Clark Concept’s Guide to Working from Home

BY Forrest Carpenter

If there is one thing we have in common as small businesses, it’s the challenge of staying open through the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Many creative marketing agencies like ourselves have transitioned to remote working schedules to protect staff from exposure to the virus. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 31 percent of workers who were employed in early March transitioned to work-from-home schedule by the first week in April.

We can all agree that what works for some may not work for all. The same can be said for adopting a remote working schedule. Successfully transitioning to a remote working schedule depends on the organization, its leadership structure, its interdepartmental collaboration procedure, and the organization’s work culture.

Pros of Working Remotely:

  • Increased Productivity
  • Flexible Hours
  • Reduced Stress

Cons of Working Remotely:

  • Limited Collaboration
  • Risk of Distractions
  • Decrease in Morale

Here at Clark Concepts we love sharing our knowledge and experience with others. We are all in this together! To serve as a resource for small businesses, our team has created a brief guide for making the transition to remote working a smooth one.

  1. Conduct Weekly Video Meetings and Check-Ins – To encourage collaboration and communication amongst our team, we hold routine video meetings to discuss project statuses, individual workloads, high-priority projects, client requests, internal procedures and programs, achievements, and etc. This has become an integral part of our remote working model. We use Zoom to hold our weekly video meetings and we often incorporate fun activities/games to keep the team engaged and raise morale.
  2. Productive use of Time – In some cases, the suspicion of non-productivity can be detrimental to the work-from-home model. Although client work may fluctuate, employees can find productive ways to occupy their time and sharpen skills. For instance, we encourage our staff to enroll in online training and certification courses in any downtime. HubSpot is a great resource for digital marketing and their HubSpot Academy has numerous certification and training courses for marketing professionals.
  3. Consistent Communication – Communication is key! We stay connected with each other by leveraging project management programs such as Slack and Asana. These programs provide our team with the capabilities to track project progress, share files/documents, and collaborate with team members in real time. Sometimes the trusted email exchange is not the most productive method of communication for certain projects or tasks, that’s where Slack and Asana can help.
  4. Constructive Workspace – Lastly, creating a constructive work-from-home space has a huge impact on morale and productivity. When selecting a designated workspace in your home make sure that you have a comfortable chair, adequate desk space, proper lighting, a monitor, and most importantly privacy. Many underestimate the impact of a constructive workspace, however making sure you have a designated safe-place to focus and knock out assignments is always beneficial.