Tips to Work From Home Effectively Amid the Coronavirus Outbreak

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic exponentially spreads, work from home arrangements are quickly made to ensure the workforce’s safety and protection. Business owners are also navigating around the situation to mitigate the risks associated with it.

Related: Black Swan Scenarios: Your CFO and Business Risk Management 

The need to protect your employees now is more important than ever. The rarity of black swan events makes it impossible for corporations to plan and prepare clear goals for circumstances such as today. As this pandemic continues to increase the volatility of businesses, taking your resilience to greater heights is an indispensable asset you will find most useful.

Businesses are frantic to make new systems work within the next 24 hours. As C-Level executives, you want to make sure that your workforce is safe while keeping the business forward. But how do you make this happen? 

In this blog, we bring you effective tips for working from home:

• Keep Communication Lines Open

An essential element of remote work is open communication. Most of the time, we spend our days at the office where communication is easy and effortless. However, remote team collaboration removes this out of the picture. 

Clear, transparent and timely coordination with your manager and your clients is necessary to make remote work successful. Make it a habit to check your email for updates from the management, and address any urgent concerns to avoid delays or disruptions. 

To make communication seamless, consider using software such as Skype, Zoom, Viber and WhatsApp. Instant messaging and video calls make coordination more seamless and faster.

• Secure your Network 

Working from home means using your own devices and unencrypted memory sticks to meet daily deliverables. Maintaining security over your laptops and mobile phones is a practice that will save your data from any type of security breach. 

Personal devices are more vulnerable to phishing attacks and hacking threats since they have fewer security features. It is best to avoid visiting suspicious websites, clicking malicious links and downloading assets online. Remember that you are accessing confidential data of the company and of your clients, that’s why it pays to be extra careful in working using personal devices.

• Stay in Touch with Credible Sources 

Staying informed during these complex times helps make well-considered decisions that will fuel the business’ operations and bring it forward. As the pandemic continues to spread, the need for accurate and complete information greatly helps in delivering resources to contain the outbreak. 

Only share news and updates from credible sources and from government websites and social pages. It’s better to verify the information you see online before spreading the news as it underpins the way companies respond to crises and unpredicted events. 

For reliable news, you can visit the World Health Organization Philippines website for the COVID-19 updates and the Department of Foreign Affairs page for travel advisories.

• Monitoring productivity

Remote team collaboration is a way to promote an employee’s productivity. Working from home allows employees to perform tasks in a more comfortable environment with fewer distractions, thus making them focus more on the job. 

To further push your productivity, keep track of your tasks on a regular basis. Set clear and realistic deadlines for your projects to maintain a smooth workflow.  

• Working in the Cloud 

Unprecedented scenarios such as the COVID-19 pandemic calls for a work from home set up to help contain the contagion. Thankfully, collaboration is now made easy through cloud solutions. Storing your files on the cloud gives you a more accessible control over the documents, and comes with strong security measures that can’t be easily penetrated. 

With a stable internet connection, you can now keep track, update and share your data with colleagues in a matter of a few clicks. Cloud services not only offer convenience for remote work, but also provide flexibility for a better working opportunity for your team. 

Having a backup strategy will keep your company afloat amid crises such as the COVID-19 spread. Rolling out business continuity plans saves your bottomline and makes sure your functions and services remain operational while protecting your workforce. 

Lend your people greater flexibility during these times by outsourcing your accounting responsibilities to the right experts. With D&V Philippines, we guarantee to support your team with top-notch finance and accounting services. Download our guide Outsourcing: How to Make it Work to know the wonders outsourcing can do for your business.