out which combination of software investments would work best for you. Consider the following example:

• Yaaaro PMS is a widely used platform for managing and tracking sales teams.

• Website development teams use Jumpstart.

• Project management software such as Workfront and Basecamp are used.

3. Experiment with remote work.

A test case is an excellent approach to see how remote operations might function for your firm.

A trial run for work from home might produce questions that need to be answered, identify what software or office supplies need to be made available, and determine what training and documentation are needed to prepare workers to work from home or in a co-working environment.

Encourage members of your virtual team to contribute their observations during or after the exam. Inquire about stuff such as:

1. What office materials did you need to work from home? Were company stationery and a variety of FedEx shipping labels and boxes, for example, required? How are those supplies going to be replenished?

2. What steps do I need to take to get remote access to my company's files?

3. To communicate via email, video conference, and file-sharing systems, what software, URLs, and phone numbers are required?

4. What are the alternatives if a system or software fails?

5. Is the company's present technology capable of working in a remote environment? Is there a need for improvements or new technology? Are there any issues with the firewall?

6. What are the drawbacks and challenges of working remotely, and how may they be overcome?

4. Incorporate remote work into your culture.

It's critical to ensure that remote workers can participate in your company's culture and feel like they're a part of it. This, too, necessitates consideration and strategy.

Consider the following questions:

1. Which is more important: job speed or work quality?

2. Is it more common for your team to connect by email, phone, or in-person?

3. What impact does visibility and meeting conduct have on an employee's advancement within the company?

4. How much time does your team put in? Is it 40 hours or 80 hours?

5. These questions and their answers can aid you in managing remote personnel.

When it comes to working from home, keep in mind that out-of-sight doesn't always imply out-of-mind. Regular check-in calls or in-person meetings with your virtual team are required, depending on the job.

Because nothing beats face-to-face interaction, you should invite remote workers to participate in a team activity or meeting. Whether these whole-team events take place weekly or twice a year depends on the job and your culture.

Whether or whether your organization is prepared, your employees will most certainly be forced to work remotely as a result of the current pandemic. Consider using this experience as a proving ground for a permanent shift to a fully remote organization.