The Practical Guide to Working from Home as a Team

Last Updated Apr 2022

During the pandemic remote working enabled to keep the work going on across sectors in a situation where offices had to be closed down physically and maintaining social distance among people became mandatory.

Now, as the pandemic eases, the workspace is witnessing acceleration in the change in future employment, as many businesses are considering a new hybrid virtual model that combines remote and on-site work, with some employees working on-site and some working from home.

Work as a concept has changed forever; and more and more our ‘office’ is wherever we decide it should be. This sudden spike in remote teams has left organizations having to scramble to keep up.

They have had to learn new techniques, adopt new methods and implement new processes. And while a lot of the learnings have come through trial and error, they are discovering that a permanent move to more remote teams is beneficial to both the organization and its employees.

Some of the biggest reasons why organizations are implementing more long term remote working policies are:

Less commuting
Greater productivity
More savings
Job satisfaction

But there are a lot of things that still need some getting used to. Here we will look at some of the best practices that the most successful organizations have adopted in making the switch to remote teams. We aim to provide you with practical tips that you can implement into your company/ workplace right away to get the most out of working remotely.

It will take you through everything from the tools you need to get started, how to implement an effective remote working strategy, some of the drawbacks to be mindful of and the changes in organizational policies required.

Use a Limited Set of Good, Integrated Tools

Use a limited set of tools to work and collaborate with. It’s better if everything is integrated.

While there are multiple tools to choose from, rely on one tool for each purpose. Creately’s choice stack includes,

Slack: this is a great tool for instant messaging. Plus you can have separate channels for different teams
Zoom: with its grid view, it makes the perfect tool for video conferencing with your team
Google Drive: lets you organize and manage permission to all your files and folders from one single tool
Creately: serves as an end-to-end work management tool that helps teams ideate and plan around their projects as well as manage them from a single space
Calamari: helps you track attendance, working hours, leaves, etc. in a convenient manner

As a best practice, have some ground rules stating when and how to use each of these tools.

Stay Organized to Stay Truly Productive

Just like with any other team, a team that works from home needs to stay organized to stay productive and for better collaboration.

Set ground rules and norms stating the expected general behavior
Create a clear team structure highlighting the roles and responsibilities
Regularly engage and share what you are working on with each other
Practice transparency when planning projects and assigning clear objectives and deliverables for everyone involved
Have frequent, planned video calls in smaller teams
Always leave a few minutes at the start of each meeting to socialize and break the ice

Prioritize Building Trust and Teamwork

Trust is an essential building block in any successful team. And it’s directly linked to transparency and accountability.

A few simple, but effective steps you can take here are,

Sharing information regularly, Share work schedules, task status, project progress, etc. frequently on your chat platform
Providing extra context when interacting with each other. For example, if you are stepping away for a moment, notify others that you won’t be available for a while and why
Building relationships that extend beyond work among team members. Have a separate Slack channel or Facebook Group to chat about non-work related topics
Having sufficient face-to-face interactions with the team via video calls
Overcommunicating. Leave no chance for confusion or assumptions. Provide extra details (i.e. a process map, UI Mockup, etc.) when you are explaining your idea
Being dependable by saying what you do and doing what you say and by committing to meeting deadlines and achieving your deliverables in a timely manner

Maintain Good Communications Best Practices

All teams working from home must have good communication strategies in place to survive and thrive. It’s key to avoid misinterpretations, confusion and failed relationships.

Some best practices you and your team can use,

Set up communications guidelines explaining when and how to use the communications tools
Use a limited set of communications tools. Give each one a specific purpose and use it primarily for that
Always incorporate visuals when you are explaining something. Want to elaborate on your idea? Use a mind map to do so
Put documents, files, resources, and assets in a common place in a good organizational structure
Keep all communications public by sharing your message on a public channel everyone has access to
Be mindful of your tone when writing your message. Provide more context to avoid miscommunicating something and use plenty of emojis

Set Clear Expectations for Your WFH Team

Setting clear expectations is crucial to managing a team that works from home. It plays a part in their personal growth and in guiding them in the right direction.

Document and share the roles and responsibilities of each team member
Whether for the week, month or quarter set clear goals or assign tasks for everyone
Clearly establish team expectations within the team by openly communicating them. At the same time, it’s important to encourage individuals to share their personal expectations for the team as well
Conduct one-on-one feedback sessions on a weekly or monthly basis to discuss performance and areas for improvement

Create a Productive Work from Home Culture

Building a positive team culture when everyone is scattered across the continent might sound difficult, but it’s not unachievable. Here are some tips you can rely on to do this successfully.

Define your culture by clearly explaining the values the company upholds. Document these and keep them accessible to everyone
Have a solid set of tools, whether for communication or collaboration, that can foster the culture you are trying to build
Maintain a variety of ways for your team to keep in touch. Tools for video calls, phone calls, chat, task management, etc.
Allocate time to have fun during the workday as a team. There are plenty of team-building activities that you can do onlin
Create a mentorship program. A mentor can help new or less experienced team members quickly get familiar with the cultural and social norms within the company

Protect Yourself from Loneliness, Isolation, and Distractions

Working from home comes with many benefits, but it also has considerable challenges. Loneliness, isolation and too many distractions are some of the disadvantages that can’t be easily dismissed.

Here’s what you can do here.

Have a dedicated space to work in. It can help you psychologically if that space is solely devoted to working
Maintain a schedule for work with planned breaks in between. Start and end your day around the same time every day and be mindful to notify others when you are away
Schedule regular team meetings to stay connected with your team
Take regular computer-free breaks to re-energize yourself
Consider a coworking space. Get together with your colleagues or other friends who are working remotely from time to time

Online Brainstorming Best Practices

An online brainstorming session works just like a one you would conduct on-site. Except everything happens online. Here’s what you need to do to keep things truly effective.

Use an online whiteboard. These help everyone collaborate on one shared space. Creately offers pre-made templates for different brainstorming methods, like mind maps, 5 whys analysis, idea boards, etc. Once the session starts everyone can make edits in real-time
Send an introductory email that contains details on the purpose of the meeting, links to resources or tools you’ll be using, the meeting agenda, etc.
Clarify any guidelines the team needs to follow before the activity begins
Use different brainstorming methods such as cause and effect analysis, affinity diagram, lotus diagram, mind mapping, etc.

Conducting Remote Interviews

Conducting Successful Remote Interviews

The entire HR department working from home doesn’t mean you cannot expand your team.

Team Creately has hired 5 new employees over the last month alone and we’ve learned a few things along the way to streamline the process of interviewing and hiring new team members.

Here are some of the steps we can recommend for you;

Set clear expectations on what the candidate is supposed to do during the interview in advance, via an email
Make sure the devices you will be using during the interview are properly working and are charged. And that you have installed and logged into all the software/ apps
Have your interview questions ready beforehand. This will help you save time and have a meaningful conversation with the candidate
Have a backup plan in case there’s an emergency. Have alternate contact details of the candidate so you can reconnect with them if you lose access to the internet
Use the correct tools to streamline the steps. For example, you can rely on an online appointment scheduling software to allocate a time for the interview with the candidate and an e-signature service to send and sign contracts