COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic. Amidst this stressful and worrying situation, we have been trying our best to remain positive and prioritize our health more than anything.

It’s been our 2nd week straight doing remote work or work from home, and although we miss our team members, we have to put safety & health as our number one priority.  Here are some of the tips to maintain human touch & avoid feeling isolated when everyone is doing remote work.

1.) Be creative! (Emojis are very powerful!)🍱

They say that sometimes emojis are more expressive than written words. It keeps our online presence fun and a little bit personal. We do try to be more creative and even put food emoticons(It wasn’t even discussed, it just happened naturally!) as a sneak peek of what each member’s lunch is. We also put specific emojis like 🏡 = work from home, ☕  = coffee break etc.

2.) Channels to let you know when you are AFK (Away From Keyboard😜)

Besides setting status, we have designated slack channels specially for signing in or out so that our team members know who are currently available or not. One thing that is more difficult to confirm during remote work or work from home is the availability of the person. It’s easy to check when you are in an actual office setup but when we do remote work, to avoid confusion and be mindful about someone’s availability to speak or handle an urgent task, we require everyone to just simply check in during the mornings when they begin work and as well as when they are back from lunch, coffee breaks, combini runs or even personal errands. And then we just simply sign out every time we are away and unavailable.

3.) Online Video Meetings🙋

We still have our weekly team meetings and last week we did our monthly meeting via Zoom. We also use Slack video call when contacting each other. This helps us check in with how everybody in the team is doing as well as catch up with what has been happening in our departments and individual progress.

4.) Using Profile Photos🤳

It’s nowhere near the personal feeling of actually seeing someone, but it’s nice to make it a little bit personal and give it a human touch. Our newest member Piraya who just joined last week still can’t decide on which photo to use😂 

5.) Designate a “Random” Slack Channel👾

Of course like the office routine, you will likely miss the small talks and random conversations you share with your team members during WFH. We have a “Random” slack channel wherein we can share anything to the team that is outside work topic. We also have channels like “Lunch Ideas” and “Happy Announcement” to spread positivity.

This past few weeks have been really terrible and we could use all the good news and positivity we can find. We hope everyone is staying safe and our hearts go out to those affected by the virus.

If your office hasn’t implemented Work From Home or Remote Work and you would like to push for this idea, you can check out our article for pushing “Change Management” HERE