1. Shrijay Sheth, Co-Founder, LegalWiz.in (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work:
- Complete cloud-based telephony and CRM system enables all employees to work from home with minimal impact on productivity
- Daily stand up meetings for 15-20 minutes with different teams
- Regular status updates to customers on any delay in processing service orders due to dependency on government departments
- Changed priorities on tasks to achieve goals that are more realistic to be achieved. Focusing on building a strong fundamental base, that can be leveraged when opportunities arise.
2. Nadeem Jafri, Chief Mentor, Hearty Mart (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Mentoring is always interesting and it is not dependent on the workplace, that is the best part.
- We did a conference call a few days back to sort out issues related to Farm2Market. There were 4 people involved. 2 in Dholka and 2 in Himmatnagar. We did this from my farm at Dholka, along with munching snacks.
- Used twitter extensively and came out with the idea of connecting with a socially active community to work for the betterment of needy people in this testing time.
3. Umesh Uttamchandani, Co-Founder, DevX (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Finally, we've realized the potential of Microsoft Teams, in fact it seems this phase is creating a stronger bond amongst different departments.
- We've all agreed and accepted that one need not be embarrassed if your child cries in the background or your mom calls you for Lunch during a conference call.
- And lastly, to avoid afternoon siesta, the team is competing by playing counter-strike online.
4. Ruchit Patel, Co-Founder, AllEvents.in (Gandhinagar)
AllEvents.in is one of the largest event discovery platform. Helping 5million users to discover things happening around them.
Since users are staying home. Helping people to discover explore virtual events and online activities.
Key ideas to make it work.
- Daily check-in on Zoom at 10:30 morning.
- Everyone lists their Commits on the slack thread.
- We never used to do checkout calls. But for work from home, Check-Out Calls are a must. We review the progress on commits in the checkout meeting at 5:30 pm.
5. Kumar Manish, Chief Communicator, Communicate Karo (Ahmedabad)
Communiacte Karo, a social communication organization and volunteering for #AhmedabadFightsCorona to raise funds.
They reached 60K funds for needy one at the time of reporting within 12 hours. www.bit.ly/helpahmedabad
Key ideas to make it work.
- Water is a must. It should be handy.
- Green to fight anxiety. It gives calmness.
- Notebook. Scribble and type.
6. Dimple Khubchandani, Director, Synoverge Consultants (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Hygiene plays an important role.
- Delegate work according to their strength and interest. Take Daily reports on the assigned work, helps knowing how much work is executed and where it needs your involvement.
7. Nachiket Patel, Founder, LOGICWIND (Surat)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Having fulltime co-worker, who keeps me annoyed, unfocused but Happy :)
- I am occupying a dining table in the common area of the house, can't take off my noise-canceling headphones while working.
- Calls, calls, calls! It's Crazy.
8. Dr. Khushbu Pandya, Founder, Konvophilia Communications (Bharuch)
Key Ideas to Make WFH exciting :
- High use of remote working tools for a productive day
- Voice & Video Calls with team & clients
- Give importance to daily hygiene, appearance, work timings, health routines and making work a fun thing by sharing memes on team groups.
9. Rushik Shah, CEO, Alakmalak Technologies (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Daily Operations Meeting in the morning with every team via Zoom
- 100% productivity should not be expected from all team members
- Communication is the key, so have the team speak with each other and one to one meetings with the Team Leaders team with a minimum of 3 times a day
10. Prateek Mathur, Founder, FindFirms.in (Jaipur)
Key ideas to make it work.
- The key to work from Home is a clear conversation with your manager – and knowing what they expected from you. "Demand your managers if they can manage a 10-minute brief call to kick start the day and at the wrap-up time of the day".
- There are more amazing timeless WFH tips to call. For instance, just because you can lounge throughout in your pajamas doesn't mean you indeed should. "Get a shower and get dressed. Handle it similar to a real job."
- We understand it's tough, but try not finishing that whole packet of potato chips & 4 seasons of "Naagin" while you work from Home.
11. Ming Xia Ho, Project Manager, Draper Startup House (Singapore)
Key notes to make it work.
Home is a mental frame for me, I've resorted to going out (but mindfully practicing social distancing, as how the cafe has also spaced out their tables more...) on the work table: laptop, coffee, notebook!
12. Nikita Maheshwari, Co-Founder, Tatkalorry (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Being an ops heavy and transportation company, we are completely on a halt. So we are using this time to take courses together for executives and managers. We all including me, we will take courses and discuss the learnings.
- We are finally testing our internal ERP and finding bugs to get them sorted before we get completely back to our ground. And No working from Bed, absolutely NOT!
- Extensive planning on different levels as to how to begin again once the lockdown opens. We are preparing ourselves to brace the impact of demand once we start again.
- It's very tough but I think the.team will get through this.
13. Shruti Kushwah, Founder, Crealoons Innovations (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- We are in the business of product development through engineering and design. It is not much of an impact to us since we have a culture of distant teams since quite some time managed by trello, zoom and what’s app.
- We begin the day by sharing a cup of tea together digitally leading to work discussion.
- For me life becomes easier since I speak to only 2 of my mates, engineer and business head and they speak to the rest (7 others). This can reduce a lot of team management stress.
- We share some fun stuff and lunch things sometimes during the day.
- We are utilizing more time on data, strategy, planning and further development goals
- I invite them to play online games after work hours some times
- we make sure before we sleep we three speak together about the world, the lifestyle & share coping mechanisms for social distancing.
- That’s how we are kinda killing the social distancing thing!
14. Khushboo Solanki Sharma, Founder, Zero Gravity Communications (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Zero Gravity Communications, we are a fully integrated new media agency. Currently, team of 42 is completely working from home in full capacity.
- Making sure our clients have their right communication in hand is our primary focus. We proactively planned this measure and took our infrastructure on the cloud since last week.
- Right now settled in the respective roles but remotely. We make sure respective teams have group calls and keep the spirit alive.
- If any essentials or any other issues faced by other colleagues we closely keep a tab on the same. Also, working very closely with clients to help their business sail through this difficult time.
15. Tanmay Shanishchara, Founder, MeDigit Solutions (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- The day starts with a team meeting on Hangout, sharp at 10:30.
- Each team member submits a work report at the end of the day.
- Since workload is less, team members are encouraged to spread awareness about #Coronavirus using MeDigit's social media channels. We've come up with 3-4 new campaigns in the last two days!
16. Anuja Parikh, CEO, Intech Systems (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Being a tech company, we had an advantage that we had systems in place to work remotely. We heavily use Microsoft Teams for communication and collaboration. It took us just a day to ensure everyone was enabled to WFH.
- We have then enabled our clients to also work remotely where ever possible with the help of Microsoft Teams
- Clear guidelines and weekly tasks assignments are done so everyone can plan in advance. Daily updates and standup meetings help to ensure first the employees are all safe and healthy and then quickly resolve issues in their allocated tasks.
- This is a time for us to be compassionate and also spend time with family. Kids are home also, so more attention is needed for personal work too. We have been flexible with work timings so employees can balance time with home and work tasks.
17. Nikunj Thakkar, Co-Founder, Shoppr.ai (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Avoid long stretches. Take 5-10 minutes breaks every 2 hours.
- Team updates their goals for the day when they start the work and updates on progress when they log-off. It helps everyone stay on the same page and prioritize whenever required.
- Increased communication during WFH, more frequent updates, celebrate small wins, video calls and active than ever remote channels to keep everyone motivated.
18. Keyur Bhalavat, CEO, Plutomen (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- We have been using Slack as an internal communication tool and now have started utilizing Zoom (which generally was used with current & prospective clients earlier)for morning & regular update meetings.
- We are balancing the work allocation and also have accelerated the pace on our New Product Development, so the zeal is maintained across the team.
- A weekly Video Team Meeting is planned for generic updates, so as to feel more connected while we are at a distance.
19. Vatsal Shah, Business Coach & Mentor, Pragmatic Consultancy
Key ideas to make it work.
- Create your daily routine and work from home as a new normal. Share your calendar with family members, enroll them in what you do and plan to spend quality time with them.
- Focus on your work. This is a time where you can do an introspection of self and the organization. This is a time to complete all pending projects/ tasks for your own company - Process Improvement, Learning & Development, Team Bonding, Improving Marketing and Branding kit, Writing content, etc.
- Make a plan to sustain for a longer period as business and plan finances. Stay away from negative thoughts and people.
- Eat less, drink more, stay tidy, love yourself and family, bring the creative side of yours out for indoor hobbies.
- Use technology at the best. Video calls, Running notes, Online docs, Asynchronous communication to be more effective.
20. Vatsal Maniar, Founder, Odinub (Ahmedabad)
Key ideas to make it work.
- Using tools like Slack for communication, Google Meet for video conferencing. Team viewer for testing the code and most important Hand sanitizer.
- One thing we have released in this situation that is communication needs to be very effective and crystal clear.
- It’s a very tough time for the team but after some time everyone will get used to it.
