Back to Work after Lockdown

Update Your Internal Training

Getting back to work feels like a fresh start to us. We are certainly taking the opportunity to ensure everyone is fully refreshed on our systems along with learning new software that will benefit us. You could also take this time to get your internal or external training up to date. Remember anyone on furlough is legally allowed to complete training. Why not consider small group or 1 to 1 sessions on the following areas;

• Using your internal software; your database, CRM system, logistics calendars, etc.
• Any new systems that could improve your business; personally I have recently started using Asana for organisation & productivity and am hoping to role this out for all of our team.
• Improve your admin skills; you could get help from someone in the office who knows about word, excel, outlook etc. or look to attend a workshop if they just don’t have the time.
• Your new Health & Safety policy and risk assessment. As Covid-19 has thrown up many new safety risks & work processes have changed, every company will need to check and amend their policies accordingly. You should take some time with employees to discuss the changes and supply them with any new information. You can also update staff Health & Safety training at this point for those added risks. Here are some HS courses to consider.

Getting the most out of your team on their return

So many companies whose staff have worked from home or in slightly different roles during lock down, have found their productivity increase by 66.6%, taken from finder.com. Working from home isn’t necessarily the answer to gain this level of productivity, but you could consider the following points to give employees that relaxed feeling that seems to increase their efficiency;

• Take this time to change your employee structure. Is there an opportunity to move roles around within your business? Maybe someone has been doing a job they don’t normally do and they are really good at it. It makes sense to accommodate that into their role so you can ensure your whole company is working from each individuals strengths.
• In order to focus more on improving your business, do you need to set up new or increased meetings. It is worth looking at how regularly teams meet, too often can waste time as the same things are discussed, too infrequent and no one stays focused on the businesses current goals.
• Your employee’s might not have seen each other for a long time over lockdown, it’s a great idea to get them together, this could be over video call, so you can all chat before the return. This will save that first day back chit chat that can decrease productivity while everyone catches up. – We are big talkers in our office.
• On speaking with some of our clients, the main reason productivity has improved when working from home is due to reduced pressure. Employees have had more time to chat with their clients over the phone, forming greater relationships & gaining more business. Can you remove any workplace pressure, to see if this works for you?