Things have changed dramatically in recent times and the coronavirus outbreak is largely to blame. The COVID-19 pandemic has managed to alter many elements of how we work, across industries. When it hit the United States last year, millions of people began working from home, a move supported by the rise of connectivity and communication technologies.
A large proportion of the workforce was asked not to commute to work in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus. Employers and employees alike sought alternative work arrangements, especially in fast-paced metropolitan areas. For project managers, the impact of COVID-19 hasn’t been catastrophic, contrary to popular opinion. They have simply had to change their collaborative approaches.
For the time being, it’s not possible to appreciate to what extent working from home will continue. The only thing we know for sure is that, for the most part, this new approach is applauded. While organizations appreciate the cost-savings of having employees working from home, employees, on the other hand, appreciate the flexibility that telecommuting offers.
To be more precise, they’re able to set their own hours and be more productive. Even if people are giving up facetime with coworkers and senior leaders, they have the chance to live wherever they want and build a solid career. As technology has advanced and society has changed, working from home is desirable, to say the least. Many argue that the new normal isn’t remote work, but better work.
5 Tips for Working from Home Effectively – How Project Managers Can Stay Productive
As a project manager, you can’t afford to lose focus. It would be “criminal” for you to postpone dealing with work-related tasks. It’s necessary to provide leadership and vision, alongside eliminating roadblocks and encouraging the team to do its best.
It’s crucial to set some ground rules for yourself so that work continues as usual. Even if you’ve adapted quickly to the changing circumstances, there still are a few changes you can make to become more efficient.
#1 Establish Clear, Concise, and Timely Communication
It’s essential to stay on top of emails, phone calls, and video calls to lead your team. Don’t assume that everyone has your comprehensive understanding of the project at hand. The more the team can contribute to the project, the better. Establishing clear, concise, and timely communication maximizes the success of the project and, most importantly, minimizes risk. Therefore, people should know what is expected of them. Build a rapport with your team and help people be productive. Make sure that everyone understands their daily or weekly goals. You’re responsible for any failure to communicate. Communicate your position and make sure you’ve been properly heard.
#2 Use an Encrypted Network
There are certain consequences as far as working from home is concerned, particularly when it comes to system access, IT infrastructure access, and data repatriation. To be more precise, it’s a big risk because the connection isn’t secure. When you access the database remotely, the risk to that data grows. Unauthorized users and hackers can access your home Internet network and the devices that use it. By tapping into that unencrypted stream of data, malicious actors can get between your device and the larger network. Given that working from home has become the new gateway to all sorts of data thefts, companies deal with increased cyber risks. You need a secure setup.
A VPN can help protect your privacy at home by setting up an encrypted tunnel between your Internet traffic and the ISP or other third parties. It ensures privacy and security by effectively hiding your browsing history and preventing cybercriminals from monitoring, reading, and using sensitive data. Protect your data using a VPN designated by the company. It will make the connection between your network and the offices secure; that’s for sure.
#3 Have Digital Meetings
Collaboration is at the heart of the digital workplace and it can be simply enabled through the use of technologies such as Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Digital meetings are an opportunity to come together and help one another. You should try to build a community.
More exactly, make people feel that they can show their true selves. The digital meetings should be less formal than the project status meetings because they’re meant to foster unity. People should feel motivated or connected to the company’s strategic priorities. Schedule a lunchtime meeting and offer to pay the bill. Hang out like you would in real life.
#4 Take Advantage of Project Collaboration Tools
One of your prime responsibilities is to keep track of the status of the project. Rather than being a waste of time, project status meetings help understand how things are progressing and review the tasks against the plan.
You’ll want to check the status of the following elements during a meeting: tasks, budget, quality/scope, current or anticipated issues, and next steps. Just so you know, there are programs that do the hard work for you. Tools such as Jira or Asana enable everyone to check the status of the project, get the necessary documents and indicate when they have finalized their tasks. Using platforms of this kind is more effective as opposed to sending out questionnaires.
#5 Make Staff Recognition a Priority
Employees who receive recognition or thanks report higher levels of job satisfaction. They respond positively to appreciation expressed through recognition of their good work by being more productive, which translates into higher profitability for the company.
Since working from home is the new norm, it’s necessary to come up with more creative ways to show appreciation for a job well done. For example, some companies deliver a box of cookies as a way of saying thank you. If you think that is too far-fetched, give deserving employees a day off so that they can do something besides work. This gift is valuable because it’s unexpected.
To sum up, many companies will remain remote even if the COVID-19 pandemic wears off. There is an ever-increasing demand for flexibility in terms of where and how people can work. Employees would like to telecommute at least some of the time. Project management tasks can be done from home. Even if project managers have a high degree of collaboration as part of their jobs, they also have plenty of tools at their disposal to make things work. If you’ve recently made the change to working from home, pay close attention to digital security.
