Many businesses are pivoting and starting to work as remote teams when it comes to running a successful business while working remotely. Let’s face it, managing work today in a virtual environment takes a lot of effort to make sure everyone is doing their work.
Our team has team meetings via zoom once a week, we get online, go through what is happening that week, get reports from everyone, and keep track of everything that relates to your business, it takes trust to make remote teams work.
It is important to stay connected to your team members since you are not having water cooler conversations and there is no face to face interaction, communication is key, and knowing that your team is doing what needs to be done, which as a business owner can be hard to trust that your business is working, even when you can’t meet in person.
The pros of working in a remote environment
- Less overhead and expenses for your business
- Your teams are more productive and comfortable working from their home
- No commuting
- No close contact especially now a days with the threat of COVID
- You can check in daily using video conferencing tools such as Zoom, GoToWebinar and Google Hangouts.
- Sharing information is easy by using Documents and sharing folder
The Cons of working in remote environments
- Miscommunication
- Mistakes being made such as sending a marketing email, without merging a tag, I can attest to this, I have sent out an email campaign and found the error that stuck out like a sore thumb.
- Important information being lost in translation, playing email and or phone tag trying to get relevant information.
- Communication is key…
There are some hilarious stories out there regarding funny things that happen while working remotely. Here are some examples, these cracked me up and I think you could appreciate them too.
A boss accidentally turned herself into a potato during a virtual meeting
For many people, the shift to remote work involved many new discoveries — including the fact that you can change your background in virtual meetings to anything you want. Suddenly, coworkers were dialing in from outer space, the bottom of the ocean, and the Golden Gate Bridge.
One option that’s perhaps best left for virtual happy hour is a filter that allows you to turn yourself into a potato. This was evidenced by Lizet Ocampo, the department head at nonprofit People For the American Way, who made headlines when she accidentally potato-fied herself during a work meeting — and couldn’t reverse the process. Hilarious picture below:
“My boss turned herself into a potato,” tweeted an employee, along with a screengrab of the amusing call. “[She] can’t figure out how to turn the setting off, so she was just stuck like this the entire meeting.”
“I yam potato boss,” Lizet tweeted after her starchy snafu caught the internet’s attention. “I yam glad this is making folks laugh at this time. Please stay planted at home and safe!”
Animals or Family members In the Background
We have all been there. We are in the middle of a video conference and lo and behold a random family member two legged or 4 legged and furry makes a cameo appearance in the background. This is embarrassing but not unheard of and can actually lighten up a boring meeting.
Make Sure to Turn off Your Camera when You walk away
We have heard the funny stories lately of the dumb things that people do when they think their cameras are off during a video conference, everything from sitting with jammies on from the waist down and forgetting to turn the camera off when you go to stand up, or doing silly things while forgetting your camera was still on. Let us know if you have had any encounters with people forgetting their cameras are on, we can all use a laugh.
So you can see that while we have to work remotely, there are funny things and there are other ways to keep teams together while working remotely. Follow us on FB, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Youtube.
We would love to hear your stories about working with your teams in a virtual environment, make sure to book a call https://bookme.name/Findability