This year has been a huge test for a lot of businesses in so many ways and if the end of 2020 is any indicator, things are not going to get any less chaotic in 2021. However, something we have all had to learn how to do is get flexible, and if you’re reading this after riding out the past several months of the pandemic, you’ve already shown that you and your business can roll with the punches.
If you’re looking to cement a few of the on-the-hoof changes you made in 2020, here are some tips to keep moving forward with confidence in the months to come.
What you can expect in this article:
Embrace Flexible Working Hours
One of the earliest challenges that everyone faced during the first weeks of the pandemic was: how to we keep everyone working to the same schedule? We’ve all had to learn to get a little more fluid with our timetables over the past few months, as life and work commitments have crashed together in unexpected ways. School runs, shopping trips, covering for care workers in the family… The easiest way to make sure that things stayed as simple as possible for employers and employees was to acknowledge that flexible working hours were the only solution. As long as everyone keeps doing the same amount of work, this keeps everyone happy and it can help people to really thrive.
Find A Meeting System You Can Rely On
This one took a while, didn’t it? Crashes, meeting time limits, spotty internet connections, bad video and endless muting and un-muting… What should have been the simplest morning check-in could turn into a total disaster with very little warning. Good communication is arguably the most important part of working from home, and if you didn’t find a software that worked, then you’d end up sending message after message and clogging up your email inbox. Microsoft Teams quickly emerged at the top of the pack of meeting and communication tools, and it has stayed there after months of the pandemic, cutting out lots of the typical hassle and expenses of their competitors. Impreza IT has more information and offers, and they offer Microsoft Teams support to help your business keep things running smoothly. They should be the first port of call for any business or charity looking for IT support in Kent as the new year begins.
Don’t Neglect The Social Element
By the time you’re reading this, you will have had your office Christmas party, or what resembled an office Christmas party in 2020, and you’ll know just how important it has been over the last nine months to keep checking in with everybody. It has been easy to forget at times just how much of a difference those chats in the coffee area make when things are stressful at work, and how important those Friday afternoon drinks are, and it makes a big difference to everyone when you make the extra effort to find out how they’re all doing. Keeping team morale up is going to be crucial in the months ahead, so think about what activities you can do to keep everyone together even when they’re working so far apart.
