The coronavirus (COVID-19) has been officially identified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), suggesting infection is accelerating at the same time in several countries.
The United States of America has imposed travel bans on 28 European countries, closed schools and universities, and prevented large gatherings of people.
On top of that, organizations have asked their employees to work from home (WFH) as a safety precaution.
Are Businesses Ready for WFH?
Organizations might not be as ready as they think for a fully remote workforce.
Many organizations were comfortable with work from home while they had just one or two employees working from home.
A vast number of organizations were also under the impression that they have the required resources to allow workers to work easily from home.
But now that work from home has become mandatory and all employees will have to work remotely for an uncertain time frame, cracks are appearing in the base.
From a shortage of resources for teamwork to a shortage of interpersonal instruction about how workers can handle remote work situations, organizations are scrambling to meet the demands of remote workers.
There are growing criteria that remote workers need to be successful. Here is where G-Suite becomes a one-stop solution for preserving productivity at work.
Earlier, we discussed the benefits of G-suite for businesses, from startups to the Fortune 500.
Now, let’s have a brief look at the ways to set up your team for remote working and ensure work efficiency using G-Suite:
First Thing First
Be sure that your team has the right resources and procedures in place before you move from working at the office to working from home. When they have been set up, here are a few additional steps that you can take:
- Develop an Email Alias for a Team That Can Keep in Touch Easily
An email list that includes all the members of your team allows you to exchange details easily, and Google Hangouts can be used for quicker discussions.
- Check Permissions for Sharing on Important Documents -
So collaborators can edit and comment as required. You may also suggest creating a shared drive from any computer where your team can store, scan, and access data.
- Schedule Meetings Now to Help You Keep in Touch Later -
Use calendar invites, create an agenda ahead of time and add appropriate documents to the invitation. You can start scheduling the meetings now as it might slip from your mind later while working from home.
Keeping your Team Connected and On Track each day
Now that the team is set up and everyone is ready to work from home, having everyone on the same page is important. Let’s explore more ways where G-suite can help you to ensure the deliverables and employees are on track.
- Hold Regular Meetings
Holding Google Hangout meetings daily can keep the team linked with each other. For certain people, working at home can be isolating and video conferencing is a perfect way to keep people involved.
Try to put on the camera, present relevant content and ask questions to spark discussions when necessary. Document it when time zones prohibit anyone from attending a meeting— after making sure the participants feel confident recording!
- Share Goals and Updates Regularly
If everyone interacts in a chat group or via a shared folder, a record of what is being done is a great way to feel linked, keep everyone up to date, and follow up on the items in action.
You can also set up an internal website to incorporate critical information and resources into a central repository for your employees, or more generally, share information with your organization.
- Continue to Practice Good Workplace Etiquette.
Just because the staff isn't in the workplace doesn't mean they aren't occupied. Check calendars before scheduling meetings, and begin by asking if it's a good time to talk when you reach out via chat.
By setting up work hours in Calendar, you can also proactively remind your colleagues of your own availability.
This way, if a team member wants to arrange a meeting outside your working hours, he or she will receive a warning notification.
- Information Sharing Outside of the Organization
Remote employees can upload important files to Google Drive and share them with other stakeholders including administrators, other staff, and consumers or vendors.
Likewise, suppliers and clients can edit, update the details that would become accessible to any remote worker who needs the details to finish their job. You can also set the permissions while sharing the files.
Get Started
G Suite forms the backbone of your unified platform and gets your business moved into the cloud.
It’s simple to set up, use and manage, allowing you to work smarter and focus on what really matters. And, by integrating with our other tools, you can do everything from productivity tracking to customer communication logging.
Contact Us to Learn More about Transforming Your Business