As small business owners transition to a remote workforce, we take a look at 4 work from home Best Practices small business owners need to know!
The workforce of most small businesses in North Carolina, and the entire United State Of America, has seen a transition from employees being “in office” to “remote work” over the past several years.
While a recent Remote Work Force Study shows that a Remote Work Force is happier and more productive, small business owners still have reservations about fully embracing this concept.
Let’s look at 4 Work From Home Best Practices Every Small Business Owner should consider:
- Work From Home Success Starts With Leadership
- Use Video Meetings To Engage Your Work From Home Team
- Create A Remote Work Best Practices Resource
- Make Sure Your Business Insurance Includes Cyber Liability
Work From Home Success Starts With Leadership
The success or failure of any small business initiative depends on leadership! Any time change takes place, employees look to the leaders of the organization to show the way.
As the manner in which your employees go about the daily work transitions from the office to their “new office” at home, it is CRUCIAL that you follow these simple steps:
Set Clear Expectations For Your Team
For business owners, it is easy to be overcome with the feeling that your team is “slacking” if you are not there in person to oversee them!
The truth is that MOST people want to perform well at the job! The problem comes when leadership (you) doesn’t clearly articulate what the expectation is!
Let your team know what you expect of them and let them do their jobs!
Don’t Micromanage Your Staff
Once you set the right expectations for your team, there is still a tendency to let fear of the unknown creep in!
As the leader of your organization, you must trust that YOU have hired the right people for the job!
Once you trust that you have hired correctly, simply get out of the way and let your people shine!
Hold Your Staff Accountable
You have set clear expectations! You have restrained yourself from Micromanaging your staff!
The only thing left is to hold yourself, and your team ACCOUNTABLE!
Accountability is needed regardless of whether your employees are working in an office setting or working from home!
Every organization, every team, every person has goals that they must achieve! If any member of the team is not pulling his/her weight, you must be quick to identify and help resolve the underlying issues!
Use Video Meetings To Engage Your Work From Home Team
When an organization transitions to employees working from home, the business can quickly lose its identity as a TEAM!
In general, people like to be a part of something greater than themselves!
As your small business workforce moves to the work from home model, it is imperative that you hold regular meetings of the entire team (and sub departments if your business is large enough).
The BEST way to hold these meetings is via Video Meetings with your team. There are a number of solutions that make these meetings possible. Here are a few of the video solutions:
While the technology helps to facilitate these meetings, it is important that you make sure the meetings are valuable to your team! Here are a few tips to running great meetings!
- Be Consistent – Have regular meetings, at the same time, on the same day
- Have An Agenda – Create And Distribute The Agenda Before The Meeting
- The Meetings Need To Be Interactive – This is not a speech! Participation Is Crucial
Create A Work From Home Best Practices Resource
Working from home isn’t something most people are used to! The truth is, your employees are just as in the dark about how this works as you are!
Creating a resource your team can turn to with tips and suggestions for this new work dynamic is a must!
The “office” that we are used to is a controlled environment. When an employee comes to the office, he/she has a routine and knows exactly what do once inside the building. The hours of operation, including lunch time and breaks, are clearly defined!
Once we move to the remote workspace, most of this structure goes away. When there is no structure, doubt and stress will creep in and decrease your team’s efficiency. In order to provide some structure, a Best Practices Resource should include the following:
- Set Up A Defined Workspace (only work in this space)
- Set Defined Break Periods (every hour take “x” minutes to leave your workspace)
- Keep A Set Lunch Period
- Make Sure Your Family Knows You Are Working And Can’t Be Disturbed
- When The Day Is Over, TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER, and STOP WORKING!
Make Sure Your Business Insurance Includes Cyber Liability
As more workers move to a remote work environment, the threat of a data breach increases.
Most small businesses have information technology (IT) standards within the confines of their physical location. There are Firewalls that help prevent hackers from gaining access to the business’s network. The computers the employees use are in a “safe environment” where the likelihood of the computer being accessed for reason other than work are small!
Once your employees move to a work from home environment, the standards and protocols are diminished.
This is not to say that your employee is doing anything negligent, but the environment just isn’t as secure.
Since we know there is only a limited amount of Risk Mitigation that can be done in this new world of Remote Working, it is VITAL that you Small Business Insurance Policy includes adequate Coverage for Cyber Liability.
There is no “one size fits all” amount of Cyber Liability Insurance Limit. We suggest contacting a Cyber Liability Insurance Professional to help in determining what coverage is right for you.
Cyber Liability Insurance Specialist In North Carolina
If you are a North Carolina Small Business, feel free to reach out to ALLCHOICE if you have any questions about Cyber Liability Insurance. We are a local, independent insurance agency that specializes in protecting your business.