The Most Useful Parts of All The COVID-19 Emails in Our Inbox

Mar 24, 2020 | 0 comments

If you are like us, your inbox is filling up with messages from the various companies in your life about what they are doing amidst the current pandemic. Most describe how they are prioritizing health and safety for their customers and employees – which is good to hear. And yes, many companies are also slipping their product pitch in there because, you know, business. Each of us is, after all, on their email marketing list, not their family newsletter.

Well, if you’re a bit worn out by the company COVID-19 messages, that’s understandable. There is a lot of very important news to digest right now. And I know when I’m not working or watching the news, I’d rather be streaming some dystopian, near-future TV series like Love is Blind. So prescient.

But – so you don’t miss out on the more helpful nuggets in all those Coronavirus emails – we’ve distilled some of the most useful content from our inbox. It’s a strange collection, but my inbox is a strange place and we live in strange times. 

These resources cover a range of WFH topics, from co-working with your kids to data security considerations for a suddenly remote workforce. There are tips for newly remote workers, company leadership and management, and really anyone who is dealing with the challenges of their world shrinking to the size of their residence. 

Click around as the information applies to your current and evolving situation. This is a blog version of our approach to enterprise software end-user onboarding and support – enabling the right information at the right time.

See what we did right there? We snuck in a little pitch. Though we’ll save our full spiel for the end. Because in the scheme of things, though our business helps a specific group of people, it is not a small group of people. And we truly believe we can help them (maybe you?) right now. 

1. On avoiding Coronavirus scam emails

Not your average Nigerian prince correspondence, this Forbes article talks about the Coronavirus email scams that are exploiting our current unease with clever phishing tactics. Just what we needed. Key takeaways:

  • Read the entire article, just to be safe.

2. On the WFH basics

Like your most helpful friend, NPR has some advice for being successful as you WFH.

  • Get your technology in order (see #4 for more tips).
  • Replicate the routines and environment of a workplace as best you can.
  • Communicate realistic WFH expectations with your team and/or management.

3. On advice from veteran WFH-ers

This post from Flywheel has some very practical advice from their veteran WFH staff. Highlights include:

  • “I remind myself to keep my ‘chest out, back straight’ because slouching has such a mental effect.”
  • “If I feel isolated, I know I can video call or chat to someone online about anything random to get that social goodness.”
  • “I drink a lot of fluids per day.” – Fascinating contribution, Rob. 

4. On tools for working remotely 

So many SaaS solutions for remote work. Takeaways from this Poynter Institute article:

  • This is a beginner’s guide to popular SaaS tools that enable remote work.
  • The tools are broken out into business functions, like project management, communication, etc.
  • It includes pricing information.

5. On managing remote teams, remotely

The gist of this HBR article for managing remote teams (hopefully) isn’t a shock: communication, communication, communication. Other takeaways:

  • Figure out which technology is used for asynchronous and synchronous communication and the expected frequency of engagement.
  • Don’t forget to offer encouragement and support – it takes more deliberate effort with remote teams.

6. On data security and remote work

Leave it to TechRadar to call out all the data security considerations of a remote workforce. Here are a few of the big issues they raise:

  • Mapping your critical and high-risk IT processes. 
  • Understanding how domestic equipment affects information security and data protection.
  • Knowing what support your employees need to successfully install and use new software, and how you will provide this. 

7. On basically co-working with your kids

Another gem from the Poynter Institute, this article has advice for parents who now work alongside their kids. Best features:

  • Great little actionable to-do lists for each age group.
  • Insights from parents who have done this before.
  • Permission to chill about screen time.

8. On keeping active in seclusion

MyFitnessPal isn’t going to let gym closures stop them from encouraging all of us to keep active for our health!

  • You can do all of these exercises in 7 minutes. 
  • Remember, you cannot pull off the tattoos of the cool instructor. If your exercise euphoria convinces you that you can and that is how you plan to mark the end of social distancing, remember you can’t and you shouldn’t. 

9. On not devolving into a hermit

Nothing against hermits. That’s just not what most of us set out to be. So Trello dusted off this WFH post for their COVID-19 email. Takeaways:

  • Work can easily spill into life when you WFH, so hold yourself accountable.
  • Spend time on relationships – parasocial or otherwise.
  • A sweet playlist is a must, so don’t forget to take time for this creative exercise.
  • Probably skip #3 and adapt #7 in their list with some virtual approaches.

10. On promoting mental health for WFH employees

For management and HR, this post offers advice for promoting employee mental and emotional wellbeing during our current (very stressful) circumstances:

  • Regularly and clearly communicate the shifting protocols and how will it impact your teams, including difficult topics like layoffs.
  • Manage your expectations and recognize everyone is learning as they go.
  • Promote and model work/life balance.

11. On creating a calm space for remote work

This Skillshare interview with a minimalist guru offers some insight:

  • Love where you are because we might be here for a while.
  • An organized, decluttered space gives everyone good vibes. 
  • Think of making do with what you have as – yet another – creative exercise.

12. On finding little things to delight in

If your news feed, like mine, is wall-to-wall bad news, don’t forget to take a break and delight in some little things. It’s important for your mental health and productivity.

  • Micro self-care is a real thing everyone can do.
  • Matthew McConaughy might do well to rethink his approach to the five-second rule, given the circumstances. (1:21 in the video)

13. On fully remote companies that are hiring

For those folks searching for jobs in all this, the good news is that there are companies currently hiring for fully remote positions.

  • These jobs are for a variety of skill sets and span several industries.
  • The companies have been providing remote jobs for years, so remote onboarding and support are all sorted.

14. On remotely onboarding enterprise software end users

Though our current events are a major disruption in our day-to-day, businesses still need to manage basic functions, like onboarding and training employees on their enterprise software. And if your enterprise is one of the many in the middle of an SAP implementation, you may be wondering what the future of that massive investment will be in the event of a fully remote rollout. 

This is where we can help. OnScreen is a digital adoption platform that provides step-by-step, in-application guides for SAP and other web-based applications. The guides take only minutes to develop and they easily walk your end users through even your most complex business processes. So even as we all learn the ropes of WFH, training and supporting your employees on your enterprise software can be one less thing you have to worry about.

OnScreen is the agile digital adoption platform for SAP and web-based enterprise applications that boosts process efficiency and employee productivity by empowering any user – WFH or otherwise – to become a super user. Request a demo of OnScreen today.