At the end of 2019, industry experts predicted 2020 to be the “year of remote work”. But even the seasoned experts of remote working never anticipated largest work-from-home experiment across the globe to be launched in the first quarter of 2020. Remote work has now been hailed as the hero to rescue the world from the repercussions of the economic slowdown due to coronavirus.

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, there has been a wave of fear and panic all around. To reduce the impact of COVID-19 outbreak, businesses are following the government directives to operate their business and perform their duties from a remote location to keep their employees safe. 90% of businesses are either confident or very confident that employees will remain productive during the time frame of remote work as a result of a crisis.

A survey by 8x8 at the end of February reported, 44% of employees with full-time jobs have felt the impact of coronavirus on the way they conduct business operations. Another 55% have canceled their travel plans and are avoiding in-person meetings while another 40% are increasingly in favor of technological advancements and are using video conferencing tools to conduct virtual meetings. 

Businesses shift to remote working setups since the fight against COVID-19 has intensified. Here are a few tips for businesses to implement a sustainable work-from-home setup.

Do write a company policy – 

The most common mistake that businesses make while remote working is not having a formal policy in place. It is a critical component in ensuring all parties know their responsibility while shifting from physical to virtual environment. 

It is advisable for companies to create a specific-work-from-home guideline in terms of crisis such as coronavirus. This guideline will help employees clearly understand their responsibilities during the remote working phase and avoid confusion with regards to task deliverables. To ensure the tasks for the day and long-term deadlines get accomplished, consider setting communication guidelines to hold remote workers accountable.

Collaborate and communicate –

Businesses should keep the communication flowing with updates in the morning to all the employees requesting to stay alert and also with helpful tips. 

With the technological advancements, it has become easier for businesses to integrate their processes and have a more streamlined approach to run the tasks smoothly. It is ideal to embrace tools such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom to streamline the communication between employees and to optimize remote and virtual working, run effective virtual meetings and set up a functional team to reach out to for critical elements. 

It is really important to be clear and proactive about communicating the responsibilities of every employee of what has to be delivered and by when, especially in a remote working scenario. 

Do not assume your employees to ace remote working –

Remote working isn’t always as easy as it looks. Even with all the technological advancements, there will be times where you will face a host of IT issues and remote workers might have their own apprehensions about remote working negatively affecting their career. With no colleague or manager insight to be approached, remote workers are often responsible for their own time management and prioritization of tasks, without receiving any training on remote working. The key here is to have frequent communication with your remote workers to feel your presence in their work-lives to establish the level of trust and understanding in striking the right balance remotely. 

Opportunity to engage with a mentor –

There are a number of challenges when it comes to remote work. New-to-remote-working professionals need guidance to explore the world of virtual productivity, set their own milestones and foster personal growth. It is advisable for businesses to offer subscription to mentorship programs to ease the transition from physical to virtual environment and approach a mentor anytime who can help them take the necessary steps to stay productive, enhance their skills and set their own career goals. 

Online mentorship platforms can help with actively guiding your employees to acknowledge their shortcomings and develop their strengths to take them through their career development. 

Set an example –

Effective remote work starts at the top. When the leaders execute correct remote-working friendly behavior and implement inclusive processes in place, the effect is felt down as a successful experience for everyone to follow. As businesses are expecting employees not to slack during remote working period and share updates every now and then, it is advisable for managers to keep the communication going with the team on project updates, new business announcements, etc. to keep the motivation strong. Managers should also schedule a weekly check-in via video call to learn of any setbacks or to answer any queries. 

Public Relations had long held a reputation of being an elusive industry. The core service of the industry is to offer business consultancy to brands which leads to creating awareness, building online and offline reputation, increasing visibility of your brand to hosting experiential events and blogging. A well-defined PR strategy from a well-established PR agency can help your team to develop the best plan of action and integrate communication tactics to derive results. If you are a company looking for a public relations agency, let us break down some key services you should consider when shortlisting to appoint a public relations firm –

1. Copywriting services - Effective copywriting aims to create content that builds brand identity, educate the readers and encourage the public to purchase the mentioned product or service. Not just random content, a public relations agency will develop content and produce pieces that incorporate the key messages of the brand, ensuring it is valuable, relevant and consistent at all times and can be distributed through several channels simultaneously to spur profitable consumer action. Depending on the desired outcome, the agency can support brands with creating content in the form of blogs, press releases, media alerts, social media posts, technical articles, expert or thought-leadership pieces, website content, and more. If not done in the right way, it can negatively affect SEO presence of the brand. It is very important for your public relations agency to follow the SEO copywriting format acceptable to create a number of backlinks, ultimately benefitting your brand.
2. Translation services - As your business expands its wings and reaches new milestones, it is advisable to translate your messages in the country’s local language. A multi-lingual public relations strategy lends gravity to your corporate message and helps companies reach a wider target audience thereby increasing the pool of potential customers. Our native Arabic translators know the subtle nuances and differences related to the cultural preferences of the audience you are targeting and hence are experts in drafting corporate messages to present your success stories and latest endeavors in a positive light.

1. Social Media Management – Your company pages on social media platforms are additional channels through which a PR professional can reach out to journalists or respond to queries received by the general public. Your PR team is an extension of your in-house team. They are already well-equipped with the company’s messaging and are adept at communicating in the organization’s style. Your PR team is best suited to incorporate the unique tone of your corporate messages into the various communication channels your organization uses to reach out to your audiences such as consumers, partners, investors, stockholders, media, etc.
2. SEO Management - SEO is a key ingredient to improve a website’s overall searchability and visibility. Regardless of the industry or business size, SEO management can be crucial to take your business to the next level. Being highly visible as a trusted resource by Google and other search engines is always going to work in a brand’s favor as it helps in building trust and credibility. Customers know what they are looking for and if they can’t find it online, they would rush to competitors and the business performance will suffer. The intention for implementing SEO optimization is to offer users the information they are looking for in fewer clicks, quickly and easily.

As you can notice, public relations can be an important tool for building an industry presence and for established businesses, the practice can help to further their reach. The right team with an understanding of your sector can be of immense help to set your business up for success down the road. Reach out to know more about our offerings and things great PR can help your brand to achieve.