Remote work tips?

[ElizabethVo]

I got a chance to share some tips in a conversation with Workfront CEO, Alex Shootman, about how we at JLL are handling the switch to a remote workforce, and thought everyone here might have some great tips to add as well.

Two questions for you - what are the top things that have helped your teams transition to working remotely? And like you can see in the video that's in the blog post, my workspace has more personality than my regular office‚Ķ I’d love to see what your home workspace looks like. If you feel like sharing yours below, please do!

My top 5 tips for working remotely are:

• Turn on your camera for every meeting. It breaks down the sense of isolation and facilitates non-verbal communication.
• Let humanity in. Start every meeting by asking how people are feeling, checking in, and acknowledging what people are going through.
• Embrace the silly. My team tells dad jokes, coordinates themed dress days (matching t-shirts, anyone?) and plays a quiz every Friday.
• Reach out to five people per day. This has made a huge impact on my team members because it’s built a connection and helped people break through isolation.
• Make time for self care. Take lunch breaks, establish a routine, and carve out time to consciously not work.

What are some tips that I haven't thought of yet?

[AnthonyPernice]

My team has embraced a number of these suggestions and has really focused on the humanity angle in a number of ways. Our HR team has offered online open office hours, our management team has started weekly briefings and we often do a Friday 4pm online happy hour (often with a theme of some sort).

Our operations team had recently opened up a Workfront support request queue that has gotten more "hits" as this social distancing mandate has gone on. We've found that it adds flexibility and a faster response rate compared to emailing an admin directly as we are all handling work and home life simultaneously and may not be available to help as quickly as normal.

Something else that has helped has been continued normalcy of our operations. We m ay not be able to meet in person, training may be more difficult, but we are not letting that hamper our plans for overhauling and improving our Workfront instance and best practices.