Tools and tactics to improve internal comms during this crisis

The first phase of remote working encouraged by the COVID-19 outbreak was about survival.

Do employees have workstations set up at home that will allow them to be productive? Are existing communication channels effective in connecting the team?

Now that the novelty of the sudden change is wearing off, companies need to restart meetings and brainstorming sessions that were postponed. So, how do you engage remote employees in exercises that require collaboration and participation?

Take a deep breath

A two-year study by Stanford University found that remote workers are 13.5% more engaged than their counterparts in a centralized office. This means that even though your organization might have been forced into remote working by COVID-19, it could be an exercise that leads to higher engagement and productivity levels.

Time Magazine has coined the current situation companies find themselves in as the “world’s largest work-from-home experiment.” That’s also an incredibly helpful frame to view the next few weeks (likely months) when it comes to engaging remote employees—as an experiment.