With the increase of businesses working remotely, I wanted to share a few tips that have helped me for over ten years.
Since the inception of our organization in 2009, our employees have been quarantined for 10+ years! We work remotely every day. Years ago we invested in technology to allow our employees to work from home. We’re all able to securely login to our systems from home, and our phones are integrated with a VOIP system which allows calls to be answered from an app on our cell phones. We will continue to work hard to support our customers on some of the most game changing technology in the world. Regardless of whether our teams are located in a physical office or working remotely, we are well equipped with the right talent, skills and technology, to keep business running as usual. Being that we’ve done this for so long, I’d like to recommend some tips that have helped Shamrock with our success and collaboration:
Encourage your coworkers to turn the camera on! We use G2M and Zoom here to collaborate with our internal team members and our thousands of customers. There are all sorts of options for video collaboration these days. I bet we all wish we had stock in that industry a couple months ago! But I digress…
PICK UP THE PHONE! I’m not shouting at you, it’s just that this is my number one tip for teleworking. You can’t properly gauge the context of an email and it’s the easiest way to get frustrated and want to throw your computer out your window. Stop sending emails back and forth all day and wasting your valuable time, emotions, and non-constructive energy. Pick up the phone, it’s so easy. Try it!
What better time to throw a huge party than when you are in quarantine! In the past, we’ve had Virtual Summer Picnics, Ugly Sweater Holiday Parties, Halloween Costume Parties, etc. Schedule something with your team to lighten the mood. A lot of my motivation comes from my kids spirit weeks…PJ day, crazy hair day, big hat day. All fun things to do on video conferences. If you have a Virtual Happy Hour, I would recommend the special…
If your house is too quiet, sometimes you need some tunes to break up the day. I would suggest the Quarantunes (see what I did there?) playlist on Spotify. It has hits like “Hands to Myself”, “Down with the Sickness”, “Toxic”, “Stayin Alive”, and many more to help you get out of your tiny box.
If you’re looking for some TV to put on in the background, I would suggest “Cast Away”. Sometimes you’ll feel like you’re on an island all by yourself but if anyone can get through it, it’s you and Tom Hanks.
Get up and MOVE! It’s so easy to sit down, get heads down, and look up and it’s 4:00 already and you haven’t even had a bio break, breakfast, or lunch. Schedule time to walk around the block. Go outside (I know it’s a scary place) and have your dogs take you for a walk.
Last thing I want everyone to consider is to reach out to those in your life that may need some extra love right now. That person may be the elderly couple on your street, the dooms day preppers freaking out, or just talking openly to your kids about their fears. Small things like asking someone if they need help picking up their groceries while you are out getting yours or walking their dog, or whatever it may be. You never know what’s going on with people and it’s going to make it even harder to socialize over the next while quarantined.
Since inception, we have been our customers shamROCK in their day-to-day. We will continue to strive to be there for our customers while we’re all going through these difficult times. We are offering many creative offerings right now around Remote System Admin Staff Aug at discounted rates to help our customers ensure you maintain system continuity. We’ll always be there even if you’re not.
Stay positive and test negative,
President and CEO,
Robert Albright