Given the Government’s instructions on social distancing to slow the spread of Coronavirus, home working has become a necessity in many industries.
Although some businesses already offer flexible working, there are many business owners, managers, and employees themselves, lacking confidence that work will be done productively when away from the office.
For hotel owners, it’s especially important to keep in contact with staff throughout the duration of the pandemic, ensuring the team’s morale remains high and workers understand what tasks need to be completed.
Top communication tips
When it comes to engaging your team, there are some important tips that you should follow:
- It’s important, especially during a period of uncertainty, to instill confidence in your workforce, equipping them with essential qualities, such as purpose and passion, to ensure the work continues to the standards expected despite the many legitimate challenges of a new working environment.
- The collective productivity of your workforce relies on their understanding of the ‘common goal’ – having clear direction; understanding what success looks like.
- In order to harness the power of goal setting, individuals need to be personally invested in achieving their targets, fuelling self-motivation far greater than simply completing tasks that have been assigned to them.
- Without being able to meet in person, it’s important that a new communication system is in place, so employees can collaborate, despite being in different locations.
Programmes like Microsoft Teams are designed to be a virtual office, allowing remote workers to share important information and communicate via live chat and video calling features. During the pandemic, this can be a suitable replacement for physical meetings.
Maintain productivity
With entire workforces being required to work from home, it’s crucial that businesses maintain their productivity levels, given the uncertainty of the situation.
Although some employers may be apprehensive about the impact of working from home, there is no reason why standards should slip if they have been given the skills needed to lead themselves effectively.