Starting March 20, 2020, Los Angeles County has enacted a shelter-in-place order for its residents. It calls for the closure of non-essential businesses and asks all residents to stay at home whenever possible, including prohibiting gatherings of ten or more people.
Government-mandated social distancing has made its way to Los Angeles.
At Embrace, we’ve already been working from home for the last week, but since some businesses will be forced to have remote workers for the first time, we wanted to share some tips we’ve found to be helpful.
Communication Is Key
Our office has always been big on Slack, and now that we’re not in the same room anymore, it’s essential for keeping up with what everyone’s working on. If we’re away from our desk, we leave a custom Slack status to let everyone know when we’ll be back.
We also use Zoom for video calls, which help keep meetings personal. Phone calls with more than two people are better with video. Honestly, even phone calls with just two people. Video brings the immediacy of interaction that audio can’t hold a candle to.
Do what works for your business, but communication is key.
Have Fun
It’s fun to socialize with your coworkers, and just because you can’t all be in the same room, that doesn’t mean you’re walled off from each other. Our team has adopted daily “water cooler” video calls where we can kick back and hang out. If you’ve never done a seventeen-person video chat, I assure you it can go off the rails easily (in the best way).
We still want to hear about the latest cat story and what Bailey’s been up to.
She’s our CEO’s dog and resident couch bum.
We’ve also implemented a virtual company Happy Hour where we:
- Have Trivia Nights
- Play Jackbox games like Drawful and Fibbage
- Host Costume Contests
It’s a bit silly, but it’s all in good fun.
The Mark Of A Good Company
A good company has a structure where everyone knows what they need to do, but also allows people to be themselves and let loose. At Embrace, we’re constantly striving for both. And so far, our transition to working from home has been smooth because we communicate well, and we enjoy working together.
This is a difficult situation for us all. Our personal and professional lives have been and will continue to be affected for the foreseeable future.
We hope your company is adjusting to the circumstances and is able to stay productive. Our tips are to communicate well and have fun.
From our Embrace team to yours, stay healthy out there.
