Quick Guide to Improving Employee Productivity Engagement and Health While Working Remotely

Step 1: Set Your Team Up for Success

• Help your employees get a decent (although unlikely to be perfect) workspace at home and offer up some reasonable accommodations to enhance their productivity (e.g., extra monitor, ergonomic chair, etc.)
• Ensure everyone understands the technology and tools they have at their disposal and conduct training sessions on how to use virtual collaboration tools along with protocols for knowledge management and document storage (additional resources for: Maximizing Collaboration Platforms and Leading Successful Virtual Meetings)
• Request that your team updates their calendar preferences so people can view each another’s schedules
• Use an online task-tracking tool to provide easily visible updates on project assignments and assigned action items
• Set expectations and team protocols when it comes to all things working from home (e.g., team’s schedule, core hours, communication protocols, response times, work-from-home-casual dress code, etc.)

Step 2: Maintain Culture & Engagement

• Engage in more frequent communication (between managers/direct reports, peers and colleagues) using video whenever possible and have casual conversations at the start or end of virtual meetings
• Encourage your teams to stay connected and socialize with each other by setting up virtual coffee chats, lunches, and happy hours via video calls
• Have some fun by establishing a way for the team to share photos, funny memes, humorous/motivational quotes or mental break games (e.g., match the baby picture to the teammate)
• Suggest employees focus on professional development or skills training by leveraging your companies online Learning & Development platform and/or LinkedIn Learning (e.g., Managing People at a Distance, Executive Presence on Video Calls, Leading at a Distance, etc.)
• Consider brainstorming ideas for special projects or new product initiatives keep up team morale if/when business as usual slows down

Step 3: Promote Health & Safety

• Encourage employees to focus on their physical wellbeing by keeping with their exercise routine or finding a new one that works these days and suggest that employees schedule time on their calendar for quick breaks to get some fresh air
• Make a point to have employees focus on their mental wellbeing (e.g., EAP resources, mediation, etc.)
• Acknowledge feelings of stress, frustration, and isolation and encourage teams to look out for each other and demonstrate support, positivity, empathy, and compassion
• Wipe down commonly touched areas (e.g. light switches, cabinet handles, microwave buttons, coffee maker, door handles, TV remotes, oven knobs, faucet handles, credit cards, etc.)
• Be mindful of safe distances when receiving deliveries and use ‘no contact delivery’ options when ordering food.

To learn more about what occupiers should be focusing on and CBRE’s Workplace services, please view our Occupier Flash Call page and our Workplace services page.

About the author:

Damla Gerhart oversees CBRE's Workplace Strategy & Design services in the Americas. This 90+ person team of strategists, designers, engineers, and occupancy planners is no stranger to virtual collaboration when it comes to working together and with their clients. However, over the last few weeks, even they have had to make some adjustments on how they can best work together as a team while at home.