Emergency remote work plan

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to design digital workplaces or “offices in the cloud.” These environments enable companies to allow flexible and remote working for their teams. I also teach the digital literacy, fluency, communication and collaboration skills needed to work in these modern technology-rich workplaces.

A few days ago I was in a conversation with Emma El-Karout and Sherisa Rajah where we discussed what South African businesses need to do in the emergency we now face where people are forced to physically distance. (You can see a recording here)

In it I mentioned that businesses must keep things really simple especially if they don’t have remote working as a core competency.

The team at GitLab Inc. produced an excellent guide and a great video interview on the subject of emergency remote work.

One thing they mention is to “minimize your tool stack” They say:

“While functioning remotely, strip the tool stack down to a minimum. Google Docs, a company-wide chat tool (like Microsoft Teams or Slack), and Zoom are all you need to start.”

I agree with this completely. Keep it simple, especially in an emergency situation.