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One of the strangest aspects of working from home is not getting an immediate response from a co-worker the way you would in the office. I mean, I guess it would be weird if Jim from accounting set up shop in a cubicle in your kitchen.
The other element we’re missing during working from home is not getting as much face-to-face interaction with coworkers. You don’t get the non-verbals and the body language in a Slack instant message chat the way you would from stopping by someone’s office or desk.
Video chats help with this, however they’re more so used for team meetings and not so much for one-on-one conversation (in general). For one-on-ones, it’s easier to hop on the phone or into an IM chat.
Remotehour has taken this into consideration and has developed a way for you to be on (video) call whenever you’re available. According to their website, “Come online when you open the app. You can set up messages and update status here when online, offline, and when talking. Easy to share your room with URL.”
This way, your co-workers or employees don’t need to take the time to set up an appointment with you. If you’re marked as available, they can just pop on a video call and there you’ll be – similar to how it would be for someone to stop by your office in-person.
Start a call simply by hitting the “talk” button – allowing for an open-door policy when utilizing the app. Remotehour supports screen share and high-quality video calls.
If you don’t like the sudden call, there is a new feature that allows for a “knock first” option. The user knocks and you decide if you’d like to talk to them then and there (this keeps Chatty Kathys from coming in and taking up your whole day with stories about their kids). However, if you’re concerned that employees or co-workers will waste time just chatting about nothing, there is a timeout option for each call.
Remotehour is ideal for teams who generally work on-site but are now secluded to the remote setting of being at home. Additionally, this would be great for teachers and professors as a way to provide virtual office hours.
