7 Important Points of the "Work From Home" Strategy from Gojek

The COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia has prompted a number of companies in Jakarta to start testing the "Work From Home" or WFH policy since Monday, March 15 2020. This policy is no exception for startups. unicorn, including Gojek.

This decision inevitably has to be taken by company officials to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus which is increasingly unstoppable, especially in the DKI Jakarta area as the center of the economy in Indonesia.

As for, Gojek be one that pays more attention to WFH policies. It is not stated whether this policy applies to all employees or not. Management side Gojek said they were testing it work from home for a short period.

"Compared to the combination of employees working from the office and home, or from home for 1-2 days, it feels like working full time from home has its own unique challenges. Having teams spread across multiple locations means there are a number of different ways to communicate with each other, make decisions and connect with one another." Gojek.

For that, the following DailySocial summarizes a number of important notes from Gojek for managers and staff. This note if it can be guidance for new startups.

Setting boundaries when working from home

Prepare work space separately in one spot of your house. This is important to create a comfortable, focused work atmosphere, and avoid distractions. Don't forget, for those who are married and have children, you need to give a "signal" that this is your time to start working.

But, don't hesitate or worry, if your child makes a sound or suddenly appears on the screen while you're doing conference call with the team. They must understand.

prepare channel to communicate

Communication is the most important element in work. And now Slack becomes "virtual workspaces" which is most widely used by professionals. Well, make sure your status is to stay "online" so that managers know that you are always active to be contacted.

It should also be understood that the response in the office will certainly be different from at home. To manage your expectations in communication, make sure the entire team and manager prepare alternative communication channels if the internet connection is unstable. Email and WhatsApp for example.

Over-communicate does not matter

Because they are not under the same office roof, of course there will be adjustments when communicating between teams. For example coordinating work problems. In some cases, don't assume that your team knows it all.

So, it never hurts to reiterate--if necessary repeatedly--about what you are doing. This is to reduce the potential for ambiguity/miscommunication/misinformation from your team.

Manage daily productivity

As a manager, one of the other challenges of WFH is managing and measuring the productivity of each person on your team. To make it easier for you to get started, you can set a work schedule, if necessary, make it in Google Calendar to your team.

Then, manage your expectations of team productivity. First, set andshare everything to your team. For example, telling what to do today or how to deal with a crisis in a situation. The clearer and more concise your team's daily processes and plans are, the less likely it is that your team will get confused and ask questions.

Next, ensure to your team that the time is worth the effort. One of the advantages of working in the same room is the quick response from your team. Since working from different locations, encourage your team to work on a task smartly easy, not long.

Manage focus on work

When you're working from home, a day will just go by just checking Slack and email. As the team head, you need to arrange time with your team about when you will receive reports. If you need to make provisions, such as report in the morning and evening.

On the other hand, you also have load work that needs to be done. Set a priority for work and turn off Slack or email temporarily so you can focus more. This can be done while waiting for your team to finish their work and report back to you.

Lighten up the mood with emojis

In situations like this, we will become more sensitive. Thus, this becomes reminder for head level and staff to always be careful in speaking and gesturing, both verbal and written. To reduce tension, you can use tone more subtly by saying "Please" and "Thank you". If necessary, include an emoji like this 🙏.

Don't forget to take a break

Working from home is indeed very challenging considering that home is a place to rest, not work. Well, in this case, there are times when you will be very focused on doing something. Don't forget to take about 1-2 hours to take a break from the computer.

Every now and then you can do a little exercise by stretching your body. Or you can do other relaxing things, like cook or water the plants, before going back to your computer.