Hello my remote working friends this is Jennifer Kretchmer, AIA talking to you today about communication protocols in the virtual office. Whether you run an architecture firm, whether you're remote worker or anybody in almost any industry, communication is the key to keeping a remote working environment, working efficiently.
OK first thing we need to talk about are the software requirements for communication. I have a few logos up [on this slide] for you to see that include some of the software that I have used and tried out. It doesn't include all the major players including Asano and Trello. Communication ties the graphics, your file sharing, your task management, your office management, everything, all of your working processes in your firm.
Some task management systems are also available that can help you with communication, like Slack which allows you to type messages to each other. I use Podio which also allows us to type messages to each other rather than using email.
When I have a staff that is remote, we have zoom meetings and I have an example of a zoom meeting for you with a remote worker who is located in in Maine. So let's just watch his quick video.
This meeting video is just a sample of how we talk with each other [during a design meeting] We have the BIM/CAD system working in the background and we can annotate if we wanted to on top of these graphics.
I mentioned in a previous post about our office standards and I have all our office standards on an online document called a Google site that only people who have been given access to it can see. Only my staff and I can see it. One of the first things up on our page is something called communication protocols. I have written down all one of our protocols for communicating with one another. For example: how we would use email, phone, text, Zoom meetings and also how we use Podio which is our task management system. I also like to share with them to please always be kind and courteous to each other when communicating and keep in mind that when you're communicating with clients what our vision mission and goals are. This is so that it is clear to our remote workers what is expected of them as far as communication. The standards are written down in order to establish with your team how you're going to communicate with each other or remote working just won't work.
Key terms: work from home, WFH, remote working, virtual office, virtual firm, architecture firm, architect office, architect practice, architectural practice.