Office 365 and Working From Home

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees in various businesses and organizations have been temporarily forced to work from home in an attempt to avoid the chances of the virus spreading. For businesses and organizations considering additional circumscription measures, we want to make sure everyone knows that working from home does not have to change the everyday work schedule and routine.

With the proper technology and process strategies, all employees who are working from home can remain safe and healthy without seeing a dip in productivity. 

Office 365: Working From Home

Many businesses quickly responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by creating work from home schedules for employees in the workplace. Directors and general managers across the globe are directly monitoring the current and potential future status of the deadly and life-changing coronavirus pandemic. Many owners, managers, directors, etc. have extended the time their employees can work from home in order to make sure everyone is safe, healthy, and comfortable. 

At the same time, many members of IT teams have created improved infrastructures and updated the necessary devices that are needed for all employees to work from home. These improved infrastructures and technologies will also allow employees to communicate and collaborate as efficiently and effectively as possible while working from home.

Before many businesses and organizations found themselves sending their employees home to work, certain infrastructures were not built to handle the entire workforce working from home. Today, one of the main resources being used by remote workers is Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams allows employees to seamlessly transition from the office to their home. Remote workers now have the ability to work with their colleagues, speak to their customers, and reach out to partners and vendors. 

Office 365 and Microsoft Teams have been critical in maintaining business productivity and togetherness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Office 365: Staying Productive

Whatever your position may be in your workplace, it is important to always be aware of the changes that are taking place within your company. It is also important to be able to receive information in real-time. Office 365 will give remote workers the ability to work with other colleagues who are also working from home on different daily tasks. 

For many employees who are now working from home, they will spend part of the morning catching up with conversations that occurred in Microsoft Teams. Next, scheduled online meetings will occur to discuss new ideas or current issues with projects. When anyone has opinions or feedback to share, it can be shared through a Microsoft Team meeting channel to make sure no one is out of the loop. 

Office 365: Remaining Empowered

To give employees the flexibility they need, many employees have the freedom to work whenever they want as long as it is for a specific number of hours per day. One of the best ways to make sure employees are completing the tasks they have been assigned is to set goals for each team member and trust the goals will be completed.

However, we know there are many obstacles in the way for team members who have families. For many, the atmosphere in their home is completely different from their workplace atmosphere. When it comes to managing remote employees, it is important for everyone to consider the obstacles they may be facing.

OneNote can also be a resourceful tool for those working from home. OneNote can be used by remote workers to keep track of work tasks. When work assignments are tracked in OneNote, team leaders or managers will be able to check everyone's progress and share feedback on what has been accomplished so far. 

Using OneNote and other tools can help remote employees accomplish so much more when everyone has the right attitude and gives effort. Everyone can be better assisted when team leaders or managers can keep track of everyone's progress. When team leaders and managers find out how long it is taking for one or multiple tasks to be completed, pertinent feedback and advice can be shared so everyone can make improvements where needed. 

We understand that many employees would love to back to their workplace and communicate and collaborate with their colleagues face-to-face. However, it has been very interesting to see how many employees have already adapted to working from home. COVID-19 has given everyone challenges to overcome and many businesses and organizations are taking on those challenges by using Office 365 to remain productive and efficient.