It is amazing how much can get missed when you are not working within the same 4 walls. One effective method I have seen before is a pre-agreement that all key communications (anything that includes an agreement to do something, a meeting to discuss or a client facing activity) should include a CC of the appropriate line manager. That way they can keep across what is happening and step in when needed. The alternative is a busy manager running around trying to ask all of their team what they are doing and that’s the opposite of productivity.

If office spaces are great for communication, teleworking is wonderful for concentrating on focused work. So, if your team are sent home it might be wise to re-prioritise the work that needs focus and quiet to deliver and accept that (as long as they are non-essential) some of the tasks that require collaboration will not happen.

If your team’s kpi’s are based on client interactions or sales then do you need to run some strategy sessions on how to approach this without face to face contact? Or, if your responsibilities are more to do with accounts and statistics is this the perfect time to start working on that digitization project you keep putting off?

If you were in the office you might walk up to someone’s desk or catch them at lunch time for a quick talk.

If that becomes something you can’t do the reasonable thought would be to switch to phone calls… except that Millennials (and some others) hate answering their phones and might be tempted to screen unplanned calls.

Arrange to make a call and talk as you both break for coffee – this way all of your planned conversations aren’t formal meetings. Also, refer back to my first point about group chat tools.

Well, at the moment there’s a strong argument for remote working because of disease prevention but Teleworking can also be a fantastic, affordable way to expand your operations into new locations or to manage teams across multiple countries without the huge overheads of placing managers everywhere. In years past the equivalent was the hard working professional holed up in their garage trying to get a new venture off the ground or to get ahead in their work.

Teleworking is a huge industry and there are lots of companies who will tell you that you must have the latest hardware and software. Much of the tools that you can use in your office can be used at home and scaled up or down depending on the needs of your individual staff. Does everyone really need a mobile, deskphone, laptop and wifi connection? A CEO and a junior administrator are going to need different levels of resource.

Many kiwi businesses thrive on being lean and responsive so business owners need to be discerning on how much new investment they make but it is worth being aware that if your whole team needs to go into isolation then you won’t have anyone available to implement the changes you might need. Now is really the time to plan and ensure that if you need to send your staff home you will be able to deliver services.