Working From Home: Keeping Connected

As a result of COVID-19, many businesses across the world are dipping their toes into the unknown world of home working!

For many, this is a new experience and business owners are now expected to be experts in advising what applications and software to download to ensure not just external meetings take place but internal communications, both in terms of formal meetings and business messaging and also how to create that virtual watercooler for colleagues to meet and chat socially helping to keep the team together.

Due to the very nature of the FuseMetrix software, we have been helping companies to become less dependant on a physical workplace for nearly 20 years. With the extensive out of hours support we offer our global clients, home-working is something that has become second nature to us and we thought we should share our experiences and let you know what we use to make our business work when we are not all in the office. Traditionally this has just been weekends, early mornings and late nights but now we have moved to full on remote working.

The basis of most things we do is our core business system, FuseMetrix, which provides us with our browser based complete business system, from comprehensive CRM and marketing tools, to Email, Diarys, Projects, Document Management, HR and Accounts. In addition to FuseMetrix we also use a few other tools to manage our communications, a cloud based phone system, video conferencing and Whatsapp. Our aim is to allow employees to feel connected, motivated and to be just as productive as they would be in the office.

Combined with our system, here is a summary of what applications we use at FuseMetrix to ensure a productive home working day.


Amazon Chime

The best way to start the day is with a team video call, we subscribe to Amazon Chime for this as it gives us not just instant video conferencing but message boards/chat rooms and screen sharing.

Each of the team leaders is responsible for starting a daily instant meeting at 9am and they then call their teams into it. We ask that our employees are properly up and dressed for work when we call and are in a suitible place to concentrate, for example at a kitchen table or a quiet room. Although it is tempting to think you can work in your PJs from your bed, the reality is that your mind is just not in the right place to be productive and focused. Getting up and dressed as though you were going to work sets you up for the day with the right mindset.

One of the big issues with working from home is that of isolation, this daily video call is important so that the teams see each other and can interact with each other in a natural way, that visual aspect makes such a difference compared to just a phone call or group text chat. Remember that in these times of social isolation it may be the only face that person sees today!

Chime has proved to be a great tool in creating that team motivation and communication each morning, being able to discuss, prepare and assign tasks for the day. This offers a fantastic platform for clarity on work but also ensures staff are up, dressed and engaged. The psychology of the power of dress is a fascinating concept and something we hope to bring you more content on soon.

Like FuseMetrix Chime is a cloud-based platform meaning your employees can access it on pretty much any device where an app is available. Teams can immediately come together sharing screens, content and ideas. While Chime has been our platform for brainstorming, sharing screens and working together it’s instant messaging feature enables questions to be asked as quickly as in the office.

Other similar systems exisit with ZOOM Video Conferencing and Microsoft Teams being notable alternatives. We chose Chime as they are partnered with Vonage Business who provide our phone systems and the subscription comes free with certain Vonage packages.


Vonage Business phone system

We are continually looking at how to improve our out of hours services for customers and and flexible working practices for our teams and a few months ago, prior to the current crisis we decided to move from our traditional Mitel office phone system from BT to an entirly cloud based virtual system from Vonage and it changed our world....

By removing desk phones and moving over to bluetooth headsets linked to softphones on our laptops and our apps on our mobiles, we have given ourselves full flexibility of working remotely while our customers can be helped wherever we are, whatever we are doing.

Vonage is an easy to use cloud-based system which combines telephone and messaging with the flexibility of working remotely. Given the current situation it is absolutely ideal for businesses needing an instant solution to staff working from home. We set ours up in a day and now have the whole team with DDIs, set up in call groups, virtual receptionist etc.. We got a great new local number (01908 915905) which we have going into the virtual receptionist where you can select the team you want to speak to and it then uses ring groups to get you to the right team or you can even dial an extension by name!

Plans start from only £9 per month per user with various other packages including unlimited UK or international calls.


Document Management & Dropbox

When it comes to document storage whilst working from home we user the FuseMetrix document managment system however if you don't have this Dropbox is your friend. Dropbox is a cloud based storage system which is accessible to your whole team online. Dropbox enables you to securely store files and allows you can share files and invite team members to publicly access folders online. This removes the need for Shared Access Drives on company servers and making your ways of working more secure.


WhatsApp - the virtual water cooler

The idea of looking after your employees well-being while working from home has gained great momentum in the past few days as people start to think about the ramifications of potentially an extended lock down. If staff feel lonely and disassociated, a marked decrease in their work will be visible. WhatsApp helps to remove the feeling of isolation for employees and helps businesses stick together despite them not being in the same room.

While it's so important to keep those communication channels open and professional WhatsApp gives the perfect platform for replacing that office banter we all know and love. The upkeep of social interaction is widely overlooked as important in these changing times, however studies are showing more and more just how crucial this aspect is.

At FuseMetrix we try to keep work chat in the Chime chat rooms with each department having its own seperate chat room. We do however have a whole company Whatsapp group where we encourage more general chat, like you might have by the water cooler, this is a fantastic way to maintain the social aspect of work. Most importantly, with WhatsApp you can send photos, videos and memes. And we all need memes right now....


Summary

With none of us knowing how long this uncertain period will last for, it’s important to make sure that we all find and implement the right communication channels for our employees, to ensure that work continues as normal from home wherever this is possible. As we have all had to adapt over this past week (and this is likely to go on for the next few weeks at the minimum) we need to make sure we instill in our teams a sense of place and belonging whilst creating new norms in terms of personal disipline and communications. Not everyone will be a natural and they will need nurturing....

Studies have shown time and time again how, correctly managed, the common problems associated with remote working such as mental health issues and decreased productivity can be reduced with the right support, software and communication channels for your business. We will explore the challenges of managing a business from home over the coming days but in the meantime stay safe everyone!



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