Work from the office? Work from home? It is quite irrelevant when speaking about staying organized. We have entered a new era when it comes to work. Most people who can do their job from home are now required to do so. There is no reason why this should entirely change once the pandemic goes away. New studies and research showed that employees working from home are more efficient. That should convince managers to keep their employees at home, whenever possible. But it also implies helping them to be better organized, help them make progress and remain focused on important stuff.

Provide your employees with the basics

One of the biggest issues that your employees have, when they work from home, is to stay organized. Not everything can be digitalized and happen online. That is why your employees need the adequate equipment and accessories to ease their work. The solution is easy: provide them with the right tools to enhance their work, a small investment for big results:

• Notebooks & co.
• Pens
• Laptop or computer
• Memory sticks

Notebooks are not old-fashioned, as some might think; they are still a powerful tool in staying organized. Your employees can make and keep their notes without being present in front of a screen, without having to turn on their devices. Nevertheless, pens and notebooks featuring your company’s logo are still the perfect gift for the new employees, as well.

Save important data on a memory stick

That point is particularly important for employees that regularly switch working from home and from the office. It can become complicated, if they find themselves in one place, without the information they need to work on because it remained on the other computer. That is why you should require that your employees work through a VPN connection, linking them to the office servers, so that they can save all work in one place. Nevertheless, all important information should also be saved on a USB stick, which they can easily take and use whenever they switch the working place.

Organize regular videoconferences

Working from the office gives your employees the chance to speak with other present colleagues. It is the place to build good networking, strong and productive relationships. But what about those employees working from home? Even though a video conference is not as productive and effective as a face-to-face conversation, it has become required and needed lately. It is a good way to keep your team united and avoid homeworking employees feel isolated. For you, as a manager, it is an important strategy to analyze your employees’ work and feedback. The benefit of being online: you can be connected to your business from all over the world. Afterall, the important thing is to be productive, wherever you are.

Communication strategies

When your employees are all sitting comfortably in your office, it is easy to distribute the tasks and to make sure that everyone is working on the right and important issues. When they are at home, you can neither check upon them just as easy, nor redirect them on other projects, when needed. Therefore, you need to help them separate urgent points and handle them in priority.

As a good manager does, you can prepare a very simple document, using either an Excel file or a sheet of paper where you can present the priorities of the day, week, or month. Making notes online is also a good idea, it helps your employees follow their progress and evaluate themselves better and faster. That is why it is important to invest in good and useful software and programs.

Set clear expectations from your employees and avoid confusion is a must. Offer proper support and trainings and be ready to get regular feedback from your people, if you want to be a good organizational example for your team.

Even when your employees work from home, the possibilities of keeping them motivated and organized depend on your good skills and new engagement methods. The more organized your employees are, the better results they will provide. There are many tools which can help you and your team stay focused and good organized, but each employee should know better for himself, choose the right instruments and be responsible with his own work and time. By following the above aspects, you can get the expected results and they could help you keep your team on track.