We have always had a really flexible remote working policy at Treepoints. We’re a young company and understand that people thrive in different work environments, whether at home, at the office or abroad. Much of our team travel frequently, which has meant that telework tools have always been essential. We use Trello to assign tasks and stay organised, and then Slack is our day to day go-to for all internal conversations – whether that’s individual messaging to other employees or group channels, from ‘departments’ to ‘celebrations’ to ‘bug reporting’.
In times like these, Slack allows us to stay connected in real-time. Each team posts every morning what they aim to achieve and at the end of the day give an analysis of how it went. Currently, all face to face meetings are cancelled, both internally and externally, meaning that video conferencing tools like Google Hangouts are essential in helping us feel like we are still all together. Most importantly, it maintains a sense of normality in what are uniquely challenging times.
With regard to remote meetings. We already used Zoom and Hangouts daily, but at the moment we fully rely on them. Without both Slack and Google Hangouts / Zoom we would really struggle to continue to work as a team in the current climate. I think these technologies are great at keeping things efficient – sticking to quick agenda points and fast-paced decision making (especially with functionalities like screen sharing). That being said, we’re really looking forward to face to face meetings with no lag or connection issues and being able to be fully together again!
With regard to how we’ve pivoted to stay mentally and physically healthy:
My top three points would be:
- Make sure you maintain a correct posture when you’re working. Sitting for prolonged periods is not natural to humans, and your body will remind you of it daily if you’re above 26 years old. Make sure you use a chair with back (and if possible, neck) support. You should be able to work without slouching, so place the screen directly in front of you. If you work from a laptop, consider connecting it to a monitor and get a wireless keyboard. Standing desks are also a great option, and you can easily turn anything into one!
- Daily online video conferencing. Each team has a team-wide video conference to catch up and discuss the tasks at hand for the day. We then communicate on slack what we’ve achieved to keep accountable before we log off. On Thursday’s we’ve introduced happy hour so everybody gets to stay connected online.
- Break up your day. One popular way to maximize productivity is to take regular breaks every 30 minutes or one hour. Stand up and walk around the house. If your country is not on lockdown because of a global pandemic, take a walk outside.
- Make sure to turn everything off after you’re done. Disable email notifications, log out of everything, and resist the urge to check on work-related stuff outside work hours. The dangers of burnout are very real, and your mental health is more important than “being productive”.
How has your team survived working from home?
