Sumsub’s Tried-and-Trusted Routines For Working Remotely

By now every company must have given their advice on remote work. If you are overwhelmed and not sure what rings the truth, we decided to draw up a list of the essential tips that have helped us to be effective from home.

1. Make morning check-ins a new normal

Check-in with your team via video conference or team chat software every morning at a set time, let’s say 9 am. Do these briefings as regularly as possible, establish clear goals, check in on everybody’s work.

Failing to establish a similar routine means your employees might be waking up at 2 pm followed by a Netflix marathon and you will never know.

2. Create an accessible digital hub

Use collaborative wikis and cloud-based apps, provide access and replenish it with any possible data your employees might need for work. Here at Sumsub we use Pipedrive, Activecollab, Zoom, Slack, Notion, Figma, Dashlane, Airtable, and Asana.

Besides, to support workers in times of international pandemic, services offer discounts, free upgrades, and monthly subscriptions. Check out Google, Slack, Zoom, Cisco, and LogMeIn.

3. Provide the tools and means for proper work

Make sure your employees have everything they need to perform their functions at most of their capacity, whether it is a VPN, access to a strong internet connection or an extra monitor.

Failing to provide these would mean that even though your employee could be a perfect remote worker, they won’t be able to fulfill their role as usual.

4. Brief your employees on how to work remotely

Give your team the rundown on how to make the best out of working from home and how the workplace simulation routine can cure out of a lousy lifestyle.

• Taking breaks

First of all, your employees should take regular breaks in the same way they would in the office. Sitting on a chair for 8 hours straight is damaging for their spine, their eyes and ultimately their health.

• Obeying the routine

The best lifehack for everybody during a lockdown is to keep the same routine alive, wake up at the early hours, dress up and commute to work, even if it is just a table a couple of meters away from your bed.

• Dividing space between work and leisure

Work in a separate space away from/not facing your bed. The habits we nurture in our brain have a great effect on our productivity. Staying out of the space you rest and going into the space you work in will make your brain differentiate the states of being busy and having a rest.

Make your employees see it as work as usual, just in a little more unusual setting.

5. Take care of healthy communication

Whether it is a video conference or a group chat, start the conversation with a human greeting like “How is everybody feeling today?”. When giving a task, explain the full context. If there is a question hanging, don’t let crickets chirp and answer to your best knowledge.

Although it is easy to become a little more robotic in a setting with no real eye-to-eye interaction, being this cold can spread negativity. Remember to respect people on the other end and treat them as you would in real life.

6. Nurture team spirit and company culture

Keep the communication alive via chats and video calls. Have a place for “water cooler chats”—casual conversations and sharing can help the team bond.

Working remotely can mentally isolate employees. In the office-based company, connections emerge naturally in the physical space, otherwise, you must find online expressions for such connections to appear. As members of the same team, people need to socialize with each other by sharing news, celebrations, gossip and personal interests.

7. Schedule a morning stretch

Exercise! Put a ”plank-o’clock” on the team schedule and have a go at it. Better advice—exercise together. Make it more fun by doing it via a group video chat.

Though doing a morning session of stretching and exercise might seem a typical piece of advice, it is the ultimate energy fuel that drives the rest of the day and reinforces the immunity to keep you going these days.

8. Protect yourself from the virus

Follow the common rules: social distancing, staying at home and washing hands. But these are just the basics. To protect yourself better consider the following measures taken in China that during 4 months resulted in 0 new infections per day as of now.

• Moisturize your nose, eyes, and skin. The new virus can enter the body through your nose and eyes. Use eye drops and moisturizing nose spray. Remember that moisturized skin carries local immunity, in addition to general.
• Breathe through your nose, not through your mouth. The protective functions of the throat are much worse than those of the nose.
• Cover the cuts. If you accidentally damage or remove parts of the skin as a result of a manicure or shave, the best way is to cover the cuts with the medical glue. Unprotected skin is an invitation to a virus.
• Wipe your phone. Bacteria live on the screen of your phone for up to 4 days.
• Clean the air. Ventilate the apartment more often and install humidifiers.
• Ditch alcohol. Alcohol is a bad remedy, it is a depressant for the immune system. Drink water instead.
• Drink vitamins D and C. Vitamin D is the basis of immunity. Vitamin C relieves stress (reduces cortisol) and raises immunity protection.
  Sleep more. Sleep is the best way to quickly restore your defenses.
• Eat healthy. If you don’t eat properly, your immunity drops. Don’t think about weight loss during the pandemic.

The idea is to try and keep up with as many of these steps as you can. Taking care of your immunity is something you do not only for yourself but for your family and coworkers.

Establishing and sticking to the best practices of remote communication is the foundation of a healthy remote team. Besides, working from afar or not, happy employees = better business.

That’s it. Happy remote working!