In a time of so much uncertainty and change, we think it’s critical to support one another the way we know best.

As the virtual working experts, we want to share our expertise and knowledge. Our team of Virtual Marketing Managers have put together some key recommendations.

From our virtual team to yours; these are our top tips for making ‘virtual’ work for your business.

Prioritise strong communication, focusing on two-way dialogue

Adapt the way you communicate. Creating engaging, two-way conversation is vital when face to face communication is not available. Of course, it is still important to voice necessary goals, strategies and action items to your team each day and week. However, keep in mind the importance of the conversation being two way. Try to avoid always talking at your people. It is vital to listen, hear, understand and answer to create a level of respect.
TIP: Emojis, when used in context, are a great way of reinforcing business values, positive sentiment and good intent.

Leverage virtual tools to share progress

For many people, getting into the office at X time, getting XYZ done, leaving at X time and arriving home provides them with a sense of accomplishment. When working remotely, the team aren’t able to quickly share their wins in an informal spoken setting at work. So in order for teams to stay motivated and feel like they’re ticking off goals, we can recommend some great tools.
TIP: Monday.com is a fantastic organisational tool which is easy, visual and intuitive and allows progress tracking at a glance in the form of bar charts and % completion logs.  

Encourage a “normal” morning routine

Both yourself and your team should not skip your normal routine BEFORE you log on.
Like a “normal” day, encourage team members to exercise at the same time, shower and get dressed for work and eat breakfast before they log on. This might sound super basic, but it can be easy to slip into the habit of jumping online when you finish your morning workout and before you know it, it’s 12pm and you haven’t eaten breakfast or lunch.

Daily 15min WIP sprint call

Organise a 15 min sprint call to meet online at a set time each day. Encourage everyone to come prepared with their high-level action points of attention for the day - this doesn’t require notes but a simple list from each team member. This is a really important daily session that will give all teammates a gauge of what everyone is working on. This needs to stay top level, and any follow-ups should be scheduled as secondary sessions after this meeting. Most importantly, stick to the time limit, to prevent it becoming a tiresome meeting that everyone dreads.
Tip: We like to encourage this to be done as a ‘walking’ meeting. Due to the fast and high level nature of the WIP, there’s no need to be sitting in front of a computer to take the call. It’ll give everyone some fresh air and the movement will stimulate clear and creative thoughts.

Personal conversations will help to maintain morale

Working remotely can often mean that communication tools become a mesh of personal and professional conversations, which can often result in poor productivity. On the other side, discouraging all personal conversations in work time is not the right approach.
TIP:  It can be really helpful to create a non-work channel (on your chosen tool like Slack or WhatsApp) for the team to discuss all things non-work. Encouraging this conversation and “banter” is really important for maintaining culture and building morale.
In a time of so much uncertainty and change, we think it’s critical to support one another the way we know best.

Need Additional Support?

This morning we also launched an initiative called ask for help, offering free 30 minute phone calls to give guidance and marketing communications support during this time. You can email us on hello@askmarketing.com.au to schedule your free session.

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Do you need help with strategic digital marketing for your business?

All you have to do is Ask!

At Ask Digital Marketing, we combine decisive digital strategy and managed marketing execution to help B2B service-based businesses build demand, establish thought leadership and own their industry through digital business marketing.

Stop waiting. Start building. Experience success.

Just get in touch with us and we can discuss your business to help you navigate the digital marketing landscape towards success.

Let’s harness the power of digital marketing today!

For more great marketing content, connect with our company leaders, Alexandra King and Stephanie King, or follow our Ask Marketing LinkedIn page.

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