Working from home?

Working from home has suddenly become the reality for millions of people across the globe. However, some of us have been doing it for years! It’s a fine art, one that can take time to get used to. We at ECOMSILVER have found that the key is to figure out what works for you, and to keep routine as a constant in your environment at home. Perhaps most importantly, one of the most key elements to successfully working from home is maintaining contact with your colleagues throughout the day. Keeping in touch not only keeps everyone in the loop with the tasks everyone is working on, but also gives you the opportunity to chat to someone outside of your household. This article will aim to put forward different programs that will undoubtedly improve your working from home life and the ease of which you communicate with your colleagues. These programs have all seen a rise in use and we recommend them for setting up your business at home! 

ECOMSILVER are working hard to ensure that we help businesses get set up for what could be months of isolated working. We hope that you find these suggestions for programs useful, if you have any questions do get in touch. We’re here to help your business grow.  

Slack

Slack was introduced as a handy alternative to internal email chains. ECOMSILVER have found that through the program they have eliminated clogging up each other’s emails, and have introduced a more free-flowing way of communicating. Whether it is a small question or the beginning of a much larger discussion, Slack is fantastic for making sure that you are up to date with all your colleagues, and ECOMSILVER take full advantage of this by messaging each-other throughout the day about work related subjects, but also to check in on a personal level as well. Group conversations are useful for HR information, requests for meetings and introducing a number of people to a topic of conversation. In the same way, one on one conversations are often extremely beneficial. With the ability to make different channels for different sections of your business, you can always keep in the loop with internal developments. 

Zoom

Zoom has been one of the businesses on everyone’s lips following the CoronaVirus. It is now the top downloaded app, being worth a staggering $29 billion. Working remotely means that you are not as accessible to your colleagues. As you aren’t in the office, meetings can take on a different format. With Zoom, meetings, conferences and even webinars can take place without the need to all be together in the same room. A handy feature is the ‘mute’ button, so that you can remove any background noise until the time comes for you to contribute to the meeting. A great feature of Zoom is that you can add a virtual background, so you can eradicate any chaos in your house! Perfect for those with unruly children, pets or housemates! 

ECOMSILVER found that a morning catch-up with the whole team ensures that everyone is at their desk, with a clear idea of what they’re working on for the day. It also helps your team members feel a connection with the outside world, and gives them the ability to get across points that may be difficult over email. To maintain your team and work culture, think about introducing fun new initiatives such as ‘Wear a hat’ day. Although it may seem silly, it gives needed relief from a sometimes stressful working situation as well as helping your colleagues feel as if they are still part of a team, although you may be distanced. 

Skype

Skype is widely used for both telephone calls and video conversations. It not only can be used on laptops and computers, but also through tablets, Xboxes and smart watches. You are able to have conversations with up to 50 people at the same time, as well as use it’s messaging function. Like Zoom, it includes a screen share function, particularly useful to display items to your correspondence or to teach them how to do something on the computer. This is particularly useful internally, or if you need to show a client something technical! ECOMSILVER use Skype to call each other throughout the day, as well as to hold two team meetings per day! We find that through using Skype to audio call each other, we are ensuring that our personal phones remain just that! When working from home, it’s important that you continue a strong work-life balance. 

Whatsapp

With over 2 billion users worldwide, Whatsapp is a free to download app, mainly used on mobile phones. It can be used to message contacts as well as call and share files. As well as the original Whatsapp app, there is also Whatsapp Business, which claims to help small business owners with their client correspondence and provides a business profile for the user. Also being an app commonly used for personal use, using WhatsApp as a way to contact your clients is quickly becoming a preferred method as it shows a personable and accessible approach. A fantastic benefit of Whatsapp is that you only need a mobile phone to sign up. 

Linkedin

Linkedin is a social media tool for professionals. Beneficial mostly to market yourself and your company, the Microsoft owned site is used by millions of like minded professionals worldwide. Perfect for networking and headhunting for new recruits, this social site is integral to your business and it’s employees to ensure that you are all promoting your business, as well as keeping up to date with news and events, which handily trends on the right hand side of the home screen. With the ability to comment and share articles, you have the opportunity to have get involved in wider conversations and debates. With an active Linkedin account, you can gain business contacts all over the world, and by association grow brand awareness for the company you work for. Through these contacts, you can sometimes grow relationships with professionals with a large following, who will share your product with their followers. To learn more, read our blog How To Leverage The Power of Linkedin Influencers.  

Want to learn more about how to successfully run your business from your home?

Please get in touch.