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6 Films that describe the work from home narrative in the best of ways

work from home

Humans have always been intrigued by stories and folk lures. Ever since the inception of humanity, history has recorded the evolution of storytelling from cave paintings, to live theatres in Rome all the way to the advent of the printing press and Broadway Ave. Films have been a part of human culture for more than 3 centuries now, speaking of which here is how we at the Staff Timer App describe our work from home ever since we have been confined to our homes due to this ‘Never Ending Story’, – yes you guessed it right, we are talking about the Pandemic. 

Below is the list of films which best describe work from home situations, these films have been chosen not only for title but for content and also for famous quotes, so let’s get on with it:


Taxi Driver (1976)

Remember Robert Di Nero’s mohawk in the 70’s, probably one of his best performances ever in cinematic history. Now how does it describe work from home? Imagine being in a team meeting on Zoom or Google Hangouts and suddenly the presenter asks a question while you are having a cup of tea or coffee. What are the first lines you say to him: ‘Are you talking to me?’, obviously in a more respectful way. So believe it or not we all become Travis Bickle in a zoom meeting one way or another. 

The next one is funny enough and relatable to most remote resources working these days. 


Scarface (1983)

Yes Tony Montana in the house, now we at the Staff timer App do not endorse selling or consuming cocaine or any other intoxicating drugs. We all have pets who love us at all times and cannot leave us alone. So whenever we are in a team meeting and little “fluffy” wants to pay us a visit. We all become a sober and less harmful Tony Montana and raise our pet screaming; ‘Say Hello to my little friend’.

Well with these two out of the way we now turn our attention to a film whose title everyone in this day and age knows, no not “Peaky Blinders”, its:

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Now most of you might not know about this gem of a film but here’s how this represents our lives: exhausting deadlines and never-ending hustles. That’s how! If you do the above mentioned things you are a midnight cowboy. These are strange times when 5 pm has been pushed to 10 am tomorrow.

Time has stretched and trapped us in a loop like ‘limbo’ (introducing a little Christopher Nolan in the list). So we all at this moment are midnight cowboys hustling towards normality and a good night sleep. 

This one is my favourite and one cannot be so accurate while talking about work from home and cinematic jewels. This here ladies and gentleman is not only a great explainer of our lives but also a must-watch classic:


The Groundhog Day (1993)

This title is not only a film but an actual holiday, how about that, so why does it represent our lives at the moment? The film basically talks about a time loop where a person is stuck in a certain town in the North of America and is bound to wake up and do the same things over and again until he finally gets everything right. Sounds similar?

Waking up everyday, following the same routine, doing the same jobs over and again from the same place. A little too close to reality if you ask me. But on the bright side groundhog day is a popular American tradition observed in the United States and Canada as a holiday on February 2nd. We all our on holidays, more or less. Aren’t we?


Hard Target (1993)

Remember the Van Dam brothers? One is a wrestler who became a movie star. This action flick is what we go through everyday. A seemingly unachievable goal in the most unrealistic manner ever, a lot like Hollywood. I mean Vin Diesel still is flipping cars. Everyday we receive a mail saying ‘your goals for today’ and at the end there is a little note saying: ‘I know its hard but you can do it’. So we get on our work mode, strain some coffee, put on our Dre Beats and we start the hustle. 

Now let’s take a dive in James Cameron blockbuster of the century. 


Titanic (1997)

Yes, Di Caprio’s renowned role, one of his greatest ever performances, but you are doing exactly the same. How is it synonymous to work from home though? We are not on a luxurious ship, or on an ongoing journey, or sinking in the middle of the ocean. Not really, no.

However if you see closely, we all are aboard titanic one way or another. When this pandemic started, we were all hopeful that we will win and things will be normal but now it seems we have hit an iceberg and our hopes are sinking. Although there were some survivors in the film, there will be in this scenario too. So let’s not get our hopes down.

So here was our cinematic view of the entire work from home scenario, even if you don’t agree to the list you still have a great bunch of movies to keep you occupied over the weekend. We don’t only track time we keep track of fun too. 

5 ways to survive work from home with Staff timer app

The methodology of saving time is simple, don’t waste it, easier said than done. I can vouch for that. We are living in distressing times. Even in a confined and suitable workplace, time-wasting is an even bigger issue now, surrounded by distractions. Now how to ignore these distractions and stay true to your work from home and remain productive throughout this pandemic. 

However, being distracted by family and other obligations is also a real threat to already turbulent productivity. 

So how does a time management app can help you not only to remain productive but also diminish time-wasting? One may argue that even with the help of a time management app you might still not get the results you are looking for because you still have the same amount of hours to work. Correct but those hours would be more productive and would be spent on tasks rather than slacking or doing fewer priority tasks. 

So here is how getting an app as Staff timer might actually help you increase your productivity and help save your time. 


Time your tasks

The biggest distress is spending too much time on a simple task for some reason. This is not exactly time-wasting but it is not productive either. To counter this there is an absolute need to track the amount of time we spend on each task.

This is the only way we can remain productive in our pursuit of a productive day of work. By timing your tasks you would have an exact idea of how much you have spent on answering an email from the client and how much time it took for you to actually get the job done. 

Stafftimerapp eases your pain with its task timer that can be stopped and turned on as wished by the user. It lets you know how much time you are spending on petty tasks and how much you’re spending on actual priority tasks. It acts as a watchman, which helps you prioritize your tasks and usage of time. 


Keep up the pace

Yea this is a bit weird when it comes to time management apps, but it is an important one because it also calculates active time versus idle. This is a feature that resolves the potential distractions to work.

But it is a good one in the way that your tasks will be completed early; this relieves you from the pressure of overtime and working late. Working late from home is a bigger nuisance as compared to when you were actually going out for work. 

Working late from home can cause anxiety and stress issues. To avoid that it is necessary to keep your focus on work and this app compels you to do exactly that.

By tracking the mouse clicks and keystrokes it calculates the time that is idle and productive. So next time don’t get caught out in those afternoon TV ads about home products and just get the things done instead. 


Breaks are important

Yes even in the management of time the first thing you need to manage is your idle time. You cannot go around idling just because your office got shifted to your own premises. This is where most people get stuck in. Your idle time or break must be a specific time and not more than an hour.

It is understandable that at times creativity gets stuck and you need some time off to cool your brain and relax while you work from home, perfectly normal. The proper way is to take a break for an hour, however, at times we get sucked in a little deeper, and restarting our work becomes a hassle.

But in this environment breaks are essential, working all day will only cause losing productivity but also can be dangerous for mental health. Creative blocks are reality breaks that help tackle them. If you can manage your breaks you have already managed your day better than yesterday. 


Start early 

The best way to keep things in order is to start your day early. It gives you a huge advantage and a head start. Having a jump on time is impossible but you can have a jump over your day by starting early.

Utilize the maximum part of the day in early hours. Get done with long-pending tasks at start and move to the high priority day task. And then to the usual tasks like reporting or posting. This way once you have planned your entire day you will cut out slack and have a fully productive day. 

Doing this will not only help you but also will keep you free of tackling any issues regarding mismanagement during this time.


Record a journal

Remember Rorschach from the Alan Moore comic Watchmen, always started talking with a phrase: “Rorschach journal”. This is exactly what is going to help you. Record a journal of your daily activity so you don’t have anything left at the end of the day. It is always helpful to keep proof of your work from home.

It is really handy. Stafftimerapp really takes a leap in that your entire day is recorded in the form of a working video of your screen which is recorded. Now no one can say that you were caught slacking or you were not available.


Conclusion

Time management or task timing apps such as the Staff timer app prove to be helpful. They not only time your task but also provide you with the lists of tasks done or pending at the same time.

This allows you to organize your day better and be more productive while working from home. Now it doesn’t increase the work hours but it makes those limited work hours productive and useful.

Suddenly when the world has moved indoors it is not beyond imagination that deploying a time tracking software would ease a lot of burden from team leaders and would also increase the overall productivity.

Permanent Remote Work Policy – To be or not to be?

Some biggest Tech giants including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Microsoft, Amazon along with many others shifted to remote work in early March. They allowed their employees to work from home as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread.

Google, Facebook, Twitter… just to name a few have implemented serious remote work policies and practices for all of their employees around the globe. Despite pressure from the government to reopen places to revive a dying economy, these same tech titans have decided to continue working from home permanently or until 2021 at least.

Twitter

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey emailed his employees to break the big news! Saying that the employees can work from home permanently even after the coronavirus pandemic lockdown ends. According to resources, Twitter was one of the first major tech companies to announce that they are going remote in response to the pandemic.

Similarly, Facebook and Google told their employees they can work from home till the end of the year. But Twitter was one step ahead, of course! 

The same order was extended to Square employees as well:

“We want employees to be able to work where they feel most creative and productive,” said the representative “Moving forward, Squares will be able to work from home permanently, even once offices begin to reopen. Over the past several weeks, we’ve learned a lot about what it takes for people to effectively perform roles outside of an office, and we will continue to learn as we go.”

Many big companies have finally realized that there are many positions within the company that can work from home easily. According to Dorsey himself, ‘the pandemic has proven that we can make it work.’

Google

After twitter’s big announcement, why should Google stay behind? After all, it’s Google we are talking about! In May, Google also announced that employees can work from home through the rest of the year and only those can join the office from June/July who really needs to, proper precautions are set in place and will be followed. 

Microsoft

Microsoft employees can continue to work from home for the time being. Even as the pandemic passes and orders of staying home are lightly and gradually lifted across the US, the company has told the employees that they can keep working from home through October.

“When restrictions are lifted, working from home will remain optional through October unless employees are in an essential role that local authorities mandate otherwise,” the representative said.

Microsoft is one of the biggest tech giants there is. The company has more than 144,000 employees around the world and according to statistics around 85,000 are in the USA. 

Facebook

Since permanent remote work is trending. Facebook decided to go with it as well. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will allow permanent remote work for many of its existing employees. Few of facebook’s offices will open from July but only for 25% of employees. 

“We’re going to be the most forward-leaning company on remote work at our scale,” Zuckerberg says. “We need to do this in a way that’s thoughtful and responsible, so we’re going to do this in a measured way. But I think that it’s possible that over the next five to 10 years — may be closer to 10 than five, but somewhere in that range — I think we could get to about half of the company working remotely permanently.”

Apple

Where some tech giants are letting employees work from home either till October or the end of the year. Apple decides otherwise! 

Apple has been facing some secrecy issues and road bumps while working remotely. So it has decided to open the offices for employees who are working on confidential products. Apple will execute this strategy in phases. In the first phase, only those employees will be asked to join who are facing challenges while executing their work from home especially those who work on hardware related projects. 

On the other hand, Amazon has told employees who can work from home can continue to do so until October 2.

Is permanently working from home a solution?

According to a survey by Gartner, companies who have been forced to work from home because of the COVID-19 may continue to work from home even after the virus ends. 

According to a survey of 317 CFOs and business finance leaders. Gartner states that ‘74 percent of those surveyed expect at least 5 percent of their workforce who previously worked in company offices will become permanent work-from-home employees after the pandemic ends.’

The pandemic has literally forced employees to work from home. The transition was rather abrupt. Companies are extending their work from the home timeline to several more months now as the outbreak keeps spreading. This prolonged situation and the absence from offices has given birth to the debate whether workers will ever see the light of the day or be able to enjoy the physical working environment rather than virtual.

Even due to the available technology and digital solutions a little percentage around the globe worked from the comfort of their homes. Just in a few days, the percentage has risen rapidly. According to many resources, the transition is so transformative that employers might not let their employees come back to offices.

But we don’t see it as a permanent solution because if the remote work continues, it can lead to depression because of loneliness and minimum social interaction. Depression limits creativity and problem-solving capabilities and companies fear that work might suffer and collaboration may wither, so on and so forth.

Why has this change become so significant?

This change has seemed to become significant and permanent. Why? Simply because it benefits everyone, employees, or employers alike. Employees don’t have to spend time and energy on commuting to work. They can also maintain a proper work-life balance and productivity.

boost your productivity while working from home With STaff Timer app


On the other hand, companies have many financial benefits. Their expenses and spending are controlled which in return is keeping the cost in check. Many organizations that were resistant towards going remote had major concerns about employee productivity and data security.

But the pandemic has forced companies to go home despite the challenges and barriers of working from home. And let them explore opportunities that can increase employee productivity and lift barriers while working from home offices. Having said that, not everyone is suitable for working from home. For some it is effortless but for others not so good. 

Varying perspectives on remote work – To be or not to be?

    • The pandemic has proved that people are capable of working from home, with the same amount of productivity (or maybe more) than before.
    • Companies are more likely to save money and minimize expenses that come with monthly bills accumulated with other costs.
    • Working from home brings quality work to the table.
    • The pandemic is making companies invest in remote solutions and infrastructure to streamline work better.
    • But some employers want the control that comes with people working in the office environment aren’t very happy.
    • Working from home may or may not shift the cost from the company to employees in order to retain and motivate them better.

The bottom line is every company moving towards the future of remote working has had problems. And they might continue to face them unless they come up with the right solution because remote working doesn’t suit all. 

5 reasons why Staff timer app is effective for design teams

Effective websites and apps are based on features that often provide solutions not only to the user but also to the product owner. An app or website is only as good as its design. Otherwise, it is nothing more than a colored writing tool. So for this purpose, your designs must be near to reality and backed well by research on any possible aspect of it. Although most of the design teams are now equipped with skills of coding which make them much more capable to design an automated app or web that would also clearly portray the product in its realistic form. 

The relation between design and development is interdependent; a design can only be relevant if it is reflected directly into development. So for you to have an App and Web developed it better be designed good enough that the user is never confused and always finds what he is looking for. 

So how does Stafftimerapp fit in all of this? How during this era Staff timer app is indispensable when it comes to design teams who are mostly working remotely? This is how the Staff timer app can help your design team provide solutions to clients.

See how Staff timer app can you reach your design milestones


Communication is the key

Although every idea is unique in one way or another. Mostly they are just offshoots of existing ideas. So it is always better to have communications with your clients regarding your idea for a product and also to see how far off you or they are from the original concept.

Staff timer app provides audio notes that allow you to provide the latest information and feedback regarding designs and processes. Having staff timer app will not only manage your remotely working design teams but also help you keep in touch with their progress.


Feedback is the way forward

The first step to designing anything is obviously penning down the initial concept, and you work from that concept to reach your ultimate goal. However “no design is the final design”, there are feedbacks even in the last moments.

To save yourself from the hassle of doing the entire process all over again you can keep the channel open and through screen monitoring feature stay on top of the entire process, anything that needs to be changed can be changed right there and then. Your instant feedback will help your team get on the right track and also provide you with the finest work possible. 


Battle the “designer’s block”

Designing a process is a long time taking task and can get tedious and might even come across a designer block. This will cause the entire process to freeze up.

How to work with this, the best way is to divert attention and do something else for that time. The staff timer app allows you to change the task and add team members in different projects. This way your team remains fresh and nothing gets too monotonous and they can return when you feel it is the right time.


Approve and disregard on the spot

This here is the part that really affects design teams, the approval of the client, and your own also. With the staff timer app, you are 24/7 in the loop and are attuned with the entire process of design.

The designs of a product have evolved right in front of you. So instead of waiting for the process to develop and product to be finalized. If something doesn’t sit right, you can stop the entire process right away. Similarly, you can keep on checking the to-do list of design because you are right in the midst of it. 


Transparency within design teams

Now we understand designing is a process that requires a lot of budget at times. With the majority of the firms now outsourcing for these skills, you can easily set aside a hefty budget for your design teams. However this might not be all true, you do not actually need a lot of budget for designing effective products.

Mostly you need a good concept and a trustworthy designer that understands the concept. Since freelancers are rarely on the spot while taking on your project. You, in all honesty, is traveling down a blind alley. 

Staff timer app provides you with a simple yet effective solution while it comes fully stacked. Another feature that can help you set a budget for your designs is the ability to measure the total billable hours.  This is a bonus feature, now no one can scam you. Pay for the work, not for the slack. Staff timer app builds a relationship on the basis of transparency and you can relax. 


The bottom line

Conceptualizing a design is only half a task and the easy task to some extent. However, to recreate that design into something tangible is the real task. This task is tedious and time taking and requires unique skill sets.

For every design to be able to speak for itself it must always be well thought out and simple. Anything too complex may look good on the screen but mostly will annoy users into not opting for it. So for your design to see the light of the smartphone or the HD screens it is absolutely important that you grace the entire process with Staff timer app so you never go off in the wrong direction.

Most of your designs are going to come to life by the hands of freelancers. And with staff timer app you have clear billable hours in front of you so no one can scam you for anything. Plus it is always good to keep your product within your sight and the Staff timer app allows you to just do that. 

8 ways to communicate and collaborate effectively with your remote teams

Every global organization is very well aware that effective communication among remote teams is crucial for success. But if you have a remote team, communicating effectively with them has always been challenging. A lot of important details can be lost over long messages or emails. 

So how can you have better communication with your teams dispersed globally? Staff timer app, like a lot of budding startups, has a very flexible remote work policy. Almost 10% of our team members work remotely full time, with many more shifting to remote work partially. We know, shifting to remote working arrangements makes communication and collaboration pretty daunting at first, but if you follow the simple tips given below with your remote teams, you are sure to see a difference. 


Accept That There Will Be Challenges!

As mentioned above remote work has its own challenges. Specifically, if you have never worked in an office setting before. Adapting to remote work, making your own work schedule, using digital means of communication, and learning can be a hassle. Sometimes working from home can make you feel unproductive. But if you are aware of the challenges yourself and willing to accept them only then you will be prepared to face them one on one. 

Before you transition to remote work, lay out a proper plan about difficulties that you may face such as team communication, meetings, distractions, and so on and so forth. Note them down and develop solutions on how you can best tackle them while you are away. A detailed policy document can do the trick! 


Check-in Daily With Your Teams

Working remotely can make you feel isolated at times. With no one around to bug, you may start to feel lonely at times. So it is crucial to check up on your team daily. Ask them about their daily tasks. One best solution is to have video meetings to catch up on things.

Always have open lines of communication. Have weekly, monthly meetings but along with that stay prepared for any ad hoc calls too. Checking in with your employees not only boosts their morale but they can also share any or all issues they are facing. As far as the checking on the progress of employees is concerned, so that you stay on the same page as them is through the Staff timer app. 

Intelligence reports can give you a sneak peek into daily work activities that make it easier to track daily tasks. Through real-time monitoring and screenshots, you can track roadblocks and progress that may otherwise go unnoticed.


Recognize Your Team’s Efforts

When employees are working from home, they might feel disconnected from their peers or may feel that their efforts are not recognized or acknowledged. You can prevent this if as an employer you make it an obligation on yourself to recognize your teams’ accomplishments and point out good work by giving a quick shout out through email or the company’s public communication channel. There’s nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment and success.


Watch That Tone with your remote teams

One of the biggest challenges of written communication is its ability to be misunderstood. Without facial expression or body language that we usually use to identify meaning, messages can sometimes appear as rude, when they weren’t meant to be.

That’s why it’s important that you thoroughly review each message or email before hitting send. Just ensure that your message is rightly conveying the meaning behind it. Pro tip: using emojis can help lighten up the tone of the message. 


Use Team Collaboration Tools

Digital tools matter a lot while working in remote teams. Many companies have said that they can not live without project management or collaboration tools such as slack, zoom, google docs, and the like. Some of the most frequently used tools for remote team collaboration are listed below:

    • Staff timer app: Time and task tracking
    • Asana: Project management
    • Basecamp:  Staying in touch with the client, also project management
    • GitHub :  Version control
    • Google Suite : For emails and collaboration
    • Google hangouts/meet :  One-on-one and group meetings
    • Dropbox: Document sharing
    • Google Docs: Document sharing and collaboration
    • Salesforce :  CRM
    • Hubspot: CRM
    • Slack: Company-wide communication
    • Trello : Project management and communication
    • Skype: For client meetings and calls
    • Zendesk : Support
    • Zoom :  Videoconferencing


Encourage Group Discussions and Feedback

It is important for you to encourage group discussion and open and honest feedback with your remote teams. Encourage them to ask questions, so that they can have a clear understanding of the subject at hand and tasks. This not only decreases errors but also increases your remote team members’ confidence to ask questions. At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to make sure that your messages are effectively and clearly communicated to them. 

Also, you can get honest feedback out of your employees by showing that you are interested in paying attention to what they have to say. As an employer, you can also make mistakes so if ever you are wrong about anything instead of going into defensive mode, try to willingly own them. 


Switch to Video Conferencing

Email is a useful way of non-verbal communication, but if you need fast responses, you should turn to video chat. It offers a more personalized communication because it lets you see body language and expressions. There’s no room for misunderstanding.


Some Intentional Fun is Good

One of the tried and tested ways to improve team collaboration is by having some virtual fun. Crack appropriate jokes, celebrate birthdays, have virtual lunch, and learn sessions for socializing. It helps remote teams to connect with each other and perform better with a refreshed mind. It also makes them feel special and included no matter the distance.

5 Project Management Trends in 2020

Project management is one of the crucial business disciplines for eons now and is always in the spotlight.  Every other company wants to find a better, more innovative way to manage their projects to effectively improve the productivity of their teams (big and small businesses alike), and to do so they prefer using the changing ways of project management. 

As technological changes are ramping up, it’s important to know how these changes have impacted organizations in managing and executing projects. So industry professionals should always be ready to ride the tide!

Here we are going to discuss the most important Project Management trends in 2020. Because these project management trends are here to stay and will impact your teams, your clients, and your approach towards work. So be prepared:

The Inclusion of Artificial Intelligence and Automation in Project Management

Just like many other prominent industries such as Healthcare, Software development, and Finance, the global impact of AI can be seen in the applications of Project management as well. Many organizations have inculcated the use of AI to streamline their day to day work activities and productivity through task tracking and automation. They have been using AI-based tools to not only automate tasks but to get deeper insights into the overall performance levels. 

One such example is the Staff timer app. It is a time tracking software. This application uses Screenshots to track time which is captured after specific intervals and then sorts the screenshots using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. After sorting statistical analysis, reports containing billable and non-billable hours are generated. In the end, you get extensive reports for the work done on projects.

Such tools help organizations in making smart and informed future decisions based on the insights and data available. Which in return helps them save useful resources that would otherwise go to waste. Most importantly, project managers should embrace AI in their processes and then learn how to take advantage of it for successful project completion.

Hybrid Project Management Approaches

There is no denying the fact that no one size fits all. Meaning no one project management technique can work for different teams. This is where the idea of hybrid project management approaches comes in. This concept has been a center of attention for a number of industries out there. That is why we can see many project managers working with or combining more than one project management methodologies to get promising results. 

Implementing a hybrid model can help you bring all your projects, tasks, teams, communication at one spot which further will help you keep track of everything from a centralized place. Plus point, this brings in more stability, engagement, productivity, and efficiency among teams and work. But first, it’s important to understand which approach works the best for you, or the amalgam of it, to proceed further. 

A Rapid Shift to Remote Work

We can see many workplaces shifting to remote work in this Pandemic but it’s not new. Many companies have preferred working remotely way before that and it’s not going to stop. According to Gallup: 

“Remote working has been on the rise since 2012: from 39% in 2012 to 43% in 2016. The desire to work remotely is here to stay and it isn’t limited to a few select industries.”

Remote project management is one of the many challenges that companies face. Staff timer app itself deals with remote employees and we know how difficult it is to stay ahead of things. But with challenges come many benefits. Remote working not only brings in more flexibility but also no commuting. If we look at it from a project manager’s perspective, project costs are reduced. Additionally, you get a chance to work with diverse talent from all around the world. 

Since remote working itself is a trend, project managers can arrange daily even weekly meetings to check the progress of tasks. Make teams accountable for their performance using the Staff timer app or other tools at their disposal.

Risk Assessment and Competitiveness

This is one of the key trends in project management in 2020. It has been continuing from 2019 and still going strong. But now it has put more focus on Risk management. As more and more players are entering the market every day, competition is exponentially increasing at a rapid rate.

The reason why having a risk management strategy in place is crucial. It not only helps global companies in reducing the impact of threats but also gives them an advantage over each other. There is no denying the fact and minimum risks mean maximum chances of success. Eventually leading to more ROI and a stable customer base. 

So in order to avoid future risks, one should identify risks through various risk assessment techniques such as SWOT analysis beforehand including potential threats, strengths, weaknesses, and future opportunities to have a clear picture.

Need for Organizational Collaboration

Nowadays companies depend on continuous collaboration. Teams work together in order to meet the deadlines. In 2020, we can see more collaboration tools, tips, and tricks paving its way into the industry. 

Communication is an important part of the collaboration. We saw how emotional intelligence and communication have increased business value over the past few years. So it’s important as project managers to keep improving their business and communication skills.

Some of the steps that project managers can take:

    • Creating a proper communication plan
    • Being specific about the communication and collaboration channels 

Make sure you and your team are on the same page as you and the Staff timer app can help you greatly with it. It provides you clear project management tools to communicate your tasks with your team. It also provides various customized options to meet your organizational needs. 

Few challenges of working from home and how to avoid them

During the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, many companies have shifted to ‘work from home’ policy. Some of us, such as freelancers, writers, and developers are already familiar with the very notion of working remotely. But this is a very first experience for many other global teams and companies, forced by events obviously. Remote work does sound wonderful because of its many advantages such as no daily commute, no stress of work or waking up early, most of all home-made food! As good as it sounds, working from home is definitely not without troubles and challenges! 

It’s important to overcome the challenges whether you are permanently working remotely or are currently a remote worker. Not only will you be happier and more productive but you will also succeed in transitioning towards this new work arrangement.

Here are a few common remote-work challenges and how to fight them.

Separating work and professional life

It’s evident when you work from home, it becomes harder to have a clear boundary between work and personal space. Ideally, your home is a place where you unwind after a long day, feel safe and secure. It’s a place when you put all the stress related to work behind you. So when you are working from home, sometimes we might lose track of the time and even after working hours we are compelled to check that one last email or slack notification or even a meeting call. 

This is why it is important you set aside a separate physical space for work and a separate place for relaxing once you are done. Also, advise your family to respect your boundaries. And for you, invest your time in your family after working hours are over and avoid checking up on any work-related notifications. Eventually, the clearer the boundaries, the better you will be able to distinguish between work and personal life. 

Working more than expected

One of the many reasons why managers don’t approve of employees to work remotely is because they fear that the employees might dodge work if they have no manager overlooking them.  But, in many cases the opposite seems to be true; meaning remote workers over-work. Just like mentioned above, when your professional and private life is under the same roof, it becomes difficult to keep the two distinctive.  

Also, sometimes we lose track of when the work time starts and when it ends, which can be pretty exhausting and we are unable to realize it even. One way to avoid overworking is to set reminders to take regular break intervals after every hour or so. Either take a walk outside the house, have a tea break, or walk to the kitchen to even fill up your glass of water can be immensely helpful and ultimately make you more productive. 

Distractions, distractions, distractions!

Even if you have a dedicated working space or have a set work schedule, you can still be prone to many distractions in your environment.  Staying productive can be really challenging. It can become difficult to focus on when your family and personal chores are surrounding you. So it’s crucial to remove these distractions before they get out of hand. One of the effective techniques is to move yourself to a separate home office space as mentioned above. But also making sure that your home office is too free of distractions. Moreover, you can use noise-canceling earphones to steer clear of noise. 

Once you are free of distractions, only then you will be able to work efficiently and measure your daily productivity. Another way to stay on course is to use a time management software (try Staff Timer app), which allows you to log tasks and know the total time spent on them. Just the act of keeping track of your time can make you more aware of where your time is going. You can see your work patterns and improve accordingly.

Feeling lonely when working from home

Feeling lonely is one of the biggest challenges that remote workers are facing nowadays. This physical separation has made workers feel less connected to their social circle and company. Humans tend to have social needs but when people are confined to just working remotely without any socializing, it can add to declining mental health and even productivity. Meeting and socializing at work not only strengthen bonds but also connectedness between teams. 

So it is important to make your remote teams feel included even while apart. There are a few ways remote employees can avoid loneliness by working outside the home once in a while. Use video conferencing tools to communicate with your team. Schedule team-wide virtual meetings that allow employees to connect virtually especially in this period of a worldwide pandemic. 

Communication challenges

While working from home it becomes super difficult to stay on the same page as the rest of the team. Instant messaging, emails, calls are just some of the ways through which employers and employees stay in touch. But sometimes people can misinterpret them in a big way. Team and task collaboration tools like Staff timer exist specifically to make it easier for companies to stay organized and easily delegate tasks to their members via voice notes.

Moreover, different time zones can add to your nightmare. You might be waking up just when your teammate is going to bed. That means you can’t always rely on your team members to be available to solve any issue when needed immediately. So it is important to keep the lines of communication open and according to schedule.  

How to Make Remote Working Easy with StaffTimerApp

After the outbreak of COVID-19  in January, billions of people around the globe now have to sit at home in isolation to help stop the virus from spreading. With everyone indoors, many places such as schools, offices, and companies are facing problems to maintain operations.


Why is remote working so challenging?

It’s much easier to manage when working together in the workplace. Your manager’s presence allows tasks and pointers available at any time. Being present as a team allows more participation through discussions and feedback. But when everyone is separated, it’s hard to avoid the feeling of being lost. Especially for a manager who won’t be able to know how his team is working.

How can you make your workday at home go smoothly?

Although StaffTimer is a great solution to only a part of this problem. You can do more by following these steps:

Step 1: Start with priorities.

Begin each day with a clear mind about which tasks to do first. The focus helps get your goals more efficiently and quickly.

Step 2: Just do it!

Stop anything that gives you the feeling of procrastination even in the slightest. Too sleepy in the morning? Take a cold shower and breakfast when you wake up. Not motivated enough? Listen to uplifting music and give yourself small breaks after doing big tasks.

Step 3: No distractions.

Keep yourself isolated and away from anything that can make you lose your focus. Put your phone out of sight and out of mind. Set some ground rules with your loved ones so they don’t disturb you during your work hours. Make your workspace the best place at home where you can be alone with your job.

Step 4: Learn from your mistakes.

It’s like what Master Yoda once said, “Failure is the greatest teacher.” It’s okay to fail at your tasks as long as you learn and know how to do it right the next time. Making failure motivate you instead of letting you down can be a big game-changer for your working style.

Step 5: Break big tasks into small simpler pieces.

If you were told to write a book, it would take you more time to get it done than it would for George R. R. Martin. This is because you see it as a monumental task to deliver something so big at once. But if you were told to write one chapter each day, you’ll be done writing that book sooner than expected.

Step 6: Good is better than perfect.

Telling your inner perfectionist to take a hike will do wonders for you. You don’t need to spend too much time on a thing just because it’s not as perfect as you want it to be. As long as it’s done right, you can work on the improvements later.

Step 7: Keep yourself on track.

Time is your most valuable asset; you can’t get it back once it’s gone. It’s really crucial you spend the right amount of time on a task so you can allow yourself to get the rest of the things on your list done too.

How to keep track of time with the StaffTimer App?

Luckily for you, StaffTimer is the simplest time-tracker in the market. Just start it up, enter your task and you’re good to go! It’ll note down the amount of time you spend on each you do. With the rest of its features, you can make most out of each day being as productive as you can be.

What else can the StaffTimer App do?

Here’s a list of all the things the app can do for you:

Real-Time Monitoring

You can keep track of your team’s tasks as they happen. By using the live screen sharing tool, you can make it easy to work remotely with others and give feedback. This prevents them from doing anything that would affect their productivity and work.

Keystrokes & Mouse Activity

StaffTimer App records the number of keystrokes and mouse clicks every minute. This allows tracking the time spent being idle or active during a task.

Intelligence Reports

Get detailed reports about your employee’s productivity based on the day’s activities which include the time spent on each app’s usage and URLs visited.

Screenshots Every Minute

StaffTimer App can optionally take screenshots at the intervals of your choice. Even if you lose your internet connection, you can keep your tasks recorded offline.

Record and Assign

You can assign tasks to your team members using voice messages as well. This saves time you’d spend arranging an online meeting or call.

Daily Work Video

Get a summary of your day’s work through a small video every day.

Conclusion

Hopefully, with these tips and StaffTimerApp, you will be more than ready to face the next day of work at home. It might even be possible for companies to consider keeping their workers at home once they realize the benefits. You may never know.

How BPOs and Call Centers can benefit with StaffTimer

Most companies look to utilising BPO when in the initial stages of their business. They are a popular option for entrepreneurs primarily for one reason – they’re cheap. Despite these tough times, BPOs continue to operate with work from home arrangements. This makes them very essential at this moment for the survival of businesses.

What is a BPO?

It stands for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). It is the process of taking non-core activities of a business and outsourcing it to a third party. These have advantages and disadvantages of their own. Call centers are a form of BPO centers that deal with inbound and outbound call services such as providing sales, customer service and technical support, etc.

Why depend on BPO?

Businesses seek BPO services for many reasons. Some of these advantages are:

24/7 Customer care

Perhaps the biggest advantage is that businesses will be able to provide customer support as call centers continue to operate around the clock.

Reduced Costs

BPO saves the cost of having an in-house customer support staff due to difference in wages between countries.

Professional Staff

Businesses can save time and money to get staff trained for customer services when call centers offer trained agents instantly.

Business Stability

While saving costs and running professional customer support by a third party, businesses can focus on their own core services and ensure things continue to run smoothly.

What are the biggest challenges for a call center?

All call centers face problems keeping businesses running smoothly. However, there are issues that are very troublesome:

Low Budget


This is one of the biggest bottlenecks BPOs face. From poor internet connection to IT issues. Having a bad budget affects the quality of work delivered.

Lack of Skill

Being based in developing or third world countries, employees lack the fluency and common knowledge of the people living in the countries where the outsourcing company resides. This creates frequent confusion, poor communication and bad treatment from customers.

Absenteeism


Continuous and demanding schedules take a heavy toll on employees’ well-being. Hectic routines may cause them to appear less for work.

Low Career Growth and Engagement


There isn’t much room to progress for the agent. Not being motivated enough or encouraged contributes a lot to the lack of a team’s performance.

Manager Attrition


Even managers cannot take it much longer with stressful and grueling work routines. With them frequently leaving the company, call centers suffer the lack of a proper advisor and leader very often.

Bad First Contact Resolution


One of the most common issues faced by call centers is during First Contact Resolution. Callers who have to call again to resolve their issues often respond with low customer satisfaction.

Why is time management important to call centers?

Other than maintaining quality and staff performance, the most important thing to manage is time for many reasons:

  • BPOs may have a lot of clients across the globe and seeing how much companies need them, they cannot afford to lose these clients to competitors which makes the survival of their own business difficult. 
  • These centers may have a lot of employees that work different shifts because of timezones. 
  • BPOs depend on offering their services continuously so it’s extremely important to ensure productivity stays consistent around the clock.

How to Increase Call Center Performance?

Using a time-tracking software like StaffTimer will help boost employees’ productivity and improve results in many ways:

  • Track how long agents are productive during their shift
  • Note the tasks and activities they do throughout the day
  • Get in-depth reports on their productivity
  • Monitor their activity in real-time to see how they handle calls
  • Assign tasks to specific people through text or voice messages.
  • Get daily videos for each agents’ summary of tasks and activities.
  • Track their idle and productive time via keystrokes and mouse click intensity every minute.

Final thoughts

Using BPOs is an effective way to save money and manpower so that businesses can dedicate more resources to their core services. But it’s important to ensure the vendor they choose does a good job to satisfy needs. This will allow the level of customer satisfaction and longevity of a business to increase significantly.