Many of those in the advancement field are fortunate to be able to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic. This means it’s a good time to think about how you provide the best working environment for all your remote workers, whether they just started or have been working remotely before COVID-19. 

“The coronavirus pandemic has led to some immediate and drastic changes in the way our world lives and works,” Joel Comm says in Inc. 

With so many professionals working from home, it’s important for their leaders to empower them to do the best job possible.   

Comm offers five ways to keep employees connected, productive, and happy. 

Provide benefits that facilitate mental well-being 

There are so many things to do at home that can help mental well-being such as meditation or in-home fitness services. 

“Employees who work from home need to feel comfortable to stay productive,” Comm explains. “Employers can help by making it easier for employees to access self-care resources.” 

Boost remote employee engagement 

Use the time in which almost everyone is working from home to build a remote working culture that can continue when many employees go back to an office culture, while others continue to work remotely. 

“Check in frequently, both for work matters and for regular chats,” Comm recommends. “When social distancing ends, set up recurring invites to bring remote workers to home base and keep faces fresh.” 

Also, don’t forget to ask remote workers what they want. If they’re feeling overloaded with meetings, you can institute a “no meeting” day or if they want more face time, you can add in a regular check-in meeting. 

Invest in necessities 

“Businesses must invest in remote employees the same way they invest in office workers,” Comm says. 

That could mean anything from buying a comfortable office chair to helping offset childcare costs for remote working parents.  

Invest in communications software 

“Without shared physical spaces, companies need tools to facilitate easy communication and provide a more human touch than emails,” Comm explains. 

Investing in communications software will help with both internal and external outreach. 

Create processes for asynchronous collaboration 

It’s important to have the communications tools, but that’s not always enough if you’re a global office with staff members in different time zones. 

“Work with employees to create processes that turn asynchronous communication into the standard,” Comm says. “Project management tools work best when workers update the status of their projects as they go.” 

Spending the time to better set up your employees to work from home will prove fruitful in the weeks and months to come in an uncertain future.