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According to Forbes, over 40% of full-time employees work from home at least some of the time. Having at least a hybrid work model is a requirement for many job seekers looking for work. But how does it work? And how does it even feel like a “team” when everyone is working from all different places? At AYS, we have been working remotely since the pandemic and we think we’ve come up with some good tricks of the trade to still feel like a team when you’re all around the country. And good news – we’re sharing our top four tips of what has worked well for us with you!
Keep Office Hours Maintaining a work-life balance when working from home is key to keeping your team happy. However, this doesn’t mean that everyone logs on and off whenever they want. That may work for some – but as a client facing team, it does not work for us. We want everyone to know when we are available but we don’t want everyone to have to be available all of the time. So, when we went remote, we made the decision to retain our “office hours.” This means we all log on and off at the same time. Doing so has helped us to know when each other will be “in,” while also giving confidence to our clients and event teams that we will be here when they expect us to be.
Get The Team Together During Covid, Zoom baby showers, happy hours, holidays and even weddings were all the rage! And while there are certainly some “pandemic things” we were happy to see go by the wayside, the power of video conferencing is not one of them! Conference calls can be effective but they are not a good way to build a team. Getting together every morning for a company “pre-meal” has been one of the best things we’ve done as a group! Our daily calls allow our directors to set the tone for the day, communicating need to know items and important things coming up while giving our account managers room to know what’s happening in each other’s markets. The calls are used to troubleshoot, offer help and celebrate successes with one another. Coming together in this way has allowed us to bond as team organically – as you would in a traditional office environment.
Hire Right Ensuring success as a remote team means not only managing the team you have well – you must build your team with people who are going to thrive in a work from home environment. If, during the interview process, a candidate discusses the importance of working in a team environment or emphasizes that they thrive with connecting with their co-workers then the alone time and solitude that accompanies a work from home opportunity like ours may not be for them. Conversely, someone who is too introverted and shares they struggle to connect with others may also have a tough time working at AYS – where connections are generally made from putting yourself out there on video calls to people you haven’t yet met in person. A great candidate for one may not be a great candidate for all – knowing what personality and experience type work for your team is key to managing successfully in a remote environment.
Celebrate As A Team Even if your team is entirely remote, it is an important investment to bring everyone together – literally! As a company, we see each other at various networking opportunities throughout the year with SHFM and at a company-only retreat each winter in Puerto Rico. The networking opportunities give us a chance to see one another and our industry colleagues as we did in the “old days” while the company-only retreat allows us to give back to a local community while also celebrating the company’s success together. The memories made at these events make the cost and travel worth it – bonds are made that tie us to each other as we work separately throughout the year.
Does your company have a hybrid or WFH model? If so, what tips of ours does your company all do? Any you think could be implemented at your organization? Let me know at karen.cavanaugh@aysstaff.com.
