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Your Guide to Transitioning to Remote Working in a New Job Role

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | Your Guide to Transitioning to Remote Working in a New Job Role

The ongoing shift toward remote work has reshaped the traditional workplace, introducing both challenges and opportunities for professionals starting new roles. Transitioning into a new job remotely requires not only adapting to a new position but also integrating into a team and company culture without the usual face-to-face interactions. This article explores some comprehensive strategies to navigate these changes effectively, ensuring a smooth and successful adaptation to your new remote role.

Understand the New Role and Expectations

  • Clear Understanding of Job Responsibilities: Gain a thorough understanding of your job duties and expectations right from the start. Request detailed documents such as job descriptions, performance metrics, and any relevant project briefs from your manager. This foundational knowledge is crucial for aligning your work with the company’s objectives.
  • Align on Communication and Reporting: Determine how and when you’re expected to communicate your progress or challenges. Establishing whether the preference is for emails, instant messaging, video calls, or a combination of all three will help you to integrate more effectively with the existing workflows.=

Establish a Productive Workspace

  • Designate a Dedicated Work Area: Set up a workspace that promotes focus and productivity. Having a dedicated area helps to mentally separate work you’re your personal life, minimizing distractions and establishing a professional routine. Ensure that your workspace is ergonomically supportive, with comfortable seating and proper lighting to facilitate long hours of work.
  • Equip it with the Necessary Technology: Make sure you have all the technological tools you need to perform your job efficiently. This includes not only a reliable internet connection but also any necessary software, adequate hardware like laptops or monitors, and accessories such as headphones for virtual meetings. Get acquainted with the company’s preferred platforms for collaboration and project management.

Foster Effective Communication

  • Overcommunicate Initially: In remote settings, it’s advisable to err on the side of overcommunication. Keeping your team and manager updated about your tasks and projects helps to maintain transparency and builds trust.
  • Schedule Regular Check-ins: Organize regular check-ins with both your supervisor and your teammates. These can range from formal progress meetings to informal virtual coffee chats. Consistent communication will help you stay connected with your team and be aware of any changes or updates.

Build and Maintain Relationships

  • Proactively Engage with Colleagues: Take proactive steps to get to know your colleagues. Understand their roles and contributions and share your own experiences and skills. Participating in virtual team-building activities can facilitate a sense of community and teamwork.
  • Seek a Mentor or Buddy: Request a mentor or a buddy from within the company who can guide you through your initial months. This person can provide insights into company processes, culture, and unspoken norms, which are often challenging to grasp in a remote environment. Furthermore, look online for key remote work tips to equip you with all the right tools.

Adapt to the Company Culture

  • Understand the Culture: Make an effort to understand and adapt to the company’s culture. Engage fully in all available onboarding and training sessions, and observe the communication styles and work ethics that define the organization.
  • Emulate Inclusive Practices: In a remote setting, inclusivity becomes even more crucial. Be considerate of different time zones and diverse communication styles and preferences, ensuring all team members feel included and valued.

Develop Time Management Skills

  • Structure Your Day: The absence of a physical office environment can blur the lines between work and personal life. Establish a structured daily schedule that includes a clear start and end time, as well as designated breaks for rest and meals.
  • Use Technology to Stay Organized: Utilize digital tools to keep your tasks and projects organized. Calendar apps, task management software, and digital reminders can play a crucial role in helping you to manage your time effectively and meet deadlines.

Embrace Continuous Learning

  • Continuous Learning and Development: Adapt to your new role by engaging in ongoing learning. This can involve industry-specific training, software tutorials, or broader skill development such as project management or leadership skills. Continuous learning not only helps you to stay current but also enriches your professional profile.
  • Seek Feedback Proactively: Regularly ask for feedback on your performance, especially in the first few months. This can guide your learning process and help you to quickly correct course where necessary, ensuring that you meet or exceed expectations in your new role.

Conclusion

Transitioning to a new job in a remote environment can initially seem daunting. However, by setting clear expectations, creating an effective workspace, fostering strong communication and relationships, embracing company culture, and maintaining a commitment to continuous improvement and learning, you can successfully navigate this change. Maintaining flexibility and a willingness to adapt to new situations will allow you to thrive in your remote role and make significant contributions to your team.

Essential Needs for a Virtual Office

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Essential Needs for a Virtual OfficeThe global COVID-19 pandemic shut down many economies around the globe. It also shut down many businesses and other entities throughout the United States. Many turned to remote work to continue moving forward and providing goods and services for customers and clients.

As more people and more organizations integrate online and cloud services into their daily activities, the type of internet service makes a big difference in communications and productivity. So do the types of equipment and technologies that they use.

How Internet Service Affects Productivity

Running a virtual office requires an exceptionally reliable and fast broadband internet service. You should carefully choose your internet service to ensure it will support your demands. After all, a virtual office will have multiple users and devices constantly exchanging information, putting serious demands on your internet service.

Many virtual offices use fixed connections that provide internet services. Fixed connections support broadband internet that might use coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, or a DSL connection. Virtual offices also could choose among common wireless options for internet service, including satellite, fixed wireless, and 5G.

Virtual Office Communications Are Essential for Success

You cannot have a virtual office and support remote workers and remote work locations without a comprehensive office communications system. You need a system that will enable virtual meetings between two or more participants and document exchanges that occur in real-time.

While all of that is going on, you still need a way to support more traditional phone calls as well as virtual communications. A system that integrates a variety of communications systems into one unit is a terrific asset for any virtual office.

For example, OnSIP offers a variety of services that are simple, scalable, and support virtual office communications. You can customize your communications and get work done anywhere that internet service is available. That means just about anywhere in the developed world.

Answering Service and Receptionist

You likely will have people calling the phone number for your business or other organization. Those people will not be your workers, because they will use virtual office communications. So you will need a professional answering service and receptionist to handle incoming calls and direct the respective callers to the correct people.

A live receptionist who is professional and pleasant is a terrific asset and makes a direct personal connection with potential customers, clients, and other callers. The receptionist will be the first person many people speak with when calling to learn more about the goods or services that your business or organization might provide them.


Virtual Timeclock and Payroll

A virtual office has two ways to pay workers for their efforts. You could accept invoices and pay them based on the agreed rates for their time or the types of work that they accomplished. The other option is a virtual time clock that enables workers to punch in and out like they would in person. The virtual time clock helps you to keep better track of when and how long individual workers are on the task.

You also will need to pay your workforce as agreed. A payroll service can accomplish the task and pay your workers via direct deposit or through a pay app. Many virtual offices choose services that combine time clocks and payroll services, which can offer their employees several ways to collect their pay.

Assess Your Virtual Office Needs and Choose Wisely

Your virtual office requires you to consider how you will create virtually the same type of work environment that you would have in a physical office. You want to foster timely communication and cooperation among your staff to continue producing the best possible work environment and productivity. Assessing your needs and choosing wisely to equip your virtual office will help support productivity and possibly reduce your operating costs.

Financial Tips For Businesses In 2021

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Financial Tips|Financial Tips For Businesses In 2021As a business owner, it is always important to be intelligent with your finances in order to maximize your bottom line. For many, 2021 is when financial intelligence and careful management are critical with many companies struggling due to COVID-19. The businesses that manage to succeed and come out the other side in a strong position will be those that are intelligent with finances during this time, so what are a few helpful financial tips for businesses that can help right now? Keep reading for a few tips that will hopefully help to improve your company’s financial health in 2021.

Go Through Regular Expenses

One of the first steps to take is to go through all of your regular expenses and to see if you could either cut out the expense or make savings by changing. Keep in mind that cuts and changes could make work harder for staff and/or impact the quality of the product/service you provide, so it is important that you make intelligent cuts and changes that won’t negatively affect the business.

Outsource To Address Staffing Issues

If you find yourself with staffing issues during COVID-19 (like many), it can be hard to know what to do. Hiring new staff can be a huge expense, so instead, a good alternative is to outsource aspects of your operation to specialists. This can lighten the load for your existing staff and ensure that the work is being completed by a specialist without paying expensive employee costs.

Embrace Remote Work

Most businesses have had to experiment with remote work during the pandemic, and many have found that it benefits all parties. One of the main ways it benefits the business is that it helps reduce costs, and you could even downsize or go without a central office once the lease expires to free up a huge amount of money.

Sell Unused Equipment/Buy Second Hand

If you have any equipment that you no longer need, you could look to sell this to raise some extra cash. Alternatively, if you need new equipment for your business but don’t want to spend a fortune on new equipment, you could look to buy second hand. This is a smart way to keep costs down while making key improvements to your business – click here to find more about selling and buying used equipment for your business.

Look Into Solar Power

The world is becoming greener, and every business should be taking action to reduce its environmental impact. One of the most effective ways that you can do this is by switching to solar power, which will not only greatly reduce your environmental impact but also help you to make huge long-term savings. The upfront costs can be high, but ultimately this will prove to be a smart financial investment and help you improve your green credentials in a time when today’s consumer is selective and eco-aware.

Take Out A Loan If You Need It

Many businesses owners are reluctant to take out a loan, but it can actually be incredibly useful and help companies to manage during challenging periods or to cover growth plans (such as the cost of solar panel installation). There are lots of different options in terms of types of loans, so it is important to research each one and find the right type for your business and needs.

Negotiate With Vendors

You might also find that now is a smart time to negotiate with vendors. The pandemic has affected every person and business in different ways, so you might find that they are willing to renegotiate terms and rates that could help you to free up costs. Additionally, if you are coming to the end of your contract, it is worth exploring your options.

Invest In The New Normal

It is also important to realize that things will not simply be “business as usual” and that some changes are here to stay. This means that it is important to invest in the new normal and to adapt your business so that you can thrive in a post-pandemic marketplace, which might include contactless technologies, remote work tools, online services, and more.

Hopefully, these financial tips will come in handy and help you to make smart financial decisions during this challenging time and come out the other side in a strong position to find post-pandemic success. It’s not going to be easy to succeed in this industry due to the effects of the ongoing pandemic, yet these tips can help make it more manageable.

How to Harness the Opportunities of Home Businesses in 2020

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Home Business|How to Harness the Opportunities of Home Businesses in 2020Home businesses are growing in popularity. This could be due to the ability to avoid most of the issues that have hampered the expansion of the retail and the hospitality industry. If you want to base your next business from home, and if you can see the wealth of opportunities that this can offer you, here are the next steps that you should take to move your plan into action.

Consider the Best Home Business Ideas

There are many home business ideas that may be appealing to the seasoned entrepreneur, and you should consider the viability of each of these in reference to the current market. For instance, many small home-based businesses sell small-scale manufactured items, such as home crafts and furniture. Not only this, but you might consider selling products online, such as boutique clothing or even items for other businesses that are currently seeing success. You should also consider this in terms of the type of business that will suit your home environment.

Get the Resources That You Need

Once you have decided on your business plan, the next step that you need to take to harness the opportunity that you have spotted is to invest in the correct resources that you need. For instance, epoxy resin suppliers are popular with home businesses who work to produce furniture and who conduct other creative projects, as they will be able to fulfill all of your adhesive and laminating needs. You may also need to invest in the appropriate gadgets, such as a Wi-Fi booster and a business laptop in order to connect with the outer business world.

Know the Benefits

To truly harness the opportunities of home businesses, you need to understand their benefits, and how this can make home ventures viable. For instance, there are many tax reductions available to businesses that operate out of their home, including the fact that you will be able to say that a percentage of your home’s mortgage and bills are a business expense. Additionally, home businesses have an increased amount of expenditure, including the fact that you will not have to spend a large amount of your profit on rent or employees.

Be a Great Leader

If you have a large home business, you will know that the success of this still relies on the capabilities of your team. The fact that you will be managing team members remotely, though, means that you need to have excellent and clear communication methods and that you are able to delegate and motivate your team effectively.

Network with the Wider Professional World

However, just because your business is operating out of your home, there is no reason why you cannot be part of the wider professional world. In fact, to be successful, it is paramount that you are able to attend virtual networking events and communicate with other businesses online through professional social media platforms. This will enable you to form partnerships, conduct research, and make sure that you are able to put your stamp on your industry.

Long Hours of Screen Time? Here’s What You Should Do

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Screen Time|Long Hours of Screen Time? Here's What You Should DoMore and more of us are spending most of the day in front of a computer. All this time looking at the computer can have a real impact on your health and, without the proper support, there could be long term consequences too. We’ve all seen the pictures of what we might look like by the time we retire or how humanity could evolve and it’s genuinely scary.

Now that more people are working remotely, this is a good time to examine how you work and what is best for you. For many people, the realization that their chair at home is better or that they are more comfortable in a particular light has a significant impact. This is the moment that employees and employers alike should be considering the future of work – the where and the how.

So what should you consider?

Working in Comfort

Back problems and eye strain are classic symptoms of long hours in front of a screen. Many people experience headaches and tiredness as a result but you may also have tingling sensations and a bad mood too!

Let’s deal with eye strain first. Experts have created computer glasses to help people focus on screens that also reduce exposure to harmful blue light. A bit like reading glasses, these glasses are designed to bring a computer screen, which is usually a little farther away, into focus without making you strain. You should also take a few minutes each hour to stare off into the distance to allow your eyes to relax.

Back problems often come from sitting in a poorly designed chair for far too long. The first thing to do is to make sure that your chair is suitable for you. Even ergonomic chairs can be problematic, especially if you are shorter than 5’2”! But no matter how tall you are, the best way to sit in a chair is to have your feet comfortably flat on the ground (or possibly a stool), your back straight but not tense and whatever you are looking at should be at eye level.

Taking Breaks

Even with the most comfortable setup, you should still take regular breaks. Going for a walk in your lunch hour is ideal as this will get your body moving and prevent your muscles from seizing up. Walking is exceptionally good for your back as it is low impact and you can do it anywhere.

You might also like to think about whether you really need to spend so much time at the screen. You might find that some activities can be done with a pen and paper or through other techniques. When you take a more creative approach, you might even find you have more innovative ideas.

But let’s also consider what you do at home. If you get in from work and then spend the evening in front of the TV or yet another computer, you might like to think of alternative things to do, at least a few nights a week. Mix it up!