Offices After Covid-19: What is “the New Normal”?

It’s something we’re hearing daily: businesses and employees will have to adapt to a post-coronavirus “new normal”.

It seems clear that the life we return to, if and when restrictions are lifted, will not be the world we left when lockdown began in March. It’s possible the full extent of the changes prompted by this crisis won’t be clear until years after the fact. But as governments around the world start to plan a route back to something like normality, we can see some likely themes emerging as “the new normal” takes shape.

The Death of Open Plan?

In the short-term at least, offices will need to change. Until we have an effective vaccine for Covid-19 and the threat level has reduced to zero, going back to our close-knit collaborative offices doesn’t seem to be an option.

This may spell the end of open plan office layouts. Nobody knows how long social distancing measures will need to be in place and until we know, keeping employees at a physical distance from one another is a must. This could mean staggered working times, part-time working from home where possible, and physical re-designs of the office space to make more room.

Communal areas like kitchens may need to be closed and one-way systems brought in to avoid breaking social distancing rules. Even if only some of these measures are necessary, this will be enough to make it a very different office space than we were used to.

Working From Home?

Home working was long predicted to be the future of work but progress was fairly slow. The coronavirus crisis has accelerated adoption of this model, with millions of businesses adjusting to widespread home working – but will it last?

Businesses that have adapted well to the change might find they want to make it permanent, at least for part of the time. If their business can continue to be productive without a central office hub, they might find it cheaper to do without a permanent office altogether. Likewise, employees who never got the chance to work from home before might have found it suits them better, helping their work/life balance and improving their overall happiness levels.

Between the extremes of companies going straight back to their old working model and those allowing unlimited home working, there will be many organisations who settle somewhere between the two – perhaps allowing staff to work up to 3 days a week at home, for example, but asking them to return to the office for key (albeit socially distanced) meetings.

Whatever happens, it appears highly likely that home working will be far more widespread than before and the days of commuting to the office for 5 days a week may well be over.

Culture Changes?

Coronavirus has had an effect on everyone in society. Within a few weeks, it changed the way we worked, socialised, enjoyed time with our loved ones and our hobbies. It seems unlikely this won’t spill over into working culture long-term.

Even when coronavirus becomes less of a threat (if this is indeed how events play out), presenteeism may be more frowned upon. Every worker is likely to have seen people struggle into work while coughing and spluttering but with the new awareness of how we can easily infect each other, this might be more strongly discouraged.

Employees that have worked from home for several months and proved it can be done may expect more flexibility from their employers. Should home working become more normal as predicted, there will be an uptick in use of videoconferencing technology. Collaborating with team members based remotely will seem more casual – even with teams on different continents!

Coronavirus has changed our working lives on many levels. Whatever “the new normal” entails, we’ll all have to adjust to a post-coronavirus world – and find a way that improves working lives for employees and employers alike.

Enabling Workplace Learning In The Time Of A Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has hit businesses very hard. Many organisations have successfully transitioned to remote working to continue with business as usual. But for some, it has also meant putting part of their workforce on furlough. While furloughed employees can no longer work or generate revenue for their employers, government guidance suggests they can certainly continue with learning and development. There is an opportunity here for furloughed employees and their employers to use the current situation as a means to gain skills and retain talent. In this blog post, we analyse the importance and the means of enabling workplace learning in the time of a global health pandemic.

Importance of Continued Professional Development

Continued Professional Development (CPD) enables learning and development in the workplace and helps create a skilled, knowledgeable workforce while boosting the working relationship between employers and employees. A skilled workforce is also instrumental in building a business’s reputation among customers and clients as well as future employees. While many employers may be tempted to put a pause on professional development under the current circumstances, it is certainly worth considering the impact of CPD during a pandemic. During this sobering period, CPD can help with both upskilling and maintaining knowledge as businesses and industries adapt to new ways of working. So while CPD may not be on top of the list of priorities for many businesses and employees right now, it is important to not overlook it completely and enable some form of learning and development.

Keeping Engaged with Learning and Development

For employers, promoting a culture of learning and development is often linked to business growth – it helps employees develop skills, retain knowledge and boosts productivity. In the current situation, learning and development can also offer a means to keep employers and employees engaged. With the move to remote working, learning and development programs can be delivered in digital formats. Learning and developent can keep employees motivated and engaged with work. It can help them gain skills to better support their colleagues. This also holds true for employees on furlough. Even if they’re no longer working, they can stay connected to their workplace and can keep engaged with their professions through learning and development while gaining new skills.

Adapting to eLearning

Technology is already playing a key part in supporting businesses as they navigate through the global coronavirus crisis. From remote working to Zoom calls for meetings and socialising with work colleagues using the House Party app. For learning and development, it means adapting to eLearning to continue offering opportunities for training and development. eLearning offers a flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional training and development programs. With the advent of learning experience platforms (LXP), modern eLearning is designed to be easily accessible, so employees can access their training remotely on whichever device that is most convenient or comfortable for them.

Despite the adversities facing us currently, it is important to continue to learn and develop our skills while in lockdown. With advances in technology and the use of eLearning, training and development opportunities are more accessible than ever. While the lockdown may have put a temporary lull on business plans and targets, the skills and knowledge gained during this time will continue to hold value once past the pandemic and holds the potential to refuel business growth in the future.

NEW RISK ASSESSMENT: Home Working

The COVID-19 crisis has profoundly affected how we live and work – including creating an army of remote workers.

Our new risk assessment tool on Home Working, accessible through our Astute eLearning platform, is designed to make the transition from office to home easier. Focusing on the three core areas of your home workspace (environmental factors such as DSE set up, electrical safety and lighting/temperature), working design (equipment, policies and performance expectations) and taking care of yourself (workload, working hours and connections), the risk assessment provides an overview of the home working experience. It includes a section for workers with people management responsibilities.

The home working risk assessment flags up any difficulties with the home working situation. These can then be discussed with managers to make sure the process runs smoothly for everybody.

In this new reality that we’re all facing, adaptability is key. Asking employees to complete this risk assessment enables them to raise any issues they may have with the new working arrangements and makes sure nobody is facing health and safety risks.

Designed specifically with the COVID-19 situation in mind, the risk assessment can be used at any time for home workers and will still provide a useful resource once the crisis has subsided.

Get in touch with us at [email protected] and visit this page to find out more.

Could Mandatory Remote Working Build Trust Between Employers and Employees?

Ready or not, many coronavirus contingency plans have resulted in remote working for the foreseeable. Seize the opportunity to build trust with your employees.

Due to the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, the UK has entered one of the biggest remote working experiments ever seen.

However, many businesses were unprepared for the shift. Some were (perhaps unfairly) concerned about trusting their staff to be engaged and work productively whilst away from the office, surrounded by the distractions of home life.

A snap poll indicated that 76% of HR leaders reported concerns from managers about the productivity of teams mandated to work from home during the outbreak. This is the same concern that – prior to the outbreak – led only 56% of managers to agree to flexible and remote working, even though work policies permitted it.

COVID-19 could change all this.

Government advised social distancing has left organisations with no choice; they have been forced to revisit and reassess remote working policies – redesigning them to include everyone possible, not just MDs and senior members of staff (these are the occupations of those most likely to work from home according to the Office of National Statistics).

Once the dust settles it’s possible that the face of business will be changed forever. Staff that proved their trustworthiness by stepping up to the plate and continuing to be productive at home may question previous decisions not to be given the chance – and rightly so.

Trust is an essential building block of any successful team and, if there is a way to find positivity in the midst of the infectious outbreak, perhaps building trust between employers and their employees is one of them.

For managers looking to use this time to encourage transparency and cultivate strong workplace relationships with their team, here are some effective and simple strategies to try:

Set the right tone

Think about it, why employ someone to work for you that you don’t trust?

Micromanaging and being overly controlling encourages cultures of fear and distrust. It’s demoralizing and demotivating for staff, and will erode your teams’ sense of unity and purpose.

As a manager, it’s your job to set the right tone from the top. Lay down your expectations for productivity clearly, during onboarding, and let every member of staff know the part they play in reaching your common goals.

Clarifying how each employees’ contributions complement each other and play a part in the success of the business as a whole is a surefire way to keep everyone motivated and on track – wherever they happen to be working from.

Open communication

Maintaining continuous and transparent communication is the most effective way to keep your team collaborating effectively.

For remote workers, this will often mean using communication software rather than face-to-face chat to stay in touch – although this can actually be a blessing!

Without the distraction of unnecessary meetings and unexpected interruptions and office noise, it’s easier to keep communications purposeful.

Whether it’s daily or weekly check-ins, shared status updates, or collaborating using task management platforms, regular communication with your team drives motivation and feelings of accountability; it also demonstrates your investment in the team.

Keep the personal touch

When we spend 8 hours a day working side by side with people, we tend to get to know them quite well!

For remote workers, however, this isn’t necessarily the case, and managers will need to be more intentional about connecting in order build healthy working relationships.

Incorporating time for personal connection into team interactions will help build empathy, trust, and commitment. Try scheduling a virtual meeting just for personal updates, or creating a separate chat space that’s ‘just for fun’.

Giving staff an outlet like this shows you value their wellbeing and happiness – and that you trust them not to abuse the outlet in lieu of getting the job done.

Be Flexible

Having a flexible approach can build trust during periods of remote working (not to mention it’s proven to help retain experienced and skilled employees).

Small things, such as allowing variable arrival and departure times will mean employees can leverage the time of day they feel most productive, helping to balance work with home and family responsibilities.

Within reason of course, having a flexible approach to home working, will increase commitment and loyalty from staff members. Meaning it’s far more likely they will be willing to go the extra mile when the team needs it.

Working remotely for the first time or due for a quick refresher course? Try our Remote Working awareness course to stay safe and healthy away from the office.

Millennials, COVID-19 and Technology

Millennials, COVID-19 and Technology

The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak are unprecedented in living memory. Almost unique in peacetime, the changes to society, work and leisure are far-reaching, with major measures to prevent the spread of the virus in place in every country touched by it.

The crisis has shone a light on the central role of technology in our society. If our reliance on modern tech was something to be concerned about beforehand, it has become nothing short of vital now. Perhaps the Millennial generation – long mocked for their supposed obsession with technology over real-world interactions – are specially placed to adjust to these changes.

The Role of Technology

With many people confined to their homes for the foreseeable future, our internet connections have to stand in for many of the building blocks of normal life:

  • Work: Those who are able to work from home have been told to do so. This has created an army of remote workers, many of them working from home for extended periods for the first time in their careers.
  • Education: Since schools closed, many parents and family members are finding themselves in the role of temporary teachers. The internet provides endless content for activities to keep children happy, engaged and learning during the closure period, as well as providing a handy way for teachers to put work online for their students.
  • Social Lives: With gatherings forbidden, technology allows us to remember that “social distancing” only refers to physical distance. Keeping in contact with our friends and family remotely is more important than ever. When phone calls and social media posts just aren’t enough, video calls can give us that much-needed dose of human interaction.
  • Shopping: People have been advised to shop online for essentials where they’re able to. It’s not always possible – due to the greater demand, delivery slots are harder to come by – but where it can be done, it avoids unnecessary interaction with others and helps to stop the spread of the virus.

While for many people this is a revolution in how they live their lives, for many millennials, it is an intensifying of habits they already had.

Coming of age in the early 2000s, millennials were the first generation to fully embrace social media and go through the latter stages of school and university with broadband internet access close at hand. Keeping in touch with friends in far-flung places, ordering items online and doing work – or school work – at home is second nature to many. Though it is of course a generalisation, it may be the older generation who are feeling the most strain from the coronavirus lockdown.

Every generation expresses a preference for some flexibility in where they work from, but this has been particularly strong for millennials. For years before the crisis began, this age group were showing a strong desire to work from home where possible. It’s hard to predict what long-term effects the coronavirus lockdown will have on working practices, but with widespread home-working becoming the new (temporary) norm, it could be that more employers follow this line in the future, adapting their business demands to the needs of millennial workers.

Pulling Together

Now more than ever, society needs to pull together – and that needs effort from people in all age groups.

This period has been full of examples of the best social media has to offer the world. For example, within a few days of the shutdown there were hundreds of Mutual Aid groups on Facebook, where local people who were vulnerable, self-isolating or running low on essential supplies could ask for help. There have also been successful fundraising efforts to help those most at risk of the virus, such as the Robin Hood Fund in Nottingham.

Video calling technology has also been useful for connecting older people who cannot leave their homes or receive visitors to their families – proving that far from pushing people apart as opponents of such technology have suggested, it can actually bring people separated by circumstances closer together.

Helpful Resources

Here are some more helpful tips and resources to help you while remote working:

Remote Working awareness course

Try our Remote Working awareness course to stay safe and healthy away from the office.

Information Security awareness training

With the flexibility to work from home in the current climate, it’s a great time to refresh your knowledge of keeping business information secure and working safely online. Try our awareness training courses on key information security topics to working safely and securely away from the office.

Business Contingency Plan (BCP) for Infection Outbreaks

A blog post with helpful tips for businesses on drawing up a business contingency plan and ensuring business continuity.

Mental Health While Working Remotely

A blog post with helpful tips on how to care for your mental health while working from home for longer periods.

Refresher Training in the Age of Home Working

People have been predicting a sharp rise in working from home for years. Sadly, it’s come to pass in a way few would have predicted, and nobody would have wished for.

The Covid-19 crisis continues to change the way we live and work in profound ways. Even for workplaces that can shift to a largely remote working model, it is a large change to make with very little preparation time. Individuals too are transitioning to performing their roles in ways they wouldn’t have predicted a few weeks ago.

In the midst of these difficulties and fast-moving changes, how does your training plan fit into all this?

A Remote Model of Learning

The key word for getting businesses through the coronavirus outbreak is “adaptability”. With eLearning, adaptability is one of its greatest strengths.

Employees working from home and juggling their job’s demands and a sudden increase in childcare responsibilities will need extra flexibility with hours. Rolling out eLearning courses is the perfect solution. Courses can be taken whenever it suits the learner and you can be sure that everyone is getting the same information.

Modern eLearning is designed to be accessible. People can take their courses on whichever device is most convenient or comfortable for them.

Training for Remote Workers

There are many topics that lend themselves to being the focus of refresher training during the period of coronavirus.

Cyber security is one of the most obvious. Being outside of the traditional working environment – for the first time for many – it can be easy to forget the basics of protecting yourself and your data. Some refresher training in this area can remind people of cyber sec’s importance and protect them, and your business, from anyone trying to take advantage of the situation by exploiting poor cyber security.

With such an upheaval in working practices, it can help to get a refresher on risk assessments. Spotting potential hazards is just as important at home and we might even forget to look out for them because we’re generally more at ease in a familiar environment.

Social media has been buzzing with people sharing their (often very improvised) home working stations. While amusing in many cases, it’s important to remember the need for good display screen equipment (DSE) set ups. Though this can of course be challenging in a household with minimal free space or with several people working from home at once, employers still have a duty of care to their employees to help them avoid musculoskeletal problems from bad DSE usage. Providing refresher training can help jog people’s memories.

Remote working is in itself a new challenge for many. Sending out general remote working training can be very helpful at a time like this. Even in a crisis, there are benefits to this style of working, and many might find themselves feeling more productive. Yet staying connected to others and being aware of the issues around remote working can be helpful.

One area that might be overlooked is mental health. Workplace stress was a huge, widespread issue even before the coronavirus outbreak. Current events will be exacerbating existing anxiety. Employers should do all they reasonably can to watch out for their employees’ mental health and support them where they need it. Stress management courses might help people to handle their current work stress – or even help with the stress from other areas of their lives.

Refreshing eLearning

Everyone involved in training knows it is not just a simple “one time and done” job. Our brains don’t work like that. We need our knowledge to be topped up and used regularly, with training filling in any gaps that might be left over from the first time round.

This is where eLearning really comes into its own. Training schedules can be adapted year on year to make sure the basics are still covered, but people aren’t taking the exact same course over and over again. People can take short courses to address any small gaps in knowledge.

Not at Home?

It’s important to remember that not everyone has the luxury of switching to a remote working model. Many jobs can’t be done remotely, including those of key workers such as hospital staff.

For their benefit and everyone else’s, we are making our Preventing the Spread of Infection course free for the next 12 months.

Looking After your Mental Health While Working Remotely

Looking After your Mental Health While Working Remotely

The government are now advising us to avoid all but essential social contact, and as many organisations implement voluntary or mandatory remote working policies in response, it means a lot of us are facing a new challenge.

Perhaps you’re used to working in the office, or only work from home on the odd day here and there. Even for those used to working remotely, being forced to do so in the midst of an infectious outbreak can feel daunting and it’s important to support and manage our wellbeing during this time.

Try to stay focused – it will help

Rightly or wrongly, it’s likely your boss is concerned about your productivity whilst working remotely – particularly if it’s unusual at your organisation. Now, whilst many of us can be trusted to get on with the job at hand during this time, it is true that you will have to battle distraction in order to do so.

At the moment, one of the biggest distractions is the news. Checking for COVID-19 updates, or clicking on news alerts as and when they pop up, is going to be hard to resist.

But employees should be wary of scrolling themselves into despair. Relying on unreputable sources for news about the outbreak can fuel anxiety, making it difficult to concentrate and putting your mental health at risk.

Remember, many news sources rely on click-bait and scaremongering for views, so schedule “news breaks” – maybe 1 or 2 a day – and stick to them. Turn off news alerts and choose your outlets carefully, ensuring they are quality sources (try Gov.uk or the World Health Organisation).

Designate a Workspace

Without a physical office to escape to, it can be hard to keep work and home life separate. Not everyone has a ‘home office’ and it’s likely you’ll be using personal equipment to get your job done.

Blurring the line between work and home can be bad news, though. It means you never truly ‘switch off’ and, conversely, become less and less productive. Home life can also suffer from the imbalance.

Remember, your workspace doesn’t need to be its own room, but you should take steps to make if feel ‘apart’ from the rest of your home.

Choose an area with good natural light (avoid screens facing windows which can create glare) and ensure you have a comfortable, supportive chair. ‘Entering’ work might be as simple as flicking on your desk lamp or opening your notebook – whatever works for you – but this physical signal means you are ‘at’ work mentally.

When you are done for the day, make sure to close all tabs and programs related to your job. Turn off your lights, close your notebook, and tidy other desk items away.

They key here is to do whatever it takes to ‘leave’ work.

Transition in/out of Work

Lack of commuting time is often touted as one of the benefits about working from home, however, you may find it’s not all it’s cracked up to be after a few weeks have passed.

You see, the time between work and home, whether you drive or take public transport is important. It’s wind-down time which allows us to mentally prepare for our evening routines. Many of us use this time to read or listen to our favourite music – it’s a time when our brains ‘switch off’ and enter a more relaxed state.

Without this time, then, our brains don’t always have time to hit reset and this can make it difficult to switch from thinking about that big deadline to thinking about … well, anything else. In other words, jumping directly into leisure time can make work bleed into our personal lives, and this can mean bad news for mental health.

If you can, try to think of a ‘transition’ activity. Perhaps, you enjoy walking the dog, or browsing for a new dinner recipe. Whatever it is, developing this as a habit over time will help your mind wind down after a hard day.

Communicate

If your office is suddenly working from home, it means a lot of the social interaction you’re used to getting is cut off.

For a while this might seem a blessing, after all, it means less distraction and noise! But it’s important we don’t forget that we need to be around others. We are social creatures and it’s the random interruptions throughout our working day that keeps things feeling unique. Without them, working alone can get dull and, even worse, can feel isolating.

The key here is to maintain communication – especially with your manager/team. Come up with a plan between you for staying in touch, how often you will check in each day, and how you will communicate on group projects and new assignments.

It’s likely you’ll encounter new challenges as you begin to work remotely for long periods of time, and that’s fine. Think about who you might normally go to for help and drop them a line. Just because you’re not in the same building, doesn’t change your working relationship.

With the advent of collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack, it can be tempting to stick to text-only communications, but you might find it’s best to pick up the phone at least once a day. Doing so can help relieve feelings of isolation and loneliness and is likely to prevent miscommunications.

Working remotely for the first time or due for a quick refresher course? Try our Remote Working awareness course to stay safe and healthy away from the office.

Creating a Business Contingency Plan (BCP) for Infection Outbreaks

It’s difficult to think of an area of everyday life that isn’t affected by the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, and business is no exception.

It’s natural for employees and corporate leaders alike to feel anxious about the future. However, by keeping the issues in perspective and working calmly to draw up a plan, businesses will be best placed to weather the approaching storm.

If you have an existing business contingency plan, now is the time to review it to make sure it’s still fit for purpose and tailor it to the specific case of Covid-19. Here are some tips to make sure you’re as prepared as possible:

Communication

Clear communication is always important in business. In a time of crisis, it’s crucial. Employees may be anxious about their health, their families, and the financial implications if they are unable to work in the usual way.

Communication should be as clear as possible, with little room for interpretation or confusion. Strike a balance between providing much-needed information and avoiding unnecessary panic. When discussing Covid-19 specifically, base any advice on official guidance from expert organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO).

If you’re transitioning to a home working model, ensure all employees know who to contact for technical help and updates on their workload. If possible, this should be worked out before any changes occur; the first days of the new routine are more susceptible to disruption, so minimising this is the key to a smoother transition.

Updates should be timely, clear and regular. Have a plan for how each individual will be contacted for work matters whilst at home.

Areas of Strength and Areas of Difficulty

It stands to reason that some departments and business functions will be able to adjust to a remote working model more easily than others. Identifying these as early as possible means you have more time to work out a plan for the trickier job roles.

Remember to take workplace stress into account. Change on this scale, even of a temporary nature, and living through a pandemic can aggravate existing mental ill-health conditions. Employers have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of all staff. Make a plan to keep lines of communication open and make sure nobody feels isolated. If you are able to offer significant flexibility in terms of working hours, this can help anybody feeling burdened by unexpected extra childcare duties or looking after older relatives.

Remote Working

People who work remotely have some advantages under normal circumstances, but during times of crisis there can be extra challenges too. Acknowledge this may be a big transition for some workers and draw up plans to support them through it.

As people become used to remote working, it can be a benefit: people might find they are more productive and refreshed without commuting and more comfortable in their home environment. Some short-term teething difficulties are worth pressing through to keep your business up and running throughout the coronavirus outbreak.

Since it is a big change for people who are usually workplace-based, it is worth considering extra training on remote working to get people through the transition.

Plan for the Long Term

Unfortunately, nobody knows for sure how long contingency measures will need to be in place. It’s entirely possible they could last for several months. Likewise, in a fast-moving situation such as a pandemic, everything can shift from day to day – so normality could return earlier than expected, too.

It’s possible that a review of your company’s sick pay and compassionate leave will be needed to get your staff through this difficult period. Should schools close in your area, people may need extra flexibility in working hours for childcare reasons. As far as possible, employers should try to meet these requests and have back up plans in place for cover if needed.

Business Continuity Plans

Writing a business continuity plan (BCP) that incorporates all of these elements will go a long way to ensuring you’re as prepared as possible for the effects of Covid-19.

It also has the purpose of making sure everyone knows what to expect should social distancing measures like widespread working from home be introduced. In a time of uncertainty, this can have a reassuring effect on staff.

5 Steps to Safe Lone Working

5 Steps to Safe Lone Working

Many roles involve working alone, from estate agents showing people around houses, to lorry drivers, to content writers working from home. Any job that requires someone to be on their own without supervision falls into this category.

Unfortunately, lone workers are at particularly high risk. They can be vulnerable to attack or aggression, and if they fall victim to a workplace accident such as a fall, they will find it harder to get prompt help – especially if they’re in an isolated location or travelling alone.

Their employers are responsible for ensuring their safety at all times, and there are steps employees can take to protect themselves whilst lone working.

1 – Check in regularly

It’s not always possible to ask someone to accompany you on every work trip. The next best thing is making sure a colleague has your back when you’re away.

Schedule regular check ins and let them know when you’re planning to be at a few key points. They will know to raise the alarm if you don’t check in as expected. Remote working can be extremely useful for employees and their employers, but it can bring its own set of challenges and it’s important to be aware of them.

2 – Always have a way to communicate

It’s important to always have a way to contact people for assistance if you need it. When meeting clients or having people visit you at your home, consider having a colleague or friend call you at a pre-arranged time – and have a code word to let them know if you need help.

Some lone workers carry a personal alarm. The Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s website includes lots of useful information on protecting your personal safety in different situations.

3 – Risk assessments

Any tasks that involves lone working should be risk assessed. Identifying potential hazards in advance is an important step in making sure they never harm anyone.

4 – Leave if unsure

When meeting a client, travelling or otherwise working alone, if you feel threatened or unsure – you must leave. Making an excuse and re-arranging an event or meeting is far preferable to putting your own safety at risk. Your personal safety must be your top priority, and your employer’s.

Likewise, if you’re working alone in an environment you think may pose a physical threat to you, it’s important to stop the work task immediately. Employers have a duty of care towards all their staff and should fully support them if they don’t feel safe.

5 – Get proper training

Learning as much as you can about health and safety, your rights and responsibilities is an important way of protecting yourself. Whether you’re working at height, on the road for your job, or dealing with aggression or violence at work, knowing what to do to keep yourself safe is vital.

How To Stay Connected When You Work Remotely

Increasing numbers of UK employees work remotely. The number working away from the office at least some of their week is growing fast, with up to half of the British workforce expected to enjoy some sort of remote working arrangement in the next few years.

Like all working arrangements, remote working has its upsides and downsides. It can allow for greater flexibility, which employees really value, and can lead to higher productivity and lower staff turnover. However, for the employee themselves, there can sometimes be a tendency to feel isolated, left out or cut off from the company’s wider aims. It’s important for both the individual and their company to take steps to minimise this.

Communication

The key to any good working relationship is good communication. This is especially true if workers aren’t all physically present in the same place throughout the day.

Scheduling regular check-ins with your manager can help to stay connected to your colleagues and the company’s direction, as well as providing space for you to raise any concerns about your work. If you live close enough to head into the office weekly or monthly to conduct these face to face, it’s beneficial to do so. If not, video conferencing technology such as Skype is improving all the time, and provides a good alternative. The important thing is to make sure these one to ones are regular.

It’s worth considering options like Slack, Trello or a similar solution to keep project work on track and discuss your work with your team.

Work/Life Balance

Set boundaries around “work time” and “home time” and enforce them. This can be challenging when your work space is so close to where you spend your down time – or even the same space – but it’s vital to maintain a healthy balance and stop work bleeding through into your own time constantly.

Some people prefer to work in coffee shops or co-working offices to keep a dividing line between their work and family lives. If this isn’t possible or doesn’t appeal to you, keeping work things (including your office mobile if you have one) in a single room can be a good idea. Try to put limits on how much extra time you work outside of your standard hours; if you wouldn’t stay late at the office to complete a project, don’t work on it in your own time at home either.

Keep a Close Eye on Goals and Projects

Without daily check-ins with colleagues about the progress of work, it’s important to stay on top of things as projects move along. Perhaps consider sending a weekly update to let everyone know what you’ve been working on, and where you are with certain key jobs.

Your manager may be able to give you a better understanding of how your projects fit into the wider mission of the company, which may help motivation.

Stay Safe

Remember that if you’re working alone, it’s best to keep people informed of your whereabouts so they can check everything has gone to plan (and raise the alarm if something goes wrong). This is important for employees who are travelling as well as those who work outside the office. It isn’t about telling people where you’re spending every minute of every day; it’s simply a matter of making sure your team has your safety in mind, even when you’re not physically together.

Remote Working eLearning from DeltaNet International

We’ve developed our Remote Working eLearning course to meet the needs of the growing remote workforce and their managers.

It joins our suite of Personal Safety courses.