In these strange, unforeseen times, the nature of work has rapidly changed. The coronavirus pandemic has forced many businesses to operate remotely. Some companies already offered employees flexible working while to others, it was an entirely new experience.

Adjusting to remote work has been a significant obstacle faced by millions of businesses worldwide in 2020. While undeniably challenging, it has brought about new and innovative ways of working.

We have seen the rise of virtual meetings and digital events. Working remotely has also raised the challenge of communicating from afar, encouraging teams to develop their interpersonal skills and ensure that objectives are understood between colleagues.

Businesses have done an excellent job of adapting to remote working, but that’s not to say there aren’t still areas for improvement. Here are the top three tips for driving innovation in your work-from-home strategy. Whether you’re a business owner or employee looking to put forward some suggestions, here are some top tips for better remote working.

Virtual Games and Team-Building Exercises

Without face-to-face contact, it can be difficult to boost morale and find opportunities for collaboration. Team-building is an excellent way to increase employee engagement and motivation. Working from home has its perks, but the lack of interaction with others means that workers may not be feeling as mentally stimulated as when in the office.

Team-building exercises can be as simple as a quiz or game, as long as it encourages people to work together and think on their feet. The good thing about virtual team-building activities is that, while there are several platforms to design them for you, you can quickly and easily build them yourself. Everybody loves a good virtual pub quiz.

Activities such as these develop a sense of collaboration and unity, strengthening the relationships between employees. This sense of cooperation then manifests in work, creating an all-round more positive environment.

Virtual Admin Services

With the many challenges imposed on businesses in the last year, prioritising is a hard task. Companies have had to adapt to working from home as well as make tough financial decisions. Employees have taken on greater workloads and dealt with immense uncertainty and stress.

Understandably, sometimes the admin tasks slip lower down on the priority list. This is why outsourcing particular tasks such as reception work, is a game-changer.

So, what is a virtual reception service? Outsourcing reception tasks is as simple as it sounds. Calls are dealt with professionally and then passed onto the relevant employees via email. Using virtual admin services such as these leaves time for your business to focus on more pressing tasks. While you focus on other business objectives, you can rest assured that reception work is being carried out to a high standard.

Focus on Mental Wellbeing

One of the most challenging things about working from home is ensuring the wellbeing of your employees. When working from home, many struggle to separate work from their personal time.

Due to the current climate, workloads and stress levels are high. For some employees, it might be difficult to reach out and admit that they are struggling. Employees and businesses alike must keep an open line of communication.

Ensure that employees do not feel over-burdened. While it is impossible to check in with every individual regularly, you can still make employee well-being a priority. The most effective way to achieve this is to be aware that everyone faces different struggles.

Having a wellbeing strategy in place will help your business tailor to these different needs. Some ideas for this strategy may include offering additional training. This way, employees who are struggling will feel supported and valued. As it may not always be possible for you to provide training, allowing employees to spend time doing online training courses is a great compromise.

You can run wellbeing workshops such as in yoga and mindfulness. The best way to further develop your wellbeing strategy is to ask your employees for their thoughts. There’s no better way to prioritise their wellbeing than finding out what will help them, directly from them. The mental wellbeing of employees is critical and is what will drive creativity, efficiency and everything which is needed to drive results.

Remote working is the new normal – the ‘future of work‘. The sooner we find innovative ways to do it, the better. With the help of technology, there are always new opportunities for progress. With the right tools and mindset, your teams can continue to flourish even when working from afar.