Companies that are new to the virtual workplace may struggle to adapt to its changes, challenges, and realities. In fact, a survey conducted by Slack shows that ‘collaboration can be especially problematic for those who’ve been working remotely for less than a month.’ This can be correlated to the fact that organizational changes can have negative impacts. And if not addressed in time, it can be the catalyst to the greater problems in the functioning and operation of the company.
Companies must, therefore, actively learn how to adapt to this change. Most companies do not have policies for unprecedented changes like these. Keeping this in mind, we will be looking into some effective ways that companies can use to adapt to a virtual workplace.
Tips to Adapt to a Virtual Workplace
1. Modify the ways you communicate
Open and two-way communication is a must regardless of whether the workplace is virtual or in-office. The way communication takes place in a virtual workplace may however need to be modified. Since emails and group/private chats will be most frequently used in virtual workplaces, everyone should be careful with how they text. People often tend to read texts by implying a tone based on their mood. The reader may thus perceive texts with a different meaning than intended by the writer. Asking for clarification about this is not possible or even appropriate which leads to problems with how messages are interpreted. The easy solution to this is using voice messaging.
Voice messaging is just like texting, instant but not immediate. Along with communication being clearer, it also saves time as opposed to texting, and many people already use it anyway. Nevertheless, it could also have drawbacks depending on what is to be communicated and to whom. So, it must be used based on need and not all the time - just like other forms of communication.
2. Keep your employees’ needs first
When shifting to a virtual workplace from a traditional office, employees may have mixed responses. Some may embrace it but others may face problems. For the ones facing problems, is the management keeping the employees’ needs first to help them cope through this tough time? For example, an employee is unable to focus on work during work hours and is facing burnout. Now, should the management provide more training for time management and support for dealing with burnout or should they rather provide flexible work hours enabling the employees to complete their responsibilities without being rigid on their work hours?
Of course, both approaches are positive takes on the situation. But the second option is going to prove beneficial for employee morale, motivation, and company image. When employees realize that their manager is asking important questions and putting their needs ahead at times of need, it will significantly improve their performance and loyalty to the company.
3. Incorporate the culture of micro-breaks
Human minds can only take and process so much information. There may be various internal and external factors that affect the capacity of our brain at any given time. Taking a break allows it to pause, rest and get back to work. Numerous psychological studies have been conducted over the years which prove this strategy as a practical productivity hack. The importance of this today is more than ever before. When we’re working remotely, in the same place, with very less human interaction, it’s very easy for the brain to get bored and tired. So, we can subject ourselves to different types of breaks such as light exercise or just moving around, meditation or a quick nap, getting a drink, listening to music, and so on.
Many studies also point to different intervals of breaks in after different periods of time. A study performed by the University of Illinois suggests taking a break once every hour. Likewise, the Pomodoro Technique advises working for 25 minutes followed by a 3 to 5-minute break, and then a 15 to 30-minute break every 90 minutes or so. Anyway, the idea is for companies to recognize that taking multiple short breaks is a good practice and to incorporate it into the company culture itself.
4. Develop a consistent reporting system
Keeping a track of everything could be challenging in a virtual workplace as you cannot see first-hand what everybody is working on and the progress they’ve made. So, a consistent reporting system can solve this problem. You can use various online tools like Trello or Microsoft planner or you can simply create an excel sheet for this. By making a policy to report in detail on such tools, you and everybody working together can stay in a loop of one another’s tasks and progress. It makes communication and collaboration easier and more efficient.
One important thing to keep in mind while developing a reporting system is to make sure that the format of reporting is direct and short. The employees should be able to do daily reporting within a minute or two for the system to be effective. Hence, daily meetings can be avoided, saving everyone’s time and effort. Depending on how crucial the tasks are, meetings can be conducted individually or in-team once in a few days, weekly, bi-weekly, and so on.
5. Have IT staff on standby
Even if you are tech-savvy, you might not be aware of the technical issues arising in a virtual workplace. Your team members may be having hardware problems, software or network issues, and whatnot! That’s why you may need an IT expert on standby to contact them as soon as problems arise. The IT staff can be someone within the company or from a third party company who will be available for you all the time.
Bottom Line
Adapting to a virtual workplace effectively may take time and consistent effort from the management as well as the employees. For any change to settle in, there will be numerous setbacks and companies must be ready for it. The important thing is to persevere through such obstacles, learn from challenges and incorporate new learnings to adapt better.