WHF #2. The tech opportunity
Now we are in week two of lockdown, the reality of working from home (WHF) is probably starting to make sense. At least a bit.
Last week I offered some ideas about getting structure for WFH which prompted some great feedback and hopefully the ideas have helped.
Love tech - it’s your friend
Having a good range of apps and systems on my laptop and smart phone helps me stay connected when WFH, and in this lockdown life, it is earning its investment for me.
It is likely that employers want their people to use certain programmes and systems whilst WFH. I would say, remember that:
One app does not fit all situations and shouldn’t take away talking to people on the phone. Don’t let this lead to one dimensional communication. It’s bad enough when people use email too much rather than speak!
All applications have tutorials, guided shows and instructions and are worth using; this is learning and development and can go in your CPD record.
Practise with a colleague or friend. Learning by doing works. Help each other out.
The more you use an app, the easier it is. Making mistakes is part of learning and improvement and we are all in the same boat.
Those apps with video mean you need to think about the height of the webcam in relation to your face and also what others will see behind you. Over the years I have been distracted by piles of washing up or activity and noise in the background I can see.
I’m also tempted to say ‘ask a teenager’ - but probably not for this!
My tech rundown
The main applications I use.
Skype - solid, old favourite, good for 1-2-1s, free. People need to follow you. If I Skype someone who uses Skype for Business it recognises this. I use skype for coaching and mentoring.
Facetime - I have a laptop for android and an iPad so I have IOS too. Good for 1-2-1 chats. Ditto coaching and mentoring, for which a tablet is needed as a smart phone is too small.
WhatsApp - good for text related communication and video calls on the smart phone with a colleague or client. Good on the hoof when out and about although of course WFH means you’re at home. Great for a group chat and quick updating. I know lots of people set up a WhatsApp group. You can send photos and links of course. The downside can be if you tend to have your phone on all the time you could be tempted to answer and chat out of working hours. Needs some self control.
Go to Meeting - good for a virtual group meeting. There’s no visual but it’s like a phone call on the laptop. Works for dispersed groups. An alternative to dialling in to a conference call on your telephone.
Zoom - I am quite new to zoom and it works best (imho) for webinars - i.e. training and learning situations. Lots of useful learning and training orientated features such as break out rooms, whiteboard, polls, chat facility for posing questions and I can run a slide show. It helps manage an attendance register using screenshot. Good management is needed by learners and the host to observe some ground rules and etiquette (e.g. muting).
Others - Google (Hangout, docs) and MS Teams, internal comms systems such as Yammer and Lync. I don’t use these myself but know organisations that do. Not all these are suited to training, so are better for team meetings, document sharing, team meetings with an agenda, editing work together and so on.
Trip ups
Tech goes down. If you’re connected via VPN this has been known to happen! When WFH have plan for this and other means to speak to people. Tech cna dip or go down due to geography too - as below.
Geographical location. I live in a county that is urban and rural. I have fibre broadband and good speeds where I live, which is close to a decent sized and connected town. I can’t say the whole of my county is as well connected or those in villages have good speeds or bandwidth. If you live in a rural location then this could be a challenge for speed and connectivity.
Sound. Some use headphones. I tend not to, but on occasions have used my iPhone headphones plugged into my laptop. In other words, you don’t have to go out and buy some and spend a lot of, or any money. You need to make sure your sound setting is ok on your device or laptop.
Future change
This tech opportunity arises from the paradigm shift of the WFH revolution.
Once we have had WFH for a while, we will have adopted new ways of working as the new ‘normal’. Already I hear people saying things will not go back to the way they were. I agree.
See you on the other side.