5 tips to help your team work from home
It's about business continuity and collaboration
We live in an era when companies are asking more and more employees to work from home. If your boss told you tomorrow that you’d have to work remotely for the next month or more, would you be prepared?
Here are five ways you and your team can work productively, collaborate effectively, and keep your part of the business running smoothly – no matter where you are.
These tips are handy for anyone working from home, whether out of necessity or as part of the growing trend to work remotely some or all of the work week.
So, the big question is: How can your business maximize a work-from-home arrangement?
1. Make Zoom your virtual meeting room
Meetings are an inevitable part of working life; yet just because you’re not all in the same physical location doesn’t mean you can’t meet. Zoom is our favourite way to connect local and global teams. This video and conferencing tool is incredibly easy to use on your laptop, mobile or desktop. Share screens to work through a project together or deliver a presentation that you can record for playback later. Hold conferences for up to 10,000 people on the Zoom platform.
Top tip: Pants are optional at Zoom meetings. No one will know :)
2. Use Slack to collaborate and chat
Miss popping over to Bob’s desk to ask a quick question? What’s the best alternative when you’re out of the office? We love Slack, the collaboration hub where teams can get together no matter where they are. Set up a chat workspace, add channels for different teams, create projects and more. Add files to projects, creating a handy repository for all the info you need to get a job done. No more sifting through endless emails.
Top tip: Ditch channels you don’t need. #Puppy-memes may be getting in the way of your productivity.
3. Work from home and share documents with G Suite
G Suite brings together Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive and Calendar in one place in the cloud. Use any of the tools to create what you need, then easily share and communicate your work with colleagues. Share calendars to see when others are available for the next Zoom meeting to work together on everything from slides to spreadsheets. Plus, all updates are saved in real time in Google Drive, so everyone has access to the latest version of every file.
Top tip: Kick back, relax, and use the Voice Typing tool in Docs. You’ve got to try it at least once.
4. Get contracts signed with DocuSign
How do you manage to get an important agreement signed if your contact is in another city or holed up in their own home on the other side of town? DocuSign eSignature is the leading electronic signature solution to get your agreements signed no matter where recipients are. DocuSign eSignatures are legally valid, simple to use, and eliminate the hassle of printing and sending out paperwork for signing. Signers can sign agreements without a DocuSign account by just clicking a link. Senders can set up a secure envelope to forward documents for signing in just a few minutes.
Top tip: Take advantage of the template function and let DocuSign do the real work!
5. Store all your work in Box
You definitely don’t need to access the office filing cabinet if you use Box. Store, manage and share all your work-related files using this secure, cloud-based platform. It’s perfect for remote workers, purpose-built to access and share files from your laptop or mobile, wherever you are. To make life even easier, use the DocuSign integration with Box to create a document, edit it, share it and send it for electronic signature directly from your Box account.
Top tip: Automatically sync folders on your laptop with Box. Your work is always backed up, even if you’re out shoveling snow and out of WiFi range.
Are you and your team ready to work from home effectively?
Make your remote work count. Set yourself up with industry-leading tools to collaborate with ease, be more productive and feel like you’re part of the team – no matter where your office is.
