4 work from home tips, from CEO of e-commerce tech startup Anchanto

The CEO of regional startup Anchanto was shocked when global lockdowns forced his team into remote working. “It was kind of a surprise, a rude surprise,” said Vaibhav Dabhade. 

Anchanto is a startup that helps e-commerce businesses simplify their backend operations using software. They’re headquartered in Singapore and have 6 offices across Asia.

Still, Anchanto managed to adapt easily. As we move into a future of work from home, Vaibhav shared some of Anchanto’s best practices that employers can learn from: 

1. Digitalise face-to-face practices 

Anchanto’s consulting business was badly hit by the lockdowns. In the past, they would train their customers in the software and do on-site production runs in-person. 

But now, an alternative remote implementation programme has replaced that. It includes short, self-filmed training videos for customers.

This had 3 plus points:  

• Anchanto could involve more team members in these remote sessions and get their valuable input
• They saved time by reusing the videos in their orientation for new hires
• It improved Anchanto’s software operations. During the digital trial, they realised some parts of the software were difficult to configure remotely. So they’re reworking them to make the process easier.

LEARNING POINT: Digitalise to improve efficiency

Related: 5 ways to improve the productivity of staff who work from home

2. Communicate clearly across teams

Anchanto’s employees are in at least 3 time zones. So it used to be difficult for them to find a common time slot for meetings. But now, they call one another informally more and are more understanding of one another. It definitely speeds up communication between team members. 

Plus, the quality of documentation has improved. Team members are a lot more detailed when writing documents, since they can’t explain them to one another face-to-face.

LEARNING POINT: Be clear and specific when communicating remotely

3. Send employees a work from home package

Not everyone has a setup that’s suitable for working from home. Anchanto knows that. So they gave all their employees a work-from-home setup package – a sum of money for them to buy a table, chair, fan, power supply, and other home office necessities.

This generosity extends to all full-time, part-time and intern staff and consultants. With this, Anchanto showed that they appreciate their team and acknowledged the extra effort needed for successful remote working.

LEARNING POINT: Support your employees through difficult times

4. Be more stringent when hiring

Anchanto hired at least 9 new employees as of June 2020, including one in Singapore. How did they manage to select suitable candidates remotely? They made their hiring process “more insightful, more stringent” with these steps: 

• PRACTICALS: candidates are given a problem statement/situation which they have to find a solution to. A few days later, they present their solution to the interview panel online.
• PANEL DISCUSSIONS: replaces one-on-one interviews. Helps consolidate the opinion of several team members.
• MORE ROUNDS: Anchanto now has 5 interview rounds, rather than 2 or 3, to better assess candidates’ problem solving, presentation, and remote collaboration skills.

LEARNING POINT: Assess potential candidates thoroughly to hire the right people

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Apart from these 4 tips, CEO Vaibhav also shared that working from home comes with its negatives. Some team members find it difficult to differentiate between office and relaxation hours. It happens to him as well, he admitted.

“There is no clear gap line between when you stop working and when you start spending time with family.”

Still, Anchanto may remain largely remote, and team members can choose to work from home until 31 December. “No questions asked.” 

TIP: The Muse has some tips on how to separate work from family time. Sign in to your work laptop only when it’s office hours, not once you wake up! 

It may be difficult to imagine digitalising long standing practices, but Anchanto is proof that it can be done. Technology has made it easier to work remotely. It can even free up more time and energy for your team to work on growth projects.

And as remote working becomes the new normal, learning how to adapt your company to this future of work is the way to go.