WFH Best Practices For Better Collaboration And Enhanced Productivity During COVID-19

1. WFH Best Practices For Better Collaboration And Enhanced Productivity During COVID-19 “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” The last few weeks have been challenging to say the least. COVID-19 has forced all of us to reassess our priorities, juggle between personal and professional choices, change the way we used to perceive and see things (and people, of course). It has thrown us out of our comfort zones and made us question the status-quo! One such thing – which we all have been assessing at workplaces during these times – is Work From Home. Didn’t WFH mean balancing personal and professional lives? Now, what do we do when Work from home is the norm rather than a breather amidst those hectic weeks at work. Well, we thought to crowdsource innovative ideas from various teams at Unbxd to bring to you the best ways to collaborate, maintain healthy communication and enhance productivity while the world works from home! Sneha VU shares her experience while working from home.

2. “My team and I are trying our best to ensure there’s minimum impact on the delivery. We start off our day with a quick connect to exchange pleasantries. Just seeing and talking to each other leaves us with a lot of positivity for the entire day. To continue with our daily tasks we use Krow which is a project tracking tool to track our daily progress. This helps us in setting clear expectations set in terms of what is required to be delivered on a day to day basis. For me personally, having complete trust and skip micromanaging is the key. Another thing for which my team and I are particular is maintaining good meeting etiquettes. Time plays a vital role when there are multiple dependencies Communicating aptly and not hesitating to pick and call each other for any help allows us to progress in harmony throughout the day. Well, on a lighter note #staysafe #staydistantlyconnected are the hashtags we have become fond of in the recent times!” Anupama shares how integrations sessions are more interesting than ever before, while working from home. “We at Unbxd started our work from home – a week earlier than the government declared dates – to see how the teams could work together remotely. This was our commitment towards the situation at hand. To ensure topmost productivity, we make sure that all of us come to our workstations (at home) by 11 in the morning. Every team has scheduled daily standups over Zoom, where we all get together to discuss what we did & what we plan to do for the rest of the day. This sort of defines a good schedule or To – Do list for the rest of the day.

3. Also talking to fellow employees keeps the morale up & makes us feel that we are still in office. and we are in it together! We have also done API integration sessions over zoom, simulating an office-like environment where we would huddle together in a room or at our desks! We all have also kept a personal goal to respond to any slack messages within 10 to 15mins with at least an acknowledgement message if we cannot respond to the query in 15mins. Small little things and tricks like these have kept us going so far! And I am sure it is going to be helpful in future as well!” Ankit loves to observe office-like routine zealously Office Ready – Getting out of the most comfortable clothes and dressing up as if actually headed to work actually helps in getting into the zone Pomodoro Technique – Build a list of tasks and I use a tool called ‘Be Focused‘ which allows me to set 25 mins intervals to complete my tasks Home Office – A designated space with a table/desk to work. This keeps me alert and not slouch while working from home. Call over chat – I try to get things done on call than chat. Pinging to check for somebody’s availability and getting on a quick call not only helps me get the work done faster but also breaks the monotony. With so much happening over chat it can get overwhelming sometimes. Besides, I have regular standups with my lead to have a clear picture of the status of work and for both of us to be on the same page Sujay shares some of the practices he observes and implements which result in better productivity for him and his team.

4. “For me, it is important to be in the zone to get started. Hence I have diligently created a checklist since the day we all started to work from home at Unbxd. I started by creating a Working zone which makes you feel as if you are in office. This makes me feel comfortable yet alert. Setting up work timing is critical as it defines the window during which the work needs to be completed while being equally participative in personal life and chores. Well, I start my day with the team catch up where we share the energy while discussing our work. My team and I are available over Slack, email or over a phone call. I feel staying connected is the key to sail through these tough times. Lastly, maintaining a to-do list comes real handy and when these is more work than usual, I also uninstall social media apps on my phone. This avoids the unnecessary distraction.” Nishant emphasises the importance of chasing the same goal “Unbxd is an extremely nimble and progressive tech company with a cutting edge tech stack powering product discovery for thousands of businesses across the globe. Even with that kind of stack, work from home has been a revelation for our company and my team. The time saved from commuting (we are able to avoid Bangalore traffic), meetings discipline and improvements in cross team collaboration seem to be working really well for us. The daily evening catch-up with all the business leaders ensures we are all aligned and chasing the same goal next day. While I pray this pandemic and crisis situation improves soon, I believe the advantages of remote work make it here to stay for long!” Nitin shares how he motivates his team to stay fresh and calm during these times

5. “Work from home is a challenge if you do not find a routine for yourself. Even more challenging when there is a larger team to coordinate with. While regular sync-ups in the morning chalk-out our plan for the day, we also have intermittent stand-ups for detailing on specific projects. My team and I make sure that we are available over slack, phone/zoom to stay connected. Personally, I have been chasing my team and myself to have yoga sessions everyday, meditation, and avoid spending much time over news and social media. So, I am up for anything that saves us energy, keeps us fresh and going during these stressful times.” While the COVID-19 has sent the entire world upside down, it will not be an exaggeration if I say it is daunting to be sane in these insane times. All of us at Unbxd are trying to be creative in making Work From Home a hassle-free and fun experience for each other. Out of everything, I personally love those “Chai? or Cappuccino?” , “Get up and walk (inside your house)”, “it’s your turn to call” , “Say my hello to Bruno” slack reminders! During these challenging times, our diligence is maintaining a healthy communication and productive “work” environment for folks at homes. After all, all we intend to do is bring the best to all of you while working from home! Source: https://unbxd.com/wfh-best-practices-for-better- collaboration-and-enhanced-productivity-during-covid-19/