In addition to technical resources, it’s ideal to have socio-technical supports for folks who are/may work remotely.
Working from home can be lonely and difficult. Technical tools like MS Teams can help with chat features, and zoom for connecting on meetings. Socio-technical practices like daily stand-up meetings and shared readings are useful.
Programming, digital project management, and other digital teams offer these ideas:
Meetings for 1 hour End After 50 Minutes (and 25 for 30 minute meetings)
Working from home means no time, even for walking from one meeting to the next, so people recommend that meetings that would be an hour should end after 50 minutes (and 30 minute meetings should end at 25 minutes). Doing this gives space to breathe and be, and prevents an endless stream of Zoom meetings.
Daily watercooler/stand-up meetings:
These are short daily meetings done at the same time each day, where people literally stand-up (to encourage folks to be concise) and give their updates and plans for the day (https://www.agilealliance.org/glossary/daily-meeting/). Daily stand-ups are a best practice, and are very useful for productivity and connection. These have developed from agile programming practices and because, with so many programmers working remotely across the world, programming management practices have evolved to support remote workers.
Regular online social hour (can be work-related, like a reading group):
Creating designated social time for connection, often with focused activities like games or readings, are important for keeping teams together and supporting connection. There are many articles online with ideas for team building for remote workers (e..g, https://biz30.timedoctor.com/virtual-team-building/, https://medium.com/better-programming/9-actions-to-boost-knowledge-sharing-among-development-teams-ad5f7acd2048 and https://www.npr.org/2020/03/15/815973389/virtual-happy-hour-anyone-working-from-home-but-keeping-connected). Many of us have experience with this in the form of online readings done with our professional communities. Implementing the work-focused daily meetings and a work-related and regular social time is a best practice for remote work.
Informal Check-ins and Animated GIFs:
Provide maximum flexibility:
See this article from Slate which reminds “Employers relying on a newly remote workforce should be offering maximum flexibility in these difficult times.” https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/03/coronavirus-working-from-home-remote-workforce-telework.html
Appropriate or minimal technology (the lowest possible computational power that meets the core needs) are great to remember. MS Teams may be best for some groups for some work; a text message group may be best for many more. Remember to use the technology to support your needs, and contact Library IT to have us consult with you on your needs, attend meetings, and/or participate with and support your team to help the technology enable your work and your team cohesion.
*If you have 2 factor authentication enabled, please have your mobile device with you so you can approve the logon through the 2 factor authentication app.
The VPN service is supported by UFIT. If you encounter issues connecting to the VPN service please contact the UFIT helpdesk at (352) 392-HELP (4357) or helpdesk@ufl.edu . This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
*If you have 2 factor authentication enabled, please have your mobile device with you so you can approve the logon through the 2 factor authentication app.
The VPN service is supported by UFIT. If you encounter issues connecting to the VPN service please contact the UFIT helpdesk at (352) 392-HELP (4357) or helpdesk@ufl.edu . This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you have any questions or need help, please submit a Grover or call 273-2800
*If you have 2 factor authentication enabled, please have your mobile device with you so you can approve the logon through the 2 factor authentication app.
The VPN service is supported by UFIT. If you encounter issues connecting to the VPN service please contact the UFIT helpdesk at (352) 392-HELP (4357) or helpdesk@ufl.edu . This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you have any questions or need help, please submit a Grover or call 273-2800
In case of remote work, resources from Lauren Pasquarella Daley, Senior Director for Women and the Future of Work at Catalyst, that provide insight to managing remote teams inclusively:
The Library Middle Managers recommended that Joint Chairs discuss the question of "Are there tools for working remotely that people still need?" in order to provide an exchange of ideas (Oh, our department is using....). In support of this, Library Technology Services created this Google Doc, editable by anyone with a UFL email address and shared with Joint Chairs to help share on tools/methods people are using and for folks to describe what is still needed: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18uS3xOXrWAIiVDpueseNRGDdJwl3qwK900j2-opklmM/edit?usp=sharing
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