These are difficult times.

The COVID-19 outbreak has gripped the globe.

A string of companies, even the who’s who of the business world like Twitter, Google, Microsoft, Apple, are adopting work from home. They’re asking their employees to stay at home, safe & sound, to curb the spread of the virus.

In the wake of this predicament, SurveySparrow has shifted to the virtual model of working as well. We ran multiple trial runs, and with various tools, to embrace this challenge. Here are the eight tips which we adopted at SurveySparrow that did magic as we switched to work from home.

Here are the eight work from home tips you should adopt while working remotely.

#1: Availability

You wake up and start the day, wait, you are still at home. There’s no prim and proper routine that involves you getting dressed and setting out for work. Thus, establish a routine while embracing remote work. There are early birds in the office, so are there night owls. Pick a time slot that suits you the best and stick to it. Erratic timings can often be difficult for co-workers to keep up. Consequently, you’ll find a string of unopened emails, unread messages, and chaos of poor communication.

#2: Responsiveness

With great power comes great responsibility. Uncle Ben got it on point. While switching to work from home mode, it is imperative to respond to co-workers when they reach out to you. And that isn’t after an hour or two later. Going under the radar will delay the project entirely, and the entire team suffers. Be on the dot when it comes to responding to emails, calendar invites, and in our case Slack. Ensure that you stay just a chat or call away, literally.

#3: Project Management System

Set-up tools to enable your teams to work in a well-organized manner. Communicating virtually can be tricky- you may miss a point, disorder the task priority, slip coordinating with a team member. These are natural but solvable factors. At SurveySparrow, we have Hubspot for Sales, Trello for Marketing, and Jira for the Engineering team. And, for internal collaboration and communication, there is Zoom and Slack. Tasks flow smooth and easy, with checklists crossed, and projects implemented.

#4: Objectives & Key Results | OKR

OKR, or Objectives & Key Results, maps the vision & course of action of various teams to achieve goals, individually, then on a team level, and finally on an organizational level. Define the roles of employees clearly, encourage them to set their objectives, and provide all resources necessary to achieve the key results.

#5: Key Performance Indicators | KPIs

Working from home or otherwise, it is essential to set the KPIs or Key Performance Indicators, which measures productivity. Setting time as a criterion does not pan out during remote work, you’ll need to break it down to team-level. For instance, it can be the tasks delivered, the amount of interaction with clients, and so on.

#6: Rituals

It’s always a smart practice to establish routines over the week for your employees. These rituals pave the way for team interactions and collaborations. For instance, daily standups, SCRUM meetings, weekly reporting, are some of the ways to bring everyone on the same page. In addition to the above, at SurveySparrow, we have daily virtual check-in & check-out. It’s nice and warm to see ‘Good morning’ from your co-workers as you start the day together.

#7: Tools & Equipment

While switching to work from home mode, ensure you, as employees have all the necessary equipment and resources to function independently. For instance, naming the obvious tool would be an active internet connection.

#8: Security

While work from home can mean remotely working anywhere under the bright sun, it’s wise to stay away from crowded places. Since there are confidential data and documents present, and we must act responsibly and avoid using insecure, public networks for working.

Apart from the points we’ve covered, there’s another which we swear by at SurveySparrow.

Our Culture Code.

It stands by as the guiding principles that ensure we align in the same direction, achieve our objectives, and collaborate with enthusiasm.

Even if we are displaced geographically.

Do you have any such tips to share? Add them in the comments below. We’d love to hear them!

Until then,

Stay safe. Remain calm. Exercise caution.

Oh, and happy remote working!

8 Crucial Work From Home tips all managers must adopt