The born of a new work culture has led to the birth of a slightly modified way of working. Be it Remote Working, work from home, or online classes; video conferencing is the basic tool to operate all this. Although in-person communication can’t be replaced by anything video-conferencing is a substitute for it. It can be observed that visual impact remains the same. The main question is how to dress right for the video call and some video call tips can help you out!
Optimizing video chat setup: from what to wear for a video conference to the best lighting for the video call, to positioning the laptop for the video call, using the right mic for the video call, and just staying comfortable.
What you wear speaks VOLUMES about your personality!
“How to dress up for a video conference?” This is the most frequently asked question received this month. To break down the video conference dressing rules which will provide you with specific tips on what to wear for video conference calls. For the most important rule always be in your safest attire because bold colors over stripes and patterns might be too distressed and too distracting.
Choose an outfit that is for your work environment
Choose clothing that isn’t too tight, too oversized, or too revealing
Wear colors that flatter you
Patterns can be tricky and distracting wear bold colours
Consider accessories carefully which should be simple or medium-sized (if you are a woman)
Shirts/Blouses
If you want to create a professional yet simple impression, wearing light-colored shirts or blouses with modest necklines is advisable. Avoid wearing bold colors or patterns as it can detract from the overall sophistication and polished look. Instead, opt for solid colors or muted prints that work best in such settings. This approach not only creates an air of professionalism but also ensures that your attire is appropriate for any occasion.
Blazer
A blazer is a classic and versatile fashion item that can make a bold statement. With its ability to complement various tops, a blazer can help bring an outfit together seamlessly. Additionally, it adds a layer of sophistication to your attire, making it suitable for formal occasions.
T-shirts
While it may not be a conventional choice, wearing a t-shirt appropriate for modern-day meetings is essential. Select a shirt with formal colors, and ensure that it is in good condition. To achieve a clean and sharp appearance, it is recommended to iron the shirt before wearing it. This will help you create a professional image, leaving an excellent impression on those you meet.
Sweaters and Hoodies
During the colder seasons, it is recommended to wear pullover knits, cardigans, or hoodies as they provide a balance between order and comfort. These garments are designed to maintain a structured appearance while also allowing freedom of movement.
Wide-leg Trousers
When it comes to creating a professional look, it’s important to choose pants that coordinate well with your formal topwear. Instead of opting for the traditional slim-fit style, wide-legged or baggier fits provide greater flexibility in movement, allowing you to move around with ease while maintaining a polished appearance.
Dresses and Jumpsuits
For women who want to create a distinctive appearance, formal dresses or jumpsuits can be a great option. These one-piece garments are both stylish and functional, making them a practical choice for busy women who want to save time in their daily routines. Rather than wasting valuable time trying to match a top with the perfect bottom, women can simply slip on a dress or jumpsuit and focus their energy on more productive tasks. With a wide range of styles and designs available, women can easily find a formal dress or jumpsuit that suits their taste and complements their body type.
Complement Your Outfit
The full picture matters. Adding complementary accessories to your outfits can help tie in the overall look and send a non-verbal message. It makes an impression that you treated this as an important, professional engagement worth dedicating proper attention and effort to.
Jewelry/Accessories
If you decide to wear jewelry or other accessories, remember that minimalism is key. Steer clear of big, distracting bits and keep it basic. These include micro pattern scarves, simple rings and earrings, and delicate necklaces or chains. Choose high-end materials like pearls, silver, gold, or semi-precious stones for a polished look. Costume jewelry should be avoided since it can look gaudy or cheap on camera.
Hairstyle
In the virtual world, grooming is still as important as it is in the real world. Make sure your hair is presentable. Women can opt for hairstyles like a half-up, loose waves, or a tidy braid or ponytail. Stay clear of untidy buns and face-obscuring hairstyles. Control flyaway hair and add a touch of style with a solid-colored headband. Men should have regular haircuts to keep their hair from becoming unruly, as well as trim their facial hair regularly to give it a clean appearance.
Makeup
When wearing makeup, choose the elements that enhance your natural features and make you feel confident. A thin eyeliner and mascara can make your eyes appear brighter and more awake. Consider your outfit before you make your choices. If your outfit is bold, keep the makeup neutral, and vice versa.
Posture
During virtual meetings, having good posture is essential to present confidence to your audience and feel confident in yourself. Additionally, it conveys your degree of interest in the conference. The most appropriate one is to sit upright with a small inclination towards the camera. To avoid slouching, you can also pick a chair that is comfortable and provides adequate back support. Good posture influences not only your physical appearance but also your emotions, energy levels, and overall well-being.
Screen Background
In an online meeting, the background you choose can convey a lot about your demeanor and level of professionalism. A plain, neutral-colored wall is a safe and professional option. Stay clear of bright colors or busy designs that clash with your face. A softly blurred background can conceal distracting elements without appearing exaggerated. If you don’t have a designated workspace and work from home, this is a fantastic alternative. Choose a virtual background that is suitable for your job and presents a professional appearance.
How to look good on video call?
A well-researched fact says that people judge you within milliseconds of seeing you, so it’s a lie if someone says that I don’t judge someone based on looks or what they wear. As if, they are going to offer a street-side rag picker the job of product manager, obviously no. DRESS TO IMPRESS.
A nice outfit can help you boost your confidence, help you make an amazing first impression, get the respect you deserve, show your employer that you pay attention to small details, and therefore give you a billion-dollar look.
How to Dress Up For a Video Conference?
What’s Important is Dressing Appropriately For Your Audience
Big business? You’ll probably want to dress to impress. Wear a collared shirt (nothing says “I mean business” more than a crisp collar!) and consider wearing a jacket and tie as well.
IT company? Consider wearing a simple button-down shirt and a pair of trousers.
You’re part of a creative team? You might consider dressing up more fashionably to connect with the artistic crowd.
How about a small startup? A plain, solid-colored T-shirt and long pants might be more suitable. (you don’t have to look Richy-rich!)
Overhead lighting is the worst quiet lighting for video conferences, as a result, it makes shadows underneath your eyes. Sadly, that’s what most of the people have by default. You’ll not care about the lighting if you’re doing a fast snow-day arrival with the team you’ve worked with for four years, except for high-stakes things (like job interviews), once you have to be compelled to look your best. We recommend you 3 natural, soft lightweight sources: 2 behind your digital camera (one on the left, one on the right) and one right behind you.
2. Watch Out Your Angle
Watch out Your Angle
If you are employing a digital camera clipped to the highest of your monitor then the likelihood is that it’s not capturing you from the best perspective. If it’s angular down an excessive amount of, you’ll place your fellow meeting-goers within the position of soaring over you. you would like the lens to be right at eye level. A stand will get you there and hold the camera steady. If you’re exploiting the constitutional camera on your portable computer, it’s going to be too low–and trying up your nose. Whereas it’s not ideal, you’ll place hardcover books underneath your portable computer till the angle’s right. you would like the camera to capture a constellation of your forehead to your left shoulder and right jostle the frame.
3. Look Respectable
Look Respectable on a Video Call
Even if solely your face and shoulders area unit is within the frame, you ne’er grasp if you’ll have to be compelled to rise for a few reasons. Therefore look good from head to toe; Place some ingratiating, solid colors close to your face, similar to what newscast anchors do. Check your teeth for remnants of lunch. Check that the temperature is specified so you won’t be sweating, and won’t have to be compelled to begin popping out layers, that are displeasing for all looks.
4. Look Behind You
The individuals you’re interacting with are treated to the reading no matter what is behind you throughout the whole meeting. Junk and muddle area units are dangerous enough to distress everyone. Your bed with dirty linen thereon is amateurish. Or worse, you’ll have one thing sitting there that’s a part of the scenery to you however jarring to everybody else. We recommend you use “seamless paper” or a clear blank wall, you’ll be doing a great deal of digital interaction.
5. Minimize Distractions
First impressions count once it involves video conferencing. If you’re acting at home and therefore the individuals you’re involved with or concerning people, should know that there should be a minimum of noise. Even Pets can make a great deal out of it because a barking dog or cat running on your table can be a lot of fun with embarrassing moments.
6. Focus On Substance, Than Appearance
What you can bring to the table is more important than your appearance. People might be insecure about how their makeup look or their double chin but do not forget that the outline and goals of the meeting are written well down. A desk organizer can help you out with a great deal. Always know what this conference is going to achieve so, Review, and review, and review… And do it again!
7. Be Ready
Video is nearer to a face-to-face meeting than it is to a phone call, however, most people treat it as a sort of a phone call. Therefore they’re attempting to look at their notes, or area units closed on their laptop screens. this can be very like holding a chunk of paper before your face in a very lively meeting. You bump into not listening so, grasp your details and appearance up, therefore you’ll move commonly and score the advantages of seeing individuals and being seen.
These simple video call tips with the essence of dressing up as a whole individual canboost your charisma.
Many of us might cringe as soon as we hear of video conferencing, or we might fall victim to anxiety, awkwardness, or apathy. But, there’s no need to worry as soon as you’re backed up with our million-dollar tips.
We promise that these tips are worth giving your time to learn exactly how to ace your video conferencing. Video calls are much easier than you think!
What kind of dress is appropriate when attending a video conference?
Dress your best- Choose solid, light colours. Simple jewelry is best. Ladies, avoid earrings that dangle or any accessory that makes noise when you move. For most conference calls, you can wear whatever you want from the waist down – unless you think you might need to stand up for some reason.
What is the best color to wear for video conference?
Wear colours that flatter you. This should probably go without saying, but avoid colours that tend to wash you out or don’t flatter your skin tone. Also, avoid colours that are pale or close to your natural skin tone, as they can wash you out on camera, and you run the risk of looking nekkid.
When attending a video conference what kind of dressing is appropriate?
While it’s not necessary to dress quite as well as you usually do, try not to take it down more than one level from your normal office attire. “If you’re a person who just wears a button-up shirt, you can wear a casual T-shirt kind of thing.” If you’re wearing a tank top, you’ve gone too far and need to dressup a bit.
When the pandemic hit the world in 2020, no one anticipated that it will point out flaws in the normal work culture as well. A lot of companies were able to get their work done just as much or even better with the remote working option. People chose to work from the comforts of their homes even after the pandemic. So, what is it that makes remote work culture so good for the current times?
Well, the answer lies in the freedom to showcase commitment and talent. If you are in a comfortable place, your mind feels relaxed and can function much better than in a place where you feel tense. Isn’t this the reason that you get some of the best ideas right before you go to sleep in your bed? Companies have understood this psychological aspect and promote remote company culture. A lot of tech giants have still allowed employees to choose remote working structures. A lot of new remote businesses and companies are coming up as well. This is why the question of how to build a great remote company culture arises.
Well, let us take a leap and discuss some of the ways that a great remote company culture can be inculcated.
Remote company culture can be completely new to people. It is best if you do not just add in people and ask them to start working remotely. So what should you do then? Well, it is pretty simple as you just need to add a proper orientation mechanism for the onboarding employees. Make sure that they get all the necessary documents, file accesses, information, and permissions as soon as they get into the company. Moreover, a remote company team must have familiarity with one another. Engage the new members in team meets and fun activities. This will help the employees generate a more familiar and comfortable feeling with the culture at the company. At the same time, also make sure to remind the team that it is a company, running to do business, so it is best to work to the best of commitments.
Professional Growth In the Company
a If you are running the company as a leader, join in every meeting and check in with the employees. Add activities, seminars, and courses for the team members that will help them grow professionally. Timely incentives are also a great way to show that their improvement is respected. Beyond job expectations and project due dates, employees are a valuable part of remote company culture, so enhance their professional journey with some additions to the culture.
Creativity is one of the best perks in a remote company environment. People are not bound to limit themselves to clichéd working hours and routines. They can communicate with the team members and make the job more interesting. So, if you are the leader in a remote company, make sure you promote the communication and collaboration attitude as well.
Now what does it have to do with the company? It can either be intercommunication between the employees and departments or even outer sources. Add in instant communication channels like Slack and Google Meet for faster resolution of queries. The employees can even collaborate with other companies or third parties to improve the products or services at your company. Of course, this would require due diligence but even the allowance of collaboration tempts the employees to bring in more creativity. So, as a remote company, allowing the culture to feel more open to ideas and creations, is the right way to promote great remote company culture.
Any person who works all their efforts into a project would love to get recognized. That is why you must add in names of the best performers every week or every month. Now, the company does not need to make it like boasting of employees. Keep it subtle and in a way that others feel motivated to do the same and not jealous. One of the ways can be to crown the best performer in an office party. Or to provide them with a great coffee every morning for a week at the desk. Multiple ideas can be implemented here. What the company just needs to keep in mind is that a little appraisal and recognition can go a long way in providing support to the employees and the company itself.
Strike a Healthy Work-Life Balance
When the office and workplace tend to be the same, there can often be a struggle between feeling like working or not. This is what the company needs to rectify. As a remote company, you will need to make sure that you provide gentle reminders of the designated time offs to the employees. Provide proper leisure time to the employees in between their shifts. Also, adding paid vacations within a year can be a great way to strike a good work-life balance for the employees. There can be multiple ways that a company can put into place for improving the work-life balance.
Remote Team Culture | How to Develop a Strong Remote Culture
Conclusion
Remote company culture has been on the rise for the last few years. It not only benefits the employees but the companies as well. They do not have to spend money acquiring offices and pay for their maintenance and a hundred other things. With the employees working from the comfort of their homes, they just need to improve the remote company culture. The tips mentioned above are some of the most important points to take into consideration. If you lead one remote company from the front, ensure that you start making the employees feel like they are at work but not too uptight about it. There is a fine line between professionalism and leisure when it comes to remote company culture. Try and find a way to walk in that fine line itself for inculcating a great remote company culture.
FAQs
How does providing recognition to the employees help in creating great remote culture?
A little appreciation and recognition can significantly support employees and the company. It fuels motivation, encouraging them to strive harder in the future.
How can remote companies strike a healthy work-life balance with their employees?
Remote companies can make sure that they provide gentle reminders of the designated time offs to the employees. Provide proper leisure time to the employees in between their shifts. Also, adding paid vacations within a year can be a great way to strike a good work-life balance for the employees.
Why would any person want to work in a remote company culture?
Since the team is small in a remote company it almost feels like a family. That is what a remote company needs to inculcate in the employees, that the employees are heard and appreciated. Encouraging the professional growth of the employees will only benefit the company back.
In recent years, the concept of remote work has gained significant momentum, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the shift towards flexible work arrangements. As a result, many companies have started offering permanent work from home options to their employees, recognizing the benefits of remote work for both the employee and the organization.
In addition to permanent work from home, many companies are also adopting a hybrid model that allows employees to work from home part of the time and come into the office for the rest.
Permanent work from home companies
In this article, we will explore some of the companies that are leading the way in offering permanent work from home and hybrid options to their employees.
Up until the novel coronavirus declared its existence, corporates were ruled by unforgiving and orthodox work settings where an employee almost lived a robotic life. This changed almost overnight since companies were forced to resume day-to-day activities to keep maintain the corporate status quo.
A lot has changed during the pandemic when employees were made to resume work from home. Companies made sure that everything is made available to them to keep the show running.
But as we move on to the post-pandemic world, corporate offices have dissolved so many of their office spaces and the employees are being asked to work from home on a permanent basis, while others have resorted to hybrid work cultures.
Companies Embracing Permanent Work from Home Culture
As we settle into the post-pandemic world, companies are willing to adjust and continue working from home as the “new normal”. Many companies have asked their employees to work from home as a permanent solution.
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Atlassian is an Australian software company that manufactures and develops collaboration, management, and issue tracking software for the teams. The software company based out of Sydney, New South Wales, had effectively dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic by providing work from home for its employees.
The company announced permanent work from home for its employees first on August 8, 2020. Atlassian disclosed the all-new “Team Anywhere” policy in April 2021, which further cemented its decision to work from home.
Under this policy, the company allowed its employees to work from any location in a country where Atlassian exists as a corporate entity provided that the employee has the legal right to work and is aligned together with his/her team members, bound by the same time zones.
2. Brex
Brex is a fintech company headquartered in California, United States. The company is well-known for its distinguished credit cards and effective cash management solutions that they extend to their customers.
Though the COVID-19 posed a problem to many firms around the globe, Brex was one of the companies that tackled it efficiently. Brex announced work from home to be permanent for its employees on September 14, 2020, and emerged as a remote-first employer.
In Dec 2022, Brex cut its workforce by 11% bringing down its employee count to about 1,150 personnel.
3. Coinbase
Coinbase is a US-based company that acts as an online platform and allows merchants, consumers, and traders to transact with digital currency.
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Coinbase allows its users to create bitcoin wallets, connect them to their bank accounts and then start buying and selling bitcoins. Coinbase has shifted to work from home ever since the coronavirus pandemic broke in.
Later in 2020, the company further announced that it will serve as a remote-first company, which will allow its employees to work from home for an indefinite period whoever chooses to do so.
Coinbase is minimizing its offices in a single location in order to distribute its offices far and wide and expand its geographical presence. The company is truly operating on a remote work basis and lacks a physical headquarters.
In Jan 2023, it laid off 20% of its workforce to reduce its operating expenses as part of a global downturn.
Dropbox is based out of the USA with its headquarters in San Francisco, California. A smart workspace company, Dropbox makes it easy for its users to store their files, share them securely and collaborate without any hassles.
The California-based company file-sharing firm hasdeclared work from home from March 6th 2020 onwards. Dropbox then announced that it will emerge as a virtual-first company in October 2020.
It also has plans of launching Dropbox Studios as collaborative spaces in its office locations. Furthermore, Dropbox agreed to follow the nonlinear workdays and allow their employees to design their own work schedules.
Dropbox conducted its first ever virtual survey in Feb 2023 to gauge the effectiveness of work from home and found that nearly all of its employees were able to work effectively from home.
Novartis is a healthcare company from Basel-Stadt, Switzerland that offers pharmaceutical and healthcare solutions to its customers from all over the world.
The Swiss healthcare company already had a manager-approved work from home policy for its employees.
Soon after the strike of the pandemic, the company opted for work from home policy and in July 2020, it further announced a shift from manage-approved work from home to manager-informed work from home.
To clarify things, Novartis has already declared that its employees can choose how, when and from where they would be working post-pandemic.
In 2021, Novartis management implemented a ‘Choice with Responsibility’ program, which offers flexibility to its employees regarding where, when and how they work.
6. ONVU Technologies
ONVU Technologies is an information technology company based in London, UK, with its offices operating globally. Some of the major locations that ONVU Technologies has its offices in include India, the USA, and Turkey.
The company has already announced a fully remote workforce back in the month of February. Ragini Sidhu, Human Resources VP, mentioned that ONVU Technologies is confident about its decision to work from home, which will enable the employees to adjust their time according to their preferences. This entirely comes from the trust that it places on the employees.
Distribution of Office Employees by Their Preferred Working Arrangements Worldwide in 2022, by Generation
7. Quora
The world-famous Question and Answer platform, Quora, is based out of California, with its office in Mountain View city of California, US. Quora allows numerous people from all around the world to post on the platform commenting on topics of mutual interest. The sole aim of Quora is to gather knowledge and expand its database of Q&A.
The Q&A giant has embraced a remote-first model early in the month of June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Adam D’Angelo announced that Quora would permanently allow for remote work.
The company has stated that more than 60% of its workforce had preferred doing work from home even post-Covid19, which is why they have made such a decision. The headquarters of the office in Mountain View would be emerging in a co-working space where only the cameras need to be turned on as part of their criteria.
One of the most popular social media platforms of the world, Twitter helps its users create micro-blogs of around 280 characters called Tweets and share their own views on their Twitter profiles concerning anything. The company operates from its headquarters in San Francisco, California, United States.
In May 2020, Twitter’s previous CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey announced staff could work remotely indefinitely as the coronavirus spread across the country. After his Twitter takeover, Musk took a dim view of remote work, making in-office presence one of a handful of policy changes that he initially enforced before shifting his stance on following a wave of employee resignations.
First, in early November 2022, Musk said that Twitter employees must work 40 in-office hours a week. Then, he revised this to say that their managers could allow those who were “making an excellent contribution” to work remotely.
Then in 2023, Twitter began shuttering offices, including in Seattle, Singapore and India, saying that staff could continue to work remotely in each location that was affected.
9. Shopify
The cloud-based multichannel platform headquartered in Ontario, Canada helps small and medium-sized businesses to create, design, and manage their stores and across multiple sales channels.
The company avoided confusion and decided to go to work from home since the pandemic struck. The physical offices of Shopify remained closed till 2021 when they were worked on to establish the required facilities to support working in the pandemic condition. Furthermore, Shopify had also let its employees know of the permanent switch to remote work via the tweet from the CEO of the firm.
In 2023, it cancelled all recurring meetings involving more than two people ‘in perpetuity’. Besides, it has also introduced a rule saying no meetings at all can be held on Wednesdays. The company’s latest guidelines stated that big meetings with more than 50 people can only be held during a six-hour window on Thursdays.
Slack is a California-based enterprise software platform that helps individuals and professional teams working under a company to communicate without any hassles. Slack was acquired by Salesforce on December 1, 2020.
Slack swiftly shifted its workforce to work from home as soon as the pandemic broke out and then decided to make it a permanent way of work. In Apr 2022, CEO of Slack remarked that he can’t see full-time in-office work ever returning and companies that push too far will lose talent.
11. Spotify
Spotify is a Sweden-based commercial music streaming service that extends a world of songs and music albums from diverse record labels to its members and other individuals. This company has quickly embraced the work from home policy for its employees as soon as the shadows of the Covid-19 pandemic started hovering over the world.
The music streaming company further confirmed in February 2021 that it has decided on a work from anywhere policy for its employees. According to this policy, Spotify employees can work from home or office, wherever they want, even after the pandemic ends. However, the decision should be a unanimous one, which will be decided between the employees and their managers.
Furthermore, the employees can even work outside of their city or country too, even at places where there aren’t any Spotify offices. Moreover, they can also obtain membership of Spotify co-working spaces, which they have set up in all those areas where they do not have any offices. The company reported a drop in its attrition rate by 15% in Q2 2022 in comparison to Q2 2019, a positive outcome of this policy.
Square is a financial service, merchant services aggregator and digital payments platform headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded by Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, and Jim McKelvey.
California-based Square, Dorsey’s company, was soon to follow the work from the home policy after Twitter agreed on it. Furthermore, the company also announced that they will allow their employees to continue working from home and anywhere they want to work from. However, only the employees whose physical presence is needed in the office have to work from the office.
13. Upwork
Upwork was founded in 2015 and is based in Santa Clara, California. It is a digital platform for freelancers around the globe where enterprises, entrepreneurs, and others offer short-term and long-term freelancing works for those who are eligible for them.
With the strike of the coronavirus pandemic, Upwork didn’t delay providing their employees with work from home opportunities to keep up with their productivity. The remote job listing platform then decided to practice what it preaches and in May 2021, with the Twitter announcement of CEO Hayden Brown, the company became a remote-first company. Square, is now a permanent work-from-home company.
Zillow is an online real-estate company from Seattle, Washington, founded in 2006. It offers a platform for its users who are looking for information regarding homes, real estate, and mortgages.
According to Dan Spaulding, Chief People Officer of the company, the employees can work from anywhere where they can be productive.
For this, they can choose to work from the office, from home, or a combination of both. As of 2023, 74% of its employees work remotely, 12 % work in Hybrid settings, 12 % are field employees and only 2% are office employees.
15. Tata Steel
Tata Steel Limited is an Indian steel manufacturing company. Originally founded in Jamshedpur as Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) by Jamsetji Tata in 1907, Tata Steel Limited is currently headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company now sees its operations across 26 countries with key operations in India, Netherlands, and United Kingdom, employing around 80,500 people worldwide.
Right from when the pandemic started dangerously spreading far and wide in 2020, Tata Steel declared a work from home policy for its employees. The company further announced on November 1, 2020, that it has embraced an ‘Agile Working Model’ policy for its employees from then onwards.
Under this new working model, the employees of Tata Steel could opt to work from home (WFH) for up to 365 days a year. Furthermore, even the officers who were required to be based out of a particular location can choose to WFH for an unlimited number of days per year.
16. Facebook/Meta
The social media behemoth Meta, which was formerly known as Facebook, Inc., is based in Menlo Park, California. Originally founded in 2004 as TheFacebook by Harvard university graduates, Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes, the social media platform adopted the name Facebook ( Meta) and became incredibly popular all across the globe.
Meta had already been allowing its employees to work from home or wherever they find fit. The founder of the company, Mark Zuckerberg deems that the shift to remote work will be a lasting one at Facebook, which will allow its employees to work from wherever they can be live. Therefore, it is a permanent work from home for the employees of the world’s largest social network.
“We believe how we work is more important than where we work,” said Facebook when it shared an update to its remote work policy.
Meta has started an “office deferral program”, as per the reports dated December 8, 2021. This plan will help the Meta employees gain flexibility enough to return to their offices because a majority of the employees might not be confident to return back to their offices.
In Mar 2023, Mark Zuckerberg in a memo highlighted the findings of a new internal study which revealed that engineers that worked in person performed better, thus hinting at end of work from home for Facebook employees.
17. Swiggy
Swiggy is a popular food delivery platform based in Bangalore, India. Founded in 2014, Swiggy has rapidly grown to become one of the largest and most well-known food delivery companies in India, serving millions of customers across the country.
The foodtech decacorn,Swiggy announced a work-from-anywhere policy for most of its roles, as per news dated July 29, 2022. The popular food, and grocery delivery service company has extended its “Future of Work” policy, under which the Swiggy executives will work remotely from wherever they want and will meet on every quarter.
The Swiggsters or the employees of Swiggy are currently working from 487+ cities across 27+ cities and 4 UTs. Swiggy arrived at the decision of letting a significant portion of its workforce work from anywhere after learning the team’s needs and receiving feedback from both the managers and employees of Swiggy.
Popularity of Remote Jobs in India in 2021 and 2022, by Age Group
Companies Going for a Hybrid Model
Now let’s look at the offices that have decided on a hybrid model for the benefit of themselves and their employees:
Google, the Search engine giant from the United States, didn’t hesitate to go to work from home as soon as the pandemic broke out. It was a work from home throughout for the employees of Google in 2020 when the situation turned worse in America and elsewhere in the world.
Though there were words that Google will open its offices in 2021, according to the latest announcements of the Search Engine behemoth, the employees can continue working from home through June 2021. CEO of Alphabet and Google, Sundar Pichai also declared that those who need not be present at the offices for their work can continue their voluntary work from home for 12 more months.
In Apr 2022, Google evaluated its work-from-home policy and made it mandatory for employees to be in the office for at least three days each week. In Oct 2022, Google made further refines to its policy and allowed four weeks of “work from anywhere” in a year. In Jan 2023, Google allowed its employees to work from home on Fridays to absorb the difficult news of parent company Alphabet laying off 12,000 people.
The American multinational automobile company based in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, maintained a work from home policy for its employees when the pandemic struck. It then conducted a work preference survey in June 2020, where around 95% of the company’s employees preferred a combination of work from home and work from the office over working from either of the places permanently.
The Michigan-based vehicle manufacturers made an announcement on March 17, 2021, to opt for a hybrid working model for their employees. According to the announcement, Ford employees based in the United States can join their offices from July onwards for small team meets, if they want to. This option was, however not available to workers at the factory.
The software developer and marketer of software products based in Cambridge, United States, preferred to stick to a work from home policy in 2020, the year the pandemic went into a rage. However, with the start of the new year, in January 2021, Hubspot came up with 3 options for the employees where they can work from home, work from the office or opt for a hybrid model.
It also stated that those who want to work from the office can only do so for 2 days a week, where they will be allocated hotel desks. Furthermore, the employees choosing any of the above options can also change their working plans once a year.
HubSpot’s 2023 Hybrid Work Report highlighted the work preferences by its employees: 63.4% preferred work from home, 8.3% in the office, and 28.3% flex, a combination of the two.
4. Intuit
The financial software developer from California, Intuit Inc. is another company that chose to go for a hybrid model after the severity of the coronavirus pandemic lessened. The Quickbooks company declared their preference of opting for a hybrid work model that would be in effect from August 2021 onwards in April.
The decision that Intuit made was based on a survey of its employees where only 14% of the Intuit employees said that they want to work from home. The Inuit employees who want to work from the office can work 2-3 days a week.
Intuit is not imposing a return-to-work policy, but rather is allowing managers and teams to determine the hybrid work approach that best benefits them. It is also revamping its workspaces to give its workers an experience that they can’t get at home, thus more willingness to embrace the offices.
5. Microsoft
The American software giant, Microsoft, shifted to work from home to avoid the pandemic woes. Microsoft unfolded greater flexibilities around its work policy in October 2020. The company declared its hybrid work policy in October 2020, where Microsoft stated that its employees can telecommute for half of the week or might also have the option for permanent remote working, which they can go for with prior manager approval.
In Jan 2023, Microsoft announced a dramatic new policy “Discretionary Time Off” for its US employees. Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief people officer stated that Microsoft will offer 10 corporate holidays, leaves of absence, sick and mental heath time off, and time away for jury duty or bereavement alongside this new unlimited time off policy.
The engineering and electronics company from Germany, Siemens was yet another company on the list of the companies that are preferring a hybrid work model in sharp contrast to those who are opting for work from the office or work from home. (Know all about the subsidiaries of Siemens)
The Munich-based electronics manufacturer declared in July 2020 that its employees can telecommute 2-3 days a week and this shall continue even after the pandemic sees its end. The working policy would be applicable for 1,40, 000 employees of the company based out of 43 different countries.
7. Nationwide
The financial institution from the United Kingdom decided to let its employees work from home while the pandemic was still strong and following this the company also ramped down many of its small offices spread across the country.
Most of the employees that worked in these offices were thus granted permanent work from home. However, Nationwide opened 4 corporate offices of the company in Ohio, Iowa, Arizona, and Texas where they will continue to work from the office.
As of May 2022, 50% of its employees worked from home. Now catering to work from home and hybrid employees, Nationwide has spaces where people can come in to work by themselves in a pod or in a group in one of the collaborative spaces.
8. Reddit
The social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website founded in Massachusetts, United States, has granted work from home for their employees during the pandemic days. However, the company announced later in October 2020 that Reddit’s employees can decide which model of work they will be comfortable in.
The options were working from home, working from the office, and a combination of both of them. Most of the employees were flexible to decide their work model except facility and IT employees, who cannot work from home and will be required in the office.
For the payment of the employees, Reddit decided to pay its employees as per the payment standards in expensive areas like San Francisco and New York.
9. Salesforce
Salesforce is an American cloud-based company from San Francisco that offers enterprise-level applications, customer relationship management services, and more. The cloud-based customer service provider surveyed its employees and most of them (around 80%) were interested in keeping a close connection with the physical office space.
This is why Salesforce, which already decided to be flexible for the employees to choose their work preferences, decided that it will embrace a flex policy, which is similar to hybrid work culture.
In such a work model, the Salesforce employees would have to work from the office 1-3 days a week and for the rest of the days, they can work from home uninterruptedly. Salesforce announced reducing its workforce by 10 per cent in January 2023.
10. Amazon
One of the Big Five in the U.S, Amazon climbed the ladder of popularity via its eCommerce. The company started as an online marketplace for books and has eventually expanded to offer a range of products across countless industries.
The Jeff Bezos-founded company now stands as an American multinational conglomerate that focuses on eCommerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, artificial intelligence, and more. The company has often been cited as “one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world” and popularly dubbed as “the world’s most valuable brand.”
Amazon had previously announced that it expects its employees to return back office on September 7, 2021, however, this later shifted to 3rd January 2022. The company has told employees to return to offices three days a week starting May 1, 2023. That’s after CEO Andy Jassy said in October 2023 that managers would be able to decide how often, if at all, their staff should come in.
11. TCS
Indian IT giant, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is a multinational company from India, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. TCS is a subsidiary of the Tata Group, which has its offices in around 149 locations and across 46 countries of the world. Furthermore, TCS is also recognized as the largest IT services company in the world by market capitalization.
As soon as the pandemic started to spread like wildfire, TCS caught the drift immediately and decided to allow its employees to work from home. Around 97% of the TCS employees were working from home in September 2021.
The brand has shifted to the Work from Anywhere policy and has been following the same since March 2020. Last year 2022 TCS informed their employees to come back to offices 3 days a week according to the roster set by their team supervisor.
“The future of work will be somewhat hybrid where some people will work from home, sometimes people will come to the office. So, the hybrid will likely be the new normal,” said the Chairman of the company, Natarajan Chandrasekaran.
Infosys is an Indian multinational company that is known for its services in information technology. The company was founded more than 40 years ago in Pune and is currently headquartered in Bangalore. Infosys is known as the second-largest IT company in India after TCS. It is also one of the oldest IT companies in the subcontinent.
Infosys, much like many other IT companies, have decided to allow their employees to work from home ever since the coronavirus pandemic has hit hard. According to the previous reports,the company had announced that it will be exploring a flexible hybrid work model for its employees starting from 2021 owing to the uncertainty of the pandemic.
At a virtual event, addressing the work from home policy of the company, Infosys CEO & Managing Director Salil Parekh said that the company has already been successful in building a flexible model with regard to work from home, and now, it is time to start work on building ‘social capital’.
13. Wipro
Yet another Indian multinational corporation Wipro, might be going for the hybrid model of work. The company that allowed its employees to work comfortably from home during the coronavirus pandemic has given enormous hints that it would be starting a hybrid work policy even after things come back to normalcy.
Wipro founder Azim Premji has appreciated the hybrid work concept adopted by the tech companies during the pandemic times. He also pointed out that more than 90% of the technology companies’ employees continue to work from home till the present.
Wipro was founded in 1945 by Mohamed Premji in Amalner, Maharashtra and now has its headquarters in Bangalore, Karnataka. It is presently ranked as the 9th largest employer in India with over 200,000 employees.
In Nasscom Technology and Leadership Summit 2023, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji said that he wants employees to return to workplaces and get over the work from home mindset. Wipro had ended its work from home policy in 2022 and now offers fully office based and hybrid models to its employees.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited or Maruti Suzuki, as it is popularly termed, is an automobile manufacturing company based in New Delhi. The company initially started in 1981 as Maruti Udyog Limited and was owned by the Government of India until 2003, when it was finally sold to the Suzuki Motor Corporation.
Maruti has also thought it fit to let its employees work from home since the coronavirus pandemic broke out. The company has further declared in 2021 that “there will be a section of people who can completely work from remote locations without the need to come to the office.”
15. Philips
Philips is a popular Dutch multinational company that was originally founded as Koninklijke Philips N.V in 1891. Headquartered in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, Philips was hailed as one of the largest electronic companies in the world. The company is currently focused on the healthcare industry and is striving to develop unique electronic products to transform the industry.
Philips had also announced work from home for many of its employees since the pandemic onslaught in 2020. However, a major portion of its workforce who are associated with the healthcare industry also needed to visit their offices almost every day during the pandemic.
These employees were either involved with the healthcare providers or engaged in treating the coronavirus-affected patients in an attempt to fight against the dreaded disease. Philips employs over 100,000 professionals across 100 countries around the world and offers full-time and part-time, hybrid and 100% remote jobs, some of which have featured flexible schedules.
Ever since the pandemic forced everyone to literally lock themselves up in their homes, corporate employees have seen the silver lining in staying away from offices. No hectic commutes, spending time with friends and families, and better productivity are some of the positive changes that employees are seen marveling at.
Benefits of Working from home
Employers too are not far from noticing these changes and also seeing the perks attached to them. Saving up on office space, electricity, supplies, and other expenses, employers have found ways to get work done remotely and more so, efficiently.
In a study conducted by Leadership IQ, the State of Working From Home, only 9% of the employees said they wanted to get back to their offices. The rest 91% stated that they would prefer working from home permanently while 39% of them they’d like hybrid work culture.
Working from home is going to be the near future for most employees and none of them seem to bat an eyelid. Companies have now learned that work done remotely is giving them better results and employee retention has gone far from disappointing.
Conclusion
Employees are now experiencing the new normal and adding their own terms to it by rerouting back to lost hobbies and passions. Taking care of the elderly and sick at home, helping spouses share the household chores, and sharing the responsibilities towards kids is now the new normal.
Zoom calls have transformed office meetings with interruptions by pets and babies. People are less anxious and trying to do more in every aspect. The quality of life has surely turned around as work from home is becoming a permanent thing.
FAQs
Which are the companies working from home permanently?
Some of the companies that are presently embracing the Permanent WFH Culture are:
Atlassian
Brex
Coinbase
Dropbox
Novartis
ONVU Technologies
Quora
Twitter
Shopify
Slack
Spotify
Square
Upwork
Zillow
Swiggy
Are employees who work from home more productive?
Yes, most data show that employees are more productive in remote work. Statistics reveal that 77% of the employees who work from home show increased productivity at least a few times each month, while 30% of them have also been discovered to do more work in less time.
Why companies should let employees work remotely?
Companies today should let the employees work from home because it boosts employees’ productivity, bears lesser costs for the companies, helps in employee retention, and also ensures a flexible work culture to be followed.
What are the benefits of the permanent work-from-home model?
Better flexibility for the employees, less commute time, cost-savings for companies, and to an extent for employees too, more independence are some of the benefits of wfh (work from home) model.
What is Hybrid WFH?
The hybrid working model is a location-flexible arrangement, allowing employees to combine onsite and offsite work as they and their employers see fit.
What are the top remote-working tools?
Google Drive, Dropbox, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet are some of the top remote working tools.
The secret to being as effective at home as you are at work is to maintain your focus. There may be some technical difficulties, but these can be overcome. If you prefer to work alone, working from home may be just as productive, if not more so.
Working from home can be a disadvantage if you need to be surrounded by others and are extroverted. It is significantly more productive to work in an office. Individuals will save money because they won’t have to pay to keep warm at home and won’t be distracted by friends and relatives. It is only useful if it is convenient for persons in specific situations, such as terrible weather. So, let’s look at some pros and cons of working from that help you better decide working from is better or from the office.
Covid-19 has transformed the entire world, revamping conventional ways of working and requiring businesses to develop more flexible/technology-based strategies in order to maintain business continuity. We wonder if we’ll be able to resume our usual life now that the instances have subsided and the people have been vaccinated.
The bulk of those who travelled did so in search of work. However, the majority of them excelled at their responsibilities even while working from home, with the thought of returning to their offices in the back of their minds. What would the situation be like now? Do you think you’ll be back in the office in the near future? Should video conferencing continue to be used in the offices?
The answer is entirely dependent on the industry in which you work.
Let me give you an example: You are working from home while an Amazon delivery man is delivering your package.
They are both working, but in distinct situations and with different requirements.
Statistics and Facts on Work From Home vs Work From Office
While brainstorming and reading all of the information available online, a hazy image of ‘OH YES! WORK FROM HOME’ formed in my mind.
So, there you have it!
According to Trak.in, 54% of Indians want permanent work from home, with 34% willing to take a pay cut to avoid going to the office.
According to the SAP Concur Study (Bangalore), 88 percent of Indian workers prefer to work from home, and 69 percent say that working from home has boosted their productivity.
Around 94.5 percent of Indians have accepted working from home as the new normal, according to Mint.
66 percent of Indian employees desire to work entirely from home, according to India Times.
74 percent of Indians want to work from home, according to CRN India.
COVID-19 is a virus that infects people. But then According to Trak.in, 77 percent of Indian employees are fed up with working from home, and 65 percent want to go back to work.
According to DNA, 59 percent of Indian employers are opposed to ‘work from home.
Pros of Working From Home
Deepening and Strengthening Relationships
We’ve all been so preoccupied with living the “life” that we’ve forgotten about the true, genuine moments we spend with our loved ones. The pandemic crisis has now had a good impact on how you express yourself and maintain relationships. You may spend more time with your family and arrange your job letter. This genuinely aids in the development of a better future for both your work and your family.
Inclusivity Has Improved
Hiring people from various socio-economic, regional, and cultural backgrounds and perspectives can help businesses embrace diversity and inclusion. This is tough to achieve when recruiting is limited to a particular place. Things not everybody desires can afford to live close by.
Impact on Long-Term Sustainability
From economic growth and reduced disparities to sustainable cities, climate change, and responsible consumerism, remote employment supports a range of sustainability projects.
Productivity and Performance Have Improved
Working from home typically means fewer interruptions, fewer office politics, a lower level of noise, and fewer (or more efficient) meetings. When you include the lack of a commute, remote workers often have more time and fewer distractions, resulting in higher productivity—a big benefit of working from home for both employees and businesses.
Biggest Struggles People Face While Working Remotely
Cons of Working From Home
Lack of Community and Collaboration
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, said
“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual.”
As a result, it is clear that man cannot live or operate efficiently and successfully on his own. While some employees may be enthusiastic about the prospect of working alone, away from the distractions of the office, others may find it challenging to work long hours and cooperate with only a computer screen and no face-to-face connection with coworkers.
Motivational Deficit
Working in an office with coworkers who share a shared objective and purpose, or getting a pep talk from a boss, can both be excellent sources of external inspiration. Working from home, on the other hand, does not provide that kind of setting. Lack of motivation can make life tough for employees and have a negative impact on their productivity.
Performance That Isn’t Being Tracked and Frequent Breaks
Working alone can be a difficult task. Employees in this position are expected to keep track of their own work performance. Self-regulation is a difficult task, and employees’ judgement is required. When breaks and work go unmonitored, employees may tend to slack off and take frequent breaks, resulting in more break time and less work time. In contrast, at work, one is constantly reminded to stay on track and operate efficiently and successfully, which is not always achievable with remote employment.
Security Issues and a Lack of Office Equipment
Working from their own home office, which is peaceful and cosy, has been a welcome adjustment for remote employees who formerly worked in a congested office environment. But, like with everything, there are advantages and disadvantages to having a home office. Setting up a home office with a high-end laptop, high-speed internet, and other equipment, such as printers, may be quite expensive, which is not practical for everyone.
Productivity Is at Risk
Working from home, it is said, leads to higher productivity. Working remotely, on the other hand, can make one feel alone and unmotivated to produce results. As a result, all of the aforementioned disadvantages might lead to a decrease in productivity when working from home.
With evil comes the good, and these are some of the predictions that I believe will hold true. After the covid age, I believe we “ALL” don’t actually need offices. Countries all across the world are still combating the virus, and we will undoubtedly triumph.
We’re a survivor race, and we’re going to win this as well. I agree that the fight is difficult and long. But let us look ahead and focus on the brighter side, because this is all we have during these trying times.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, and please share the trends you believe will develop to usher in this new world.
Maintain a social connection while maintaining a physical distance. Please take care to keep yourself safe.
FAQs
Is working from home better or working from the office better?
Working from home has its own advantages, as the commute time is reduced, employees have better flexibility but it is very easy to get distracted while working from home.
Why is it better to work in the office than at home?
Easier to build relationships, stress is reduced, better work-life balance is some of the advantages of working from the office.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed every aspect of work and life. This outbreak has resulted in many concerns all over the world. A lot is going on in our life which is new to everyone. Almost the whole world went into lockdown because of Coronavirus. Hence, many companies are providing free access to their paid tools to help people work from home and entrepreneurs manage their whole business from home. This is the compiled list of companies that hired actively even after the Coronavirus pandemic.
100% off for 6 months for NGO/Early stage startups with upto 25 employees, 75% discount for everyone for 6 months on pro plan. Discount code – ” SaaSforCovid”
Free logo for people who started business due to losing job because of Covid-19
looka.com/blog/covid19-free-logos-announcement/
Loom
Screen Recorder
No recording limit on free plan and 50% off on pro plan
The video recording and sharing service have removed the recording limit from their free plans. They have cut the prices of their pro plan’s price by half and also extended the trial period from 14 to 30 days.
Luminati
Data Collection Automation platform
$250 discount for the1st month
luminati.io
Lytho
Content Management Platfomr
Free access to Digital Marketing Platform
launch.lytho.com/share-the-good
Mailchimp
Email Marketing Tool
Free for 3 months
mailchimp.com/covid19-statement/
Monitoro
Website Monitoring Tool
Free 5 hourly monitors, 30% discount above that
support@monitoro.xyz
Moz
Provides digital marketing tools
Get Moz Academy Courses on many marketing courses for Free
moz.com/blog/moz-academy-free
MURAL
Team collaboration tool
Free 90 days trial for new users
blog.mural.co/remote-work-resilience
My Hours
Project Management Tool
Unlimited team members, projects and tasks
app.myhours.com/#/signup/trial/0
Nailted
Team Management Tool
Free for businesses
nailted.com/covid-19
NetNut
Residential proxy network for businesseses
50% off on all packages
l.netnut.io/saasforcovid
Nifty
Team collaboration tool
50% off on all plans for 4 months (COUPON- REMOTE50)
Providing 6 months of free premium access to frontline workers
safetyculture.com/iauditor/
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has already changed many things in the corporate and business world, it is also going to shape the future of many businesses, startups, and governments in the coming future. It has created opportunities for people in many fields to think outside the box and come up with innovative ideas.
Communication is said to be the key to success. But when we talk about remote working, communication management is one of the major issues faced by remote teams. With undetermined ongoing situations, working remotely is one of the best options available. The pandemic was a life-changing point for almost everyone. Pandemic proved as the biggest challenge for working people. The normal office work was no longer accepted by the undergoing situations. Hence, Remote work earned its part during this period.
The acceptance of remote working required many changes in the working pattern of each employee. With the office work directly converted into remote working. There were many issues faced by employees as well as leaders. One of the major issues faced was having proper communication between team members.
If you are also looking for a way to handle better communication between team members, check it below for a few useful tips. But before actually going to the tips, let us discuss the types of communication.
Communication can be of two types, Synchronous and asynchronous.
Synchronous
In this type, direct communication takes place. This is mainly done when quick action is needed. Synchronous communication includes quick and real-time communication between two or more two people. The way for synchronous communication in remote working teams can be achieved through the use of instant messaging, call, instant email replies, etc.
Asynchronous
In this type, the conversation is not immediate. It is more like having a conversation with timed replies. A most famous example of this is email. When we message someone without the expectation of having a spontaneous reply, it can be counted as asynchronous communication.
Issues in Communication Between Remote Teams
The major issue is due to different time zones.
Having different priorities set up.
Technical issues take up most of the educated time.
The language barrier between different team members, etc.
Tips for Better Optimized Communication Between Remote Teams
1. Proposing Set Guidelines
The issue faced by remote teams can be eliminated to an extended limit by setting clear guidelines for every member. The proper guidelines and clear settee rules can help workers to know their work and the system workflows.
2. Arranging Video Conferences at a Predetermined Schedule
Providing a proper schedule at the start of the week or month can enable the workers to set up their time in a particular format. If someone has a technical issue, they can look before some time to get it resolved and have good communication over the conference.
3. Giving Frequent Feedbacks
When the working system is confined to a single building, it is much easier to understand the basics of the work. However when it comes to the remote working team. It is very essential to give out feedbacks at an interval of time. It can enable the team members to know what they should do and what all is accepted by others.
4. Selecting Proper Tools
It is very important to have a set of tools arranged for communication purposes. Sometimes, one particular tool can run into a technical error or can not be accessible by everyone. Hence it is advisable to have a set of tools arranged for communication.
5. Essential Information should be shared on a Single Platform Only
When we say it is advisable to have more than one communication platform approved for the remote working teams. People tend to get confused with the sharing of information also through multiple sources. It is best to share essential information through a single platform only. Sharing essential information by the means of multiple platforms can make workers confused.
6. Keep the Format Simple
Irrespective of the message you want to convey. Try keeping its format and language simple. Online communication is known to create misunderstandings a lot. Hence proper message and in a good format should be applied. Another thing to remember is not all can understand simple words. Sometimes there might be a need for good innovative diagrams attached to it. Proper format is more essential in conveying rules.
7. Have a Personal Check Over Team Members
Doing office work is hectic and tiresome sometimes. But we are surrounded by our colleagues and friends to watch over. But when the same thing is compared with remote working, it can get truly tiresome and confusing with no good support. Hence it is suggested to have a personal check on each team member after some interval to check out their issues. This step can also allow a good communication bond between different team members.
The few recent years have proved to be a revolutionary period. Many changes were adapted to make the normal routine work. Hence, The remote working pattern learned much popularity during the pandemic. But changes are not soo easy to be adapted. And one of the most common issues found is the hindrance in communication between different team members of the Remote team. Some of the effective ways to communicate with the remote working team have been discussed above.
FAQs
Why is communication important in remote work?
Employers who engage in providing open channels of communication will quickly gain employee trust, resulting in increased productivity, output, and overall morale.
How to have better communication between remote teams?
We can have better communication between remote teams by Proposing set guidelines, arranging video conferences at predetermined times, giving frequent feedback, selecting proper tools, keeping the format simple, etc.
What are the advantages of the remote working system?
Remote working has many advantages over a normal office routine. Some of the people found remote working more productive. Remote working can also allow more flexibility in working.
Looking for ways to bootstrap your startup? Do not want to go into a huge process for marketing? You might be lucky enough to know that there are more ways to bootstrap your business other than spending resources on marketing.
Bootstrapping your startup business strategically is the new trend today rather than adapting to traditional methods of marketing strategies. But, before experimenting with new things startup business owners should know what they need for their business.
If it helps try doing a SWOT analysis first as it will help understand your strong and weak areas of business. Then you can look at the tactics mentioned below to bootstrap your startup business.
Best Tactics to use for Bootstrapping Your Startup
Write and publish quality-focused blogs
Tactics for Bootstrapping Your Startup
Start writing quality blogs in about your business answering questions like the five Ws. People will know what your business is all about if you know how to attract them with the power of your blogs. Using keywords in your blog will do half the job and will help your blog to rank high on the first page.
Once you have completed writing in-depth blogs try publishing your content on different social media like Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Do not opt for link dropping and other such kinds of things but, try doing it with a sense of taste behind it.
Make sure your business has been listed to the reviews and listing directory
Business listing is important because it can play a crucial role for the success of your local SEO. These are types of platforms that will allow the users to find out more about your business and also help engage with it. Some basic information like name, address, and phone number are added so that interested users can contact you.
Product Hunt is an online website that you can consider using because here your products can be listed in a linear format. Keeping aside its functions one of the biggest advantages of using this website is that it can be used as a free service.
Find an advocate or a partner
Tactics for Bootstrapping Your Startup
You do not have to find someone who is a professional but a normal person who can have your back at the right time will be enough. If you find someone who is great at work and is available for you whenever you need them then you have got what you need.
Conduct webinars on your products or services
More promotion will only create a better chance of bootstrapping your business. Webinars can be conducted free of cost on various online networking websites. Look for the right one and just get into it because the sooner you start the better you can create a customer base.
Whether it is one customer or one hundred you should know that it is just the beginning of a long journey. Target customers to whom you can provide your service to them and solve their problems. This is where you don’t sell your product but give an idea to them about the problem that they are facing.
If you can get into their minds about the solution you are giving to them for their problem you will be surprised to know that they will start coming to you after a certain period. Therefore, do things smartly rather than doing them with difficulty.
Create a Facebook page or a group
Just like you use Whatsapp groups for sending a message where more number of people will be able to see what you have sent similar to that you can create a Facebook group. Facebook has got around more than 2.9 billion users and this is why it will be a great platform to showcase your business to a large number of people at a time.
Use online methods
It is difficult to conduct business activities, especially when it is a startup and thus there is pressure on the sustainability of your business. If you choose online methods for conducting business then you may cut down maximum costs and also help protect your assets.
Conduct an in-depth market research
Just like you will do a SWOT analysis of your startup business you also need to do thorough research on the market. You are now the boss of your company and getting to know all the dynamics of your business should be your responsibility.
If you are well-prepared you will not be needing capital from someone else. Look for online tools on the internet that will help you conduct online surveys.
Do not rush for an office space
There will be a lot of things going on in your mind once you have started your business and one of the major things that you think about is having an office of your own. Well, if you are thinking about it then that’s well and good but there will be no need for an office if your products or services do not do well in the market.
Give your business some time to grow which may take some time and then you can look for an office. New offices will be needing types of equipments like furniture, computers, CCTV cameras, and many more which will only create a burden on your expenses.
Most entrepreneurs tend to make the mistake of not planning what should be done next. This is how they waste resources and are not able to sustain in the market even though their business has the potential to do good in the market.
Therefore, it is suggested that you design a proper business model and a business plan. A proper business plan helps the business to work efficiently by fulfilling its achievements.
Work from home
Offices rents’ are going up as each day passes by and you need to cut down expenses not increase them. Working from home can do the job that most offices can’t. If you can have the option to work from home comfortably then why not use the benefit of it. This way you can concentrate better on your work and you will save a lot of cash.
Do not rely on Client’s credit
Even though your startup business is a work-from-home work do not give your clients products and services on credit but rather ask them to make immediate payment. This is just the beginning of your business and you are already making expenses and credits can make things worse.
Ask your clients to make payments as soon as they receive the product or service. This way you can keep a proper account of the business that you have conducted.
Take help of your family members
Your family members can be useful in some kind of work for your business. For example, your brother can create a page on social media and he will solely be responsible for promoting your business on different social media platforms.
Similarly, you can even take the help of your relatives who can be useful in different activities. This way you do not have to hire an extra person to do a simple job and you can concentrate on other things.
Use low-cost online tools
Since you are working from home you will be needing different kinds of online tools for marketing or conducting other business activities. Use tools that are available at a cheap price not necessarily a free platform but a cheap one will do the job.
Since it is just the beginning of your startup business you need to make sure that your expenses are not extending your budget. For the time being, using cheap tools can be useful and later when your business is flourishing in the market you can opt for expensive or premium tools.
Avoid purchasing unnecessary tools
Whether you are buying an online tool or an offline one make sure that the tool that you are purchasing can b of some use for the business. This is one of the most crucial tactics for bootstrapping your business because you do not want to go into debt by making unnecessary purchases. Purchasing expensive tools that will be of no use for your business will only create pressure on your finance.
Learn digital marketing
With changing technology there are so many upgrades that are being made each day. You need to learn about the technology and use it to your benefit as your business needs to be recognized by more people.
A digital marketing course will help you understand how to market your business digitally. If you know about digital marketing then there is no use spending time on the courses. Apply what you have learned and see the results.
Work on your business image
There is a saying called ‘First impressions are always the last impression’ which is quite true when it comes to business as well. Your new business should be presented in front of the people in such a way that they are impressed with it.
The image of your business will play a crucial role in getting customers from all around the country or globe. Use appealing photos, images, videos, animations, and other such kinds of things so that customers are attracted towards it.
Always be resourceful
Being resourceful does not just mean focussing on your resources but planning on how to grow them. You should gather enough money to fund your startup business because in the initial stages of your business will be difficult to find investors.
However, there are several free online platforms where you can get the benefit of crowdfunding. Whatever decision you take make sure it will help you with your work keeping the cost structure under your budget.
Motivation plays a key role
Even if you follow anyone tactic mentioned above you need to be motivated at your work. Every day when you wake up you need to keep aside all negative things but move forward with the intending to grow your business.
You should always be eager to learn new things from the market and your competitors so that you do not fall out from the competition. Motivation will also help you bootstrap your startup.
Conclusion
Whichever tactic you choose to bootstrap your business try to do it with a focussed mind because it will help your business itself. Even if you are facing a lot of challenges continue doing the same thing but in a different way.
FAQs
What does bootstrapping mean?
Bootstrapping from a business’ point of view means starting a company with little capital rather than relying on investors.
What are the benefits for adapting bootstrapping techniques to business?
Some of the benefits of bootstrapping your business are:
Past One and a half years have been hard for everyone. We were in a global pandemic that confined everyone to their homes. The social aspect of being a social animal was almost cut off and thrown out of sight.
One of the most affected or I would say affected domains is the work domain. We all learned to work remotely in these tough times. Technology proved to be a good companion in these times. This was a good test for that too.
While almost everyone’s opinion says that work from home is no substitute for in-office work. Remote working can be cost-saving, time-effective, and can break physical location barriers. It is thought that it might just never be the future of work. As it is not as efficient as the normal mode of work.
While we talk about the opinion of the general public, a company goes ahead and makes this mode of work their primary model of working. After doing that it touches a valuation of more than one billion dollars. The company is GitLab, and it has pulled off a magic trick. How can a company pull this off? This is the article about how GitLab managed to touch billion dollar valuation while all employees working remotely. Read on to uncover the growth mystery.
GitLab is a software company. It makes a product, which is a complete platform for DevOps. The DevOps platform empowers organizations to maximize the overall return on software development by delivering software faster, more efficiently, while strengthening security and compliance.
So what is a DevOps lifecycle? It is a continuous cycle of software development. It involves development, integration, testing, etc. What makes GitLab unique is that it creates a streamlined software workflow for the organization.
One of the shiniest traits about this company is that It recently was named the biggest remote working company in the world. Crazy, right? Well, it takes courage to make the whole organization go remote, after all, it is a 1400 member organization and it can be difficult to manage work with this big of a team. Let us see how the remote working works and does it even work at all?
Remote Working in GitLab
GitLab recently was named the biggest remote working company in the world. Surprisingly the whole corporation works on a model of work-from-anywhere. Even with remote working, the company managed to create a billion-dollar valuation. This has put many people in awe like us on how it does it. The company has more than 85 per cent of employee retention that is higher than most companies average.
How is the company able to manage and work efficiently with all the employees working remotely from anywhere in the world? First, let’s discuss what types of models exist for working remotely and then how GitLab follows an efficient type.
Stages of Remote Work –
No remote – A model where no remote work is allowed. It can be due to a leadership mandate. Remote time – When some remote work time is tolerated and seen as a perk for jobs. Remote exceptions – When some employees can work indefinitely and others work from physical offices. Remote allowed – When anyone is allowed to work remotely, except few location-based exceptions. Hybrid model – A mix of remote work and physical office work when and as needed. Remote days – When the entire company works remotely (even executives). Remote first – When the leadership assumes that the whole company is distributed. Remote only – When the work is remote but team-based and time-based. All Remote – Companies like GitLab where there is no office, no fixed time zone, and greeted flexibility. It also discourages frequent meetings. Strictly remote – A company where it is strictly decided to never meet in person and work remotely always.
GitLab has its employees all remote. Remote here means that the company has no office, literally no permanent office at all. It however says it is open to small bursts of hybrid models. It is open to renting a desk but the company has no physical working space. So, how did the remote work model worked for GitLab.
Leadership Quality
Employees at lower levels of responsibility mimic the leadership at the top level. GitLab knows this and thus invests more on the senior level of executives. They choose carefully the leaders who are effective communicators and can handle a team remotely with the same efficiency as offline work.
Transparency
Remote work at GitLab discourages informal communication and it leaves fewer chances of communication. So, employees communicate more than normal to avoid any discrepancy. This leads to transparency of the whole company and betters the organization’s administration.
Asynchronous Decisions
GitLab follows a DRI approach to decisions. DRI stands for Directly responsible individuals. This means, At GitLab, everyone can make a suggestion but the person who is actually making the decision can choose whatever he/she wants without explaining themselves. This ensures that decisions are not vanishing all over the employees. Otherwise, there would be just too much convincing work.
Iteration for coordination
Coordination is hard in any company. When it comes to remote, there are more time and location zones and it becomes even more trouble but GitLab has found a solution for itself. It does small tasks first to synchronize various departments and then increments the process in order to fulfill a bigger goal.
Writing culture
Documenting everything. It’s easier to create and delegate tasks in an offline setting but not easy in remote work. So what GitLab does is that they write a lot, they write tasks completion details in a handbook, make annotations and get the work progressively done.
There are many benefits of working remotely. The most common that are the most easily clear is -
Cost-effective
Imagine running a business with no office at all. No physical space or office at all. This is highly cost-effective. This is what remote work enables employers to do. It saves cost and allows us to spend on more important tasks of the company.
Commute time
Employees save a lot of commute time, which can be devastating if you live away from work. The employees get the time back to themselves, leaving them with more time to spend with family or with themselves.
Flexibility
Employees get the benefit of work flexibility, which otherwise didn’t exist. They can spend time with family when needed. Moreover, it boosts retention. GitLab reportedly has more than 85% employee retention.
Recruitment
When employees can work remotely they can be located anywhere. Even far from the workplace, even in a different country. It saves cost when we hire people from non-metro cities.
What to Avoid while working Remotely
If you are someone who wants to create a remote work organisation, there are a few common pitfalls that GitLab says you should avoid:
Do not Assume that there are No Resources Available Yet
In this tech world where you might think that everything is easy and can be done, you are not wrong there. Yes, every resource that you want for having your organisation go remote is already out there. Do good research and work with your employees to figure out what works best for your case.
Do not Replicate the In-office Experience, Remotely
This is the least you should do. If the arena is different, the rules should bend too. After all, it is a new dynamic work view. So replication of office experience will lead to turmoil. It is vital to reorganise and recalibrate at this point.
Do not transfer all in-person meetings to virtual
Remote work is not something unintentional. It is what you consciously choose to do for more efficiency. Transferring all meetings to virtual mode will not be efficient as it will take more time and lead to less productivity.
Do not assume that everyone has access to an optimal workspace
While people who are working remotely for a long time now would have calibrated to a more organised work desk. But do not assume that everyone has that privilege. Organisations should encourage employees to spend companies money as their own while constructing a home office. Also, consider reimbursing expenses.
Do not assume that remote happens overnight
Oh yes, it is a dynamic process, change can be a long process. Every employee may not be familiar with this mode of work or might take time to get used to it. Productivity may differ at different times and the solution is not to panic but to give it more time. Don’t assume your existing values can remain static.
According to the software company GitLab, “All remote is the future”. The world opens its eyes to a new and refreshing reality that is unlocking new potential. They can, as it turns out, accomplish their work from anywhere.
When you have the freedom to work anywhere with a stable internet connection, you’re able to build your career around your life, not vice versa. You can chase superior air quality and schools, move to a smaller community, move back home, relocate to be a caregiver, or travel full time. All these benefits provide an agile edge not only to businesses but also and primarily to employees.
FAQ
Is GitLab fully remote?
Yes, GitLab is a fully remote company, meaning that all of us (currently six) work 100% of our time from home or any other place in the world.
Is GitLab a good place to work?
According to a report 95% of employees at GitLab say it is a great place to work.
What is the meaning of remote working?
Remote work is a practice where employees do their jobs remotely or from their home.
The hybrid work model was first introduced into the market by Google and later on a lot of companies have been able to adapt to the model. The Hybrid model is considered to be more effective in regards to the output for a company and various other advantages added to it. In this article let’s look at the top companies that have adapted to the hybrid work model and also why your company would think of moving forward with a hybrid model.
The CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai had announced that the company will adapt to a new working model where the employees can work from the office as well as from anywhere during a particular week. 60% of the employees are expected to report to the office occasionally and the rest will be given the freedom to work from home.
Amazon
Amazon which is one of the largest e-commerce firms in the United States has announced a remote working policy for its employees. The company has conveyed that the employees whose position allows them to work from home will be able to work remotely from June 2021.
The company has around 92,000 employees around the globe. Some of the remote jobs in the company are Customer, Service associate, Economist-Advertisement Finance, Customer Support Associate.
Atlassian
Atlassian is an Australian based software company having its headquarters in Sydney. The company develops software products, software development teams and other project managers. It was founded in the year 2002 and is a public limited company.
The company has around 6117 employees and has been informed that the employees will be able to work from home forever. The recent remote jobs of the company are Content Designer, Product Marketing Manager, GTM.
American Express
American Express is a multinational financial service company. It was founded in the year 1850 and has its headquarters located in New York. The company has a worldwide presence and provides services in the fields such as Finance, Insurance and Travel. Some of the products of the company include Charge Cards, Credit Cards, Corporate banking and Traveler’s cheque.
The company has more than 63,000 employees and has announced that the employees would be able to continue their remote working model through the Labor Day -2021. Some of the recent jobs for work from home include Manager-corporate communications and Global Supply chain management, Real time analyst and Business analyst.
Coinbase
Coinbase is an American based company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The company is a remote first company and does not have an official headquarters. The company has allowed most of its employees to work remotely and has conveyed that after the pandemic those who wish to return to the office can and the rest of the employees can work from home.
Some of the recent jobs for work from home include social media manager, Group product marketing manager, training lead, client service. The company has more than 1000 employees.
Facebook is an US based social media platform that was founded in the year 2004 and has daily active users of more than 2 billion. They have a worldwide service and the platform is available in around 11 languages. Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms.
The company has conveyed that it would allow almost 50% of its employees to work remotely forever. Some of the recent remote jobs are Technical program manager, a Product designer.
Microsoft
Microsoft is an US based software company and also a multinational technology corporation. The company was founded in the year 1975 and has its headquarters located in New Mexico, United States. The company offers products which involve personal computers, computer software and consumer electronics.
The company has conveyed that their employees are allowed to work from home for an approx. of 50% of their work week and even the managers are given the liberty to approve remote work for the employees.
Infosys
Infosys is an Indian based multinational tech company that was founded in the year 1981 and has its headquarters in Bangalore, India. The company is into the IT services and IT consulting industry and is the second largest IT consulting company in India. The company has more than 2 lakh employees.
Infosys has conveyed that they would let around 33 % to 50 % of their workforce to continue work from home forever. Some of the recent remote jobs of the company include Underwriting Manager, Post Closer Process associate.
Why should your company choose the Hybrid work model?
The hybrid work model provides a freedom of choice and flexibility to the employees. It is considered to be a more effective, sound and a realistic approach towards remote jobs. This reduces the control over an individual’s life by being able to avoid the day to day problems such as transportation of the employees, time to log off or log in, the collaboration of the employees, etc.
This model also acts as an advantage for the working women as they will be able to continue their employment and their career and not to quit their careers in between.
It was also found that in the long term the productivity will be much more higher for work from home model as the employees are given the freedom to choose the surroundings and the place which makes it more convenient and comfortable for them.
Conclusion
The hybrid work model has a lot of advantages and helps the company as well as the employees benefitting them equally. This model is expected to become much more common and to be an important part of the corporate world in the near future.
FAQ
What is hybrid workplace model?
The hybrid workplace model is a type of model that combines remote working and in-office working where some or all employees have the freedom to choose where and when they work, dividing their time between working from home and working from a office.
Is hybrid work the future of work?
As per the executives of the top companies the hybrid model in which employees work both remotely and in the office will become far more common.
Is it better to work at home or in an office?
Studies have shown that Work from home has increased productivity of employees also it cuts down the time it takes to travel to the office.
The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively brought normal life to a halt in the whole world. So, Indian government has used the formula “break the chain” to stop the spread of this disease. Indian government has ordered for lockdown and 1.3 billion residents of country to stay home. As a result, employees of many companies are working from home. But they need to follow best practices for working from home to be productive.
But, it’s not easy for the company to let all employees to work from home. Company has to take permission from its client if employee can work on client’s information at home. Employees need laptop, a good internet connection, communication gear, work-related hardware & software. Of course, technology has made it easy as you can do everything online like meetings, attendance, etc. But, all companies have to make plans how they can make it efficient.
We talked to few companies about their planning to have “Work from Home” and effective best practices for working from home which they have applied for maximum output in the time.
Founded in early 2015, upGrad offers online programs for working professionals. We talked to Mr. Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD of upGrad, about their planning to make work from home effective.
At upGrad ever since we have switched to the Work-From-Home model, the leadership team has been on their toes to make sure that their respective teams are communicating enough amongst their colleagues, maintaining the team bonding and synchronization. We have active video/audio calls and group conferencing to make sure that everybody stays updated.
We’ve ensured that remote IT infrastructure (hardware and software) are made available as much as possible. To ensure that the work stays uninterrupted, employees can discuss with their manager and mail to IT help for support anytime.
We will be using hangouts, zoom or other software for official meetings or calls.
Employees are encouraged not to step out of home for a meeting, event, public gathering etc. unless absolutely necessary.
We suggest them to exercise caution while using public transport for travelling inside the city and minimize your inter-city and intra city travels.
At upGrad, we will be monitoring the spread, taking inputs from industry and govt. bodies and take appropriate decisions keeping your safety and business continuity in mind. We will keep employees posted from time to time about relevant updates.
Casa Exotique
Casa Exotique has been exploring the depth of Interior Designing and Styling with the help of a remarkable team of professionals who takes each and every turn to make your vision come to life. We talked to Ms. Bhawana Bhatnagar, Interior Stylist and Founder, about the plans to make work from home effective.
Ms. Bhawana Bhatnagar- Founder, Casa Exotique:
Given that we’re currently at stage two of the infection, we are actively separating sick employees and contractors from the healthy ones to prevent the infection from spreading any further. Also, sick employees have been given the Flexi leave benefits as well. As of now, we are waiting for the government directives and updates on the situation. If there is any indication that we are moving towards stage 3, then work from home will definitely be implemented.
121 Experiences
121 Experiences specializes in experiential brand communicating solutions to drive behaviour changing consumer habits. We talked to Aniket Sharma, Co-founder & CEO, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Aniket Sharma- Co-Founder, 121 Experiences :
We have urged all our employees to work from home during the current crisis unless absolutely necessary to work from office.
We also understand not all employees can work from home due to their respective reasons, for them we are following a rotational policy. If there is a team of 4 then only 2 people have been asked to come on a single day.
Further we have encouraged car pooling amongst our employees instead of taking the local transport to and fro to work.
We have also relaxed office hours from 11-4 to ensure those who have to take public transport can avoid peak hours both ways.
My Star Hub
To create the most authentic and memorable fan experiences across the world, My Star Hub came up with the platform where fans can book personalized video shootouts from their favorite celebrities. We talked to Swapnil Mahajan, Founder & CEO, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Swapnil Mahajan- Founder, My Star Hub :
We have chalked out a comprehensive guideline to keep remote working effective.
Besides maintaining a focus on clear communication, we have kept things flexible as we know that the one-size-fits-all formula doesn’t work when people are working in different settings.
We are relying on online tools and digital meeting platforms for discussions, clarifications, and progress tracking.
We have full trust in our people and are working on creating a support structure for effective remote working.
Co-founded by Swati Nathani and Ranjeet Kumar, Team Pumpkin, a 360 Degrees Marketing & PR agency commenced its operations in 2012 with a clear mission to help brands win in the Marketing and PR space. We talked to Ranjeet Kumar, Co-founder, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Ranjeet Kumar- Co-Founder, Team Pumpkin :
As a precautionary measure, we have rolled out remote working directives for all our employees across regions until the situation settles down.
Team Pumpkin has always been a flexible organization, even before Coronavirus forced people to work-from-home, we had implemented the policy in our company. With our long-tested policy and a supportive environment for remote working, we are effectively maintaining our productivity levels.
With daily work reports and progress updates, we are making sure that the deliverables are not affected and business continuity is maintained as normal.
We are connecting with the teams and clients through teleconferencing and video conferencing on a need basis.
To manage daily attendance, employees have been advised to download the app and do remote clock-in and clock-out throughout the remote working period.
For those who need to visit the office for any urgent requirement, we are ensuring complete hygiene within the premises.
Headquartered in Hyderabad and Singapore, Ozonetel has several industry firsts to its credit in the area of Cloud Communication. We talked to Chaitanya Chokkareddy, Co-founder & Chief Innovative Officer, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Chaitanya Chokkareddy-Co-Founder, Ozonetel
Ozonetel Communications is a pioneer of cloud communication solutions and as per Dept. of Telecom (DoT) regulations, calls can be converted to VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and connected to agents’ phones within the OSP sites’ local network. This will allow organizations with OSP license to extend the call from OSP site to be connected to agents’ phones at their home over VPN.
VPN will allow access of all applications that are accessible to an agent at OSP site. Since Cloud Agent delivers all agent tools including a phone call in browser, it’s a seamless transition.
We are helping all our clients/customers to set up this model of WFH. All those running IP based contact center like Cloud Agent can implement this, but for now it is limited by DoT for only who has the OSP license.
Dineout is India’s largest Dining out and Restaurant tech platform, helping more than 17 million diners monthly discover new restaurants, reserve a table, pay for their bills and get offers and discounts combined with a SaaS product offering to its restaurant partners manage their operations. We talked to Ankit Mehrotra, Co-founder & CEO, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Ankit Mehrotra-Co-Founder, Dineout :
Work from home as a policy is commonly followed by our teams in times of personal need but when we implemented self quarantine policy for the necessary folks, it seemed almost difficult to function. And a time like this where the entire office across all cities, including our Sales team who are majorly on field, to work from home is something we never imagined!
We are leveraging on technologies like Google Hangouts, Slack and Zoomfor work from home arrangements and ensuring continuity of the work.
The start and end to our day is just like before with regular communication and synergy within teams and with clients via video conferencing.
It continues to be challenging and we’re learning on the go, one day at a time with effective and ethical work practices virtually.
Bridged
Bridged uses a combination of AI and 13,000 strong highly skilled workforce to develop unique and vast data at scale significantly improving the quality of data models. We talked to Ashwin Chalam, Founder and CEO, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Ashwin Chalam-Founder, Bridged :
Employees at Bridged have recently started working from home, and we’ve put measures in place to ensure productivity does not decrease. We made sure that all employees have access to requirements such as a laptop, an internet connection, communication gear, work-related hardware & software, etc.
Concerning best practices, employees need to prioritize communication. This involves multiple video chats and protocols for communication and escalation.
Employees should update their teammates on the status of tasks at hand and inform them when they won’t be available during lunch breaks, casual rests, etc.
CarveNiche
CarveNiche is an innovative edtech startup, which is using latest technologies such as machine learning and advanced data analytics to personalise learning for K-12 education. We talked to Avneet Makkar, Founder & CEO, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Avneet Makkar-Founder, CarveNiche :
Have dedicated Work Space while working from home and setting a work schedule and sticking to it.
It is very important to not get distracted and be disciplined about your work as this way, one would be able to finish tasks at hand effectively and efficiently.
Docttocare allows the users to schedule their surgery appointment with the right doctor or hospital, which is best for their health and which is cost-effective. We talked to Sugandha, Founder of Docttocare, about what advice/suggestions she has for effective work from home.
Sugandha-Founder, Docttocare :
Hit the shower- To set the tempo, prepare as if it’s a normal day at work. Take a bath and get dressed.
Communication: Video call is must.
Never work where you sleep.
Set up a workplace at home.
Don’t forget to log off- When the day ends, log off completely and take rest.
Work for 6 hours, that are more productive when WFH.
NowPurchase
NowPurchase offers a curated B2B e-commerce platform with over 50,000 industrial goods. The company has also developed a unique NowPaaS (Purchasing as a Service) for regular buyers where it combines its e-Commerce offering with a purchase management SaaS platform. We talked to Naman Shah, Co-founder, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Naman Shah-Co-founder, NowPurchase :
Understanding this and also the fact that with Work From Home employees can only spare 3-4 hours/day, we decided to start an initiative to complete the ignored but important work- CRM and Management Software implementation.
AppViewX
AppViewX is a modular, low-code software application that enables Certificate Management as well as Network Infrastructure Automation and Orchestration using an intuitive, context-aware, visual workflow. We asked Anand Purusothaman, Founder, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Anand Purusothaman- Founder, AppViewX :
Giving our team the flexibility to define work hours based on their family priorities, especially in this situation, has helped immensely. With kids off from schools and the mounting household chores, we made it clear that we understood this unique situation and supported it. This has gone a long way. We also conduct frequent virtual connects with leaders, informal coffee chats with the team, wellness initiatives and business updates to keep the team reassured that the business is on track, to ensure that they stay connected.
LegalWiz
LegalWiz is focussed on helping early-stage startups and small businesses stay compliant and maintain legal hygiene while maintaining the highest transparency on deliverables. We asked Shrijay Sheth, Founder, about their planning to make work from home effective.
We had planned well and hence were prepared. Team leads were giving full responsibility to ensure that operations and work protocols are maintained. That said, a team of 3 has been deployed to assist any team-member with any problems they may face. I am personally available to any team member who wants to connect and we have frequent discussions on coping with confinement and making work easier.
Tips for Managing Remote Teams effectively
Excess2sell
Excess2sell is India’s Premier and leading b2b excess inventory marketplace which covers multiple verticals. We talked with Mr Rajan Sharma, Founder & CEO, on about their planning to make work from home effective.
Fortunately, we are a tech based start-up and are fully geared to take our work home. So in terms of technology WFH is not much of a problem area for us. However, the complete lockdown has ensured that there is no movement of goods and hence not many fresh deals will happen during this period. We will definitely see the effect on our bottom line this quarter and probably in the next quarter too.
ZingHR
ZingHR is one of the oldest HRM providers. ZingHR is one of the few global ventures which offers almost all web/mobile-based modules from Hire to Retire Solutions with state of the art tech supporting those applications. We talked with Prasad Rajappan, Founder and CEO, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Prasad Rajappan-Founder, ZingHR :
Work from home is an unavoidable situation which we think can be utilised to focus on performance and achieve outcome-oriented results. “Results are the only true sign of excellence.” We think the best part right now that everyone can do irrespective who they are as follows:
Inspire people
Ask them to stay indoors
Practice hygiene
Unlearn and Relearn
Support peers and family
Not to spread Fake News
Pray
Primus Co-Work
We are a hyperlocal, proptech, consumer business which partners with restaurants, that open only during the night, to convert them into co-working places from Mon-Fri/10am-6pm, and have an mobile app using which the customers can look up a co-working place across multiple pincodes, make payment online and book a seat. We talked with Shardul Bayas, Founder, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Shardul Bayas-Founder, Primus Co-Work :
Talk to the team members over a call 2-3 times a day, do a zoom call every alternate day, checking with the team to ensure things are normal, doing followups on the work and preparedness.
Mamaearth
Mamaearth is Asia’s first Madesafe certified brand that offers 100% toxin free & natural baby and mama care products. We talked with Ghazal Alagh, C0-founder, about their planning to make work from home effective.
The first thing we did was to define a tiered policy. We figured out how much of each job role could be done from home (if at all). We then defined goals and deliverables— first as an organization, then on a team level, and finally at the individual level. We continue to do break this down on a monthly, weekly, and even daily basis. This helps everyone at the organization become much more aligned with their goals as we work from home.
Other than that, we realize this is a time of a lot of panic and fear. As a parent myself, I know that having children at home constantly, and not having access to domestic help, can also interfere with productivity at work. So we’re enabling more flexibility within the organization.
We’ve also allowing space for people to articulate their issues – we’ve defined a specific time when people can just talk about what they’re going through. At the same time, we’ve also made space for coming together as a community and sharing positivity — whether it’s through online games, contests, or just sharing photos and videos of our home office, and the small joys of coming together in this challenging time.
Metro and Metro
Metro & Metro is one of the leading manufactures of shoes and allied product in india. We talked with Meenakshi Kalsi, Business Partner, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Meenakshi Kalsi- Business Partner, Metro & Metro :
We can only handle the communication with the customers and the suppliers. But the manufacturing part is totally at the standstill as that requires labour to be present. To assist my team we are supporting them financially and taking care of their needs. There’s a regular meeting done through zoom video calls to check up on them.
Simply Fresh India
Simply fresh AI technology in farming for growing, nourishing, picking and processing. We talked with Sachin Darbarwar, Founder & CEO, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Sachin Darbarwar- Founder, Simply Fresh :
Almost all our corporate employees are working from home which includes teams like – HR, finance, IT, marketing, sales and legal. All our department heads are doing a wonderful job of connecting with their teams virtually and making sure the workflow is smooth as much as possible. We are making use of technology to stay connected and have video calls and group conference calls to maintain the business continuity. It is important during these time that we stay connected virtually and make sure we adhere to needs of our team as required.
Cosmo Films
Cosmo Films is a global leader in specialty films for packaging, lamination and labeling applications. We talked with Mr. Pankaj Poddar, CEO, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Pankaj Poddar-CEO, Cosmo Films :
We being a continuous process plant and also film suppliers to the food packaging industry; come under essential services and hence we have obtained permission to run operations with minimal manpower. Our remaining functions like Sales, Marketing, IT, Finance, Purchase, and HR are working from home to provide backend support to the plant for smooth operations.
As employees are working from home due to COVID 19, we have made necessary arrangements for our employees like the availability of laptops and systems, printers, required stationary and internet connectivity.
Ecolab Digital Centre
Ecolab Digital Centre focuses on finding solutions to real-world problems around water safety, energy conservation, food security, and healthy environments. We talked with Malahar Pinnelli, MD, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Malahar Pinnelli- MD, Ecolab Digital Centre :
We have always been using Video Conferencing to work with the US team, now we have started using those with the team here. Each manager connects with their team every day and that rolls up to the Managing Director. We have every 2 days a week, a mandatory video call to make sure people are still visually connected.
Surmount Business
Surmount Business practices targets to become a strategic partner to entrepreneurs and enterprises to help expand businesses beyond their existing roots, professionalize their operations and enhance their Capital Efficiency. We talked with Niraj Bora, Founder, about their planning to make work from home effective.
Niraj Bora-Founder, Surmount Business :
We organize long video calls instead of just audios, play some games online weekly with the team, and keep in touch more often in order to keep the enthusiasm alive. We have also increased training sessions online in order to keep learning ongoing. People also get more negative be reading and hearing daily cases and hardships on media, so I have tried sharing cover-19 recovery stories discussion with teams as well. A piece in last Sunday’s ET covered that very well and sharing with everyone gave positivity to the team mindset.
For some out of office chats, we have WhatsApp group where team posts any new thing they do like cooking, new indoor game, etc.
FAQs
What is a work from home model?
The Work From Home model allows employees to work remotely. Employees get the flexibility to work from anywhere. It is location-independent.
What essentials do you need to work from home?
Computer/Laptop with webcam and mic
Proper Internet Connection
Essential Software/Tools as per the work/business requirement
How do you connect with employees working from home?
In the WFH model, a virtual office for employees is set up. Offices use the best video conferencing and team collaboration tools to connect with employees. A shared portal for employees is created to share personal as well as professional updates.
Rishabh Rathi
