The start of 2020 was unexpected, to say the least. Given the unfolding coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the state of emergency announced in Bulgaria, most of us are adjusting to remote work.
Yet, optimizing business processes and boosting productivity in times of quarantine might be a challenging task. Here’re several easy-to-implement tips, along with a few things we do to support our coworking community.
Effective remote communication: here’s how
There’s one significant downside of remote work – the lack of in-person communication. Still, your team can effectively collaborate across various channels like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, Hangouts, or any other software your organization uses.
Setting up relevant collaboration channels and organizing regular meetings might be helpful in clarifying and completing short and long-term goals and assignments. Whereas clearly communicating and double-checking on requirements is crucial under these circumstances, dedicated quiet time should not be neglected. If you or any of your teammates need some focused time, be sure to make it clear between each other.
Seamless tech experience
Seamless IT infrastructure is business-critical, especially in these turbulent times, when many companies are adopting a full work from home approach.
For example, Campus X’s award-winning IT team continues to be focused on providing our member companies with uninterrupted tech experience and continuous support to ensure business continuity. Some of the services we provision include but are not limited to always-on Internet connectivity and constant power supply to VPN services.
In addition, we know remote internal and cross-company collaboration is especially important right now. For this reason, we’ve currently secured all our members with free access to Slack’s conference call feature.
Project management tools
Apart from communication, organization and productivity remain crucial for remote teams. So, how to make sure your projects are managed effectively? Cloud-based project management tools like Trello, Basecamp, Microsoft Planner, Jira, and others might come in handy. Most of these tools also allow you to organize projects across teams and departments and send you new input and deadline reminders.
As far as document and file sharing are concerned, you can opt for Microsoft’s SharePoint and Google’s Google Drive, or DropBox, among others.
Community inspiration and bonding
The current health pandemic requires us to distance ourselves physically. But in these hard times, it’s more important than ever to stick together – as a community and human beings, both locally and globally.
Sharing our successes, knowledge, and experience is what makes us stronger as a community. Therefore, we know it’s important to set aside some time to bond and talk to each other.
For example, you can implement within your team practices such as – regular coffee break video calls or groups of interest like a #foodie, #music, #books or any other channel that could lift the spirits of your colleagues.
Virtual social activities like knowledge sharing sessions, Friday beer nights, and virtual quiz sessions are also a great way to keep the team and community spirit alive. Quarantine doesn’t have to be lonely – your team and community are still there for you. To help each other out, learn, and grow together.
Nurturing an optimistic mindset
Staying positive at such times is crucial. But it also needs a lot of nourishing. For example, one activity we’ve started recently to keep our members focused and inspired, is a new #daily-inspiration initiative in Slack. There each of us shares something that made them smile. We also post helpful resources and success stories on a regular basis.
Campus X’s community inspires us daily – with its solidarity and continuous achievements. Regardless of these difficult times, our member companies continue to work hard to reach their goals.
For instance, we have recently heard some good news from Payhawk, who received $3M in a seed funding round. Meanwhile, Eleven Capital managed to close the subscription of shares for its initial public offering (IPO) and raised a bit over €1M (2.1M BGN). These and other success stories from our community are here to inspire positivity in these uncertain times:
Healee is helping people and doctors tackle the coronavirus spread through telemedicine. They’ve recently had a 250% hike in daily doctor and hospital registrations, along with a 300% jump in online consultations.
FindMeCure is giving access to clinical trial intelligence data related to the Coronavirus.
Better times are coming
“This too shall pass,” states an ancient Persian saying, which was also employed in a speech by Abraham Lincoln.
The time will come when we will again come together under one roof. To keep sharing knowledge and experience, to talk and brainstorm ideas with like-minded professionals, to attend insightful events or just have a cup of coffee. Together.
