The world is adapting and reacting. With companies asking staff to practice social distancing in response to the current pandemic, both employees and managers realize the challenges ahead to ensure business continuity.
While the phenomenon of “social distancing” addresses the immediate issue, practicing social distancing might not work for businesses in the long term if they do not learn to maintain productivity standards.
That is to say, the dramatically changed office landscape has shifted businesses to a new paradigm, which has raised concerns about the productivity standards. From managing human-to-human interaction to structuring a typical workday under quarantine, everything heightens uncertainty and leads to pressurized conditions.
This is when businesses need not only additional guidance to manage work but also strong tech support to adapt to a new work context.
If you are experiencing the same issues, take a look at these tips to learn to maintain productivity standards during a pandemic.
How to Maintain the Productivity Standards When Social Distancing
Reset Working Expectations
Teams are usually accustomed to standardization and synchronous work. They have the same working schedule and conditions. However, as a quarantined environment is different, it requires managers to shift their teams to asynchronous setup. This is when they need to reset typical expectations for “how employees do their work.”
It is crucial to free employees of the issue of when and how a task is accomplished. Put simply; allow a team to complete a project or responsibility on its own terms by giving it more flexibility.
Provide Workers a Secure Network Infrastructure
As mentioned earlier, no business can maintain the same productivity standards without having a secure network infrastructure. Companies, regardless of their sizes, need this network infrastructure to support workers who need;
- Tools to access the company’s network
- Flexible bandwidth to scale additional access
- Security tools, such as user authentication, to minimize the risks of unauthorized access to a network
If businesses have proper IT support and tech in place to deliver employees highly secure collaboration resources and connectivity, the present disruption cannot threaten their productivity.
Hold Virtual Meetings
As team members are spending days in quarantine, face-to-face interactions can help them feel reconnected to the work environment. According to recent research, 87 percent of team members feel connected when they use videoconferencing. That means the platform can help businesses improve collaboration and communication to boost productivity.
Encourage Development
Encouraging teams or employees to work with a learning mindset in these difficult times can play an essential role in improving productivity. You can connect employees with different leadership programs to help them invest in their growth. This is one way to satisfy and retain employees while keeping their morale high.
Bottom Line
All in all, there is no denying that social distancing is the new normal. Businesses must invest in the right tools and strategies to handle remote workers to maintain productivity. They need to have systems and technology in place to help workers get connected to the corporate network. Thus, outsourcing services through Bellwether can help your business get accustomed to this “new normal” by providing robust IT support.