So much has changed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s these changes - both on a personal, and a professional level - that we’re looking into this week.
As a small business, Calmer has also been experiencing changes. Working as a remote team, our digital communications have continued, however with more leniency around call times, and who’s in on our call (family members make the occasional appearance!)
We have also seen a shift in the type of work enquiries we receive, with more focus on remote training packages, as well as a fall in demand more generally. This is unfortunate, and unprecedented, which leads us to today’s guide on adapting to change. Change can bring about unwelcome surprises, but these also make room for new opportunities. Here’s how we are adapting, and you can too:
Stay connected
Let’s start with the subject of communication.
Communication is vital in any business. Despite this, over 60% of Brits feel isolated at work, and this figure is likely to increase while many of us adjust to working remotely.
From our working from home guide, we recommend the following communication channels when working as a remote team:
Emails
Calls
Video calls - both as a team, and 1:1
When it comes to reducing how lonely an individual feels at work, it’s important to recognise that this isn’t wholly the individual’s responsibility. The manager or employer has a responsibility and a legal duty of care to make sure all team members are well integrated with their teams. Find out how to reduce this feeling of loneliness, and increase connection, in our guide.
Implement remote health and safety practices
If you are a manager of a team, or a professional whose working hours are continuing as normal, only this time from your home office, it is your responsibility to ensure you’re working in a safe and healthy manner.
This includes everything from the lighting and ergonomics of your office, through to reporting any injuries sustained while working from home. Discover the best practices for home working in our guide.
Learn how to work from home efficiently
Implementing changes to working practices are not taken lightly by any business - often because there is an expected drop in productivity and motivation across the board. The new measures to work from home were sudden and unexpected, so it’s likely that similar circumstances have arisen within your business, no matter whether you’re self-employed or run a large multinational organisation.
If this is the case, we recommend reading Working From Home: The Complete Calmer Guide To Remote Working. This is our latest e-book, and is based on over 2,000 hours of research, including personal, team and clients’ experiences of working from home. You will learn from evidence-based research, designed as a result of direct feedback from our community, to enable you to embed healthy strategies, and perform at your best when working remotely.
Invest in physical and mental wellbeing
No matter whether we’re in a pandemic, or it’s business as usual, prioritising the safety and wellbeing of your people comes above everything else. As we say at Calmer, a happy mind makes for a happy business, and your people are your businesses’ greatest asset - including yourself.
In the previous weeks, we sensitively addressed coronavirus anxiety and noted that no matter whether you are able to self-isolate, or your work or life requires you continue as normal, feelings of anxiety are valid, and shared by many. If you have an existing mental health issue, it’s also possible that coronavirus anxiety may affect how well you cope, or lessen the effects of existing coping mechanisms.
Consider investing in a Calmer remote training package in order to best support yourself, your team, and your business across their mental wellbeing and further afield.
Consider flexible working
Another way to improve productivity is to consult each person you work or collaborate with on how they best work. This is especially true when working from home - people often have other commitments outside of the office, and these could impact on their schedule when working remotely.
If you manage a team, where possible, consider providing more flexible working conditions. This could be a total number of clocked hours per week (we recommend time-management apps such as Harvest) or simply that you would like certain projects completed for certain deadlines, and leave the time management up to them.
Plus, agreeing flexible working hours can benefit both the employee and the employer: discover the benefits of flexible working hours in our recent post.
However you implement flexibility in your working patterns, ensure to be clear about the short-, medium-, and long-term needs of the business, so you can ensure reactivity to new events, and avoid any unwanted surprises.
Take a proactive approach to future change
On that note - taking a proactive approach to change is important. If anything, the measures to reduce the coronavirus pandemic are serving as a way to test the adaptability of your business and staff, and hopefully highlight any areas that are working well (as well as areas to improve).
This is a shared change, so don’t be afraid to ask for help from partners, colleagues, and industry professionals. While this is a human crisis, its effects may be long-lasting, and will certainly change how businesses run, alongside changes in demand, and buyer behaviour.
Another tip is to consult data (such as your website’s analytics, sales figures, etc.) to understand how you can meet the needs and expectations of customers which may have changed as a result of COVID-19.
Finally, learn to accept change, both on a personal and professional basis. In your business, use forecasting tools - such as SWOT analysis - and continue to do so on a more regular basis as we continue to adapt.
And on a personal level, lead with kindness - be patient, listen, and communicate more than ever.