Twelve Things to thrive working virtually.

As the world begins regularly working from home, for many, this is new and challenging.  For us here at TCX, this is the norm. TCX had the majority of team-members virtual.  Our business and talent model is hiring smart people and letting them live where they want.  Where working from home/remote is commonplace for many of our team members.  With these unknown times, we wanted to share some of our approaches that have increased productivity and created a thriving culture at TCX.

As Mark Cuban said about the pandemic and business, “Not only is it a safety issue, it’s a business issue.”  How you approach working from home routine can have a positive or negative impact on your business, your company’s brand, and even your personal brand.

TCX Remote Setup.  Twelve things to thrive working virtually.

1.     Mandate a video-first culture

• Using video regularly for internal and external communications quickly builds trust and shorter meetings.

• We use Googe Meet, also try Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or others,

• Leverage custom background images,

• Leverage blur option, and

• Set behaviors [communications and actions] for internal and external meeting

Tip: Have a daily video stand up [10-15 min to begin every day] with your company and team. A daily video standup allows for efficient and transparent communications to focus on productivity and focus for your teams.

Tip: When possible, send meeting materials in advance, including an agenda.  Advanced meeting materials will help to keep the duration shorter, which will be a plus, given all the potential distractions at this time.

Technology needs:

3.     Laptop or Tablet: check to make sure your device has the video card that supports video calls and has the power needed

• At TCX, we use Microsoft Surface Book 2 and Surface Pro as our primary laptops.

‍4.     Computer Speaker: Leverage an external speaker for better quality sound for conference calls, upside better music listening too. Couple of speakers, we use with our team:

• Beyerdynamic Space

• Harmon Kardon Esquire Mini

• Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay P2

5.     Camera: Your laptop’s camera works, but hinders the angle viewed. Look into a 4k ultra high-def camera that delivers better resolution, and smooth streaming, plus may have great microphones built-in.

• Many of us at TCX uses the Logitech BRIO with RightLight 3 – you will always look your best. We attach our BRIOs to our external monitors. One plus, with Logitech BRIO, you can use facial recognition for Windows Hello.

• Bring up PPT in presentation mode on your PC. Dual Monitor select Share the second monitor display. This way, all the controls are not seen by your audience.

• High-end option: Samsung 49 inch CRG9 Curved QLED Gaming Monitor, one of our team members, uses this and loves the curved wide-screen. It’s like having two 27-inch QHD monitors connected.

• Budget option: Acer or Dell 27-inch from BestBuy.

Room needs:

• What is your background? Again, with Meet, Zoom, and MS Teams, you can adjust the background image that viewers are seeing.

• Close your door to the room if you can.

• Noise/distractions: How can you control noise at home with kids, pets, and everything else going on?

Tip: Set up guidelines, and have a morning meeting with your family. Let them be fully aware of your day. What your schedule is so they can set times to be quiet or go outside for essential calls.

10.     Lighting: Lighting is everything for reliable, professional video calls. Position your workspace near natural light if possible.  If you need extra light besides your window or desk lamp, get a small laptop light. Two lighting sources we use at TCX:

• Lume Cube Air VC lighting kit for remote working

• Elgato Key Light Air, professional LED panel with 1400 lumens, multi-layer diffusion technology, app-enabled, color temperature adjustable for Mac/Windows/iPhone/Android

11.     Desk: make sure you are sitting at a desk that reinforces ergonomics, the last thing you want is to develop body pain from working remotely, which could become the norm. Many of us use Standing Desks.

• The purchased standing desk. This example also uses a balance board to stand on by FluidStance. This setup uses a BookArc by twelvesouth to save space with the Surface Book 2.

12.     Appearance: Keep your work schedule. Workout in the morning, get dressed for the office as you would normally.

In closing, remember to continue the activities you did before working from home. Take breaks regularly, and get outside. Get up and stretch, even if you have a standing desk like many of our team members do, and lastly, avoid isolation: have virtual lunches with your team as we have been doing.

The one we all look forward to VHH, a Virtual Happy Hour, with your team via video so you can cheer and close your day out with a group.

Don’t just start working from home. Thrive working from home.

Remember, we are all in the same boat. By taking adopting the suggestions above will give you a foundation that will have a positive impact on your business, your company’s brand, and your brand.

Share with us what you are doing to be productive at home OR reach out to us with any questions. 

‍