No one’s going to say that the coronavirus pandemic was a positive thing, but it certainly did bring a few welcome changes. For example, it helped to shake up the working world, which was very much in need of a few tweaks and changes. At a time when no one could work in the office, we learned that not only was it possible to have a workforce working remotely but that it brought positive results. Productivity and employee happiness increases, for instance, were just two of the benefits of the work-from-home model.
If you’re a startup, then you’ll probably want to have your staff in the office at least some of the time, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a flexible working schedule. In this blog, we’ll look at some handy tips that’ll make your flexible working trial a success.
Figure Out Your Policy
You can’t just tell your employees ‘work whenever and wherever you like’ and expect good results. In fact, that would be a recipe for disaster. Flexible working doesn’t mean that it’s a free for all — there still needs to be some sort of working policy in place. It’s your job to figure out what that policy will be. What are the hours that employees can start/finish (between 7 am and 8 pm?)? How many days are they allowed to work from home, and how many must they work in the office? Think about what will work for your business, and put it down in writing, so employees know exactly what’s permitted.
Invest in Communication
The big fear surrounding working from home is that communication among employees, and by extension the sense of teamwork, will begin to diminish. But that’s only true if you let it happen. When you have a work-from-home policy, you’ll need to invest in your communication abilities. There’s no shortage of ways to do this. You could set up a slack channel, hold regular zoom meetings, and have weekly after-work get-togethers in the office. Done correctly, remote working can actually help to bring teams closer together.
Hardware and Software
The advantage of the office is that everything that an employee needs to work well is there. That means the computers, documents, and software they need. When people are working from home, it’s important that they still have access to all those things. Investing in work laptops for home use will ensure they have the right hardware, while working with a company that offers cloud computing support will ensure your team can access the documents they need when they need them. You should also ask your team what software they need to deliver their best work.
Determine Goals and Outcomes
Finally, it’s recommended to set goals and outcomes for your flexible working setup. This working schedule will work for a lot of companies, but it’s not right for everyone. To ensure it’s right for you, you’ll need to have targets by which you can measure the success of flexible working. If you hit all your targets, you’ll know it’s working well.