Thinking a little out of the box at these times would help all companies tide over these difficult times with panache.

It has been more than 10 days since the COVID- 19 has disrupted our workspace as we know it and forced thousands of businesses into work from home mode. The self- quarantine rule for 21 days has meant that businesses with no prior experience or facility to work remotely have been pushed to look for the means to do so and fast. The companies that successfully and efficiently implement the new model will be the ones that succeed in the long term. Tech-based companies have an upper hand in this case, although other companies can also follow simple things to make sure that the transition is easy for the employees and well as the business.

Most people work best under a familiar routine and so it is important for all to ensure that they wake up and get dressed the way they did when they used to head to the office and also sit at the same quiet corner every day for work. A stable, unchanging routine such as logging in and logging out at the same time and having lunch at the designated time every day helps in systematically focusing on the tasks at hand. This consistency is key for maintaining calm amidst all the chaos that is surrounding us right now.

Managers can downsize existing large teams to smaller ones with 3 or 4 members with a leader to oversee their activities for better efficiency. The team leader can be assigned with various tasks like conducting meetings every 3 hours on apps like Zoom to check in on them and to keep motivation levels high. It would also help bring in a sense of collaboration amongst everyone. Scrum meetings first thing in the morning to lay out the tasks for the day and timeline for achieving them is important. Daily goals and tasks setting and monitoring of the same can be undertaken. It's important for companies to keep up the spirit of their employees during difficult times such as these for optimum performance. Other measures like salary and incentive payments on time would enable them to be financially well equipped to cover expenses that will arise. Sharing important government notifications such as the 3 month moratorium on EMI payments across all banks in the country would bring them some peace of mind.

Websites offering online courses such as Coursera and Udemy have opened up their courses at very competitive prices, which can be used by companies for training their employees. This would help employees become more skilled at their work or even pursue something that they are passionate about in their free time.

Thinking a little out of the box at these times would help all companies tide over these difficult times with panache. The most important thing is to be compassionate and be there for each other irrespective of anything.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house