More recently, within the past few weeks in fact, remote work has gone from a modern workplace perk to a necessity for businesses concerned about protecting their customers and employees from the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). For the office workers who are now carrying out their duties from home and the managers who are now virtually leading spread-out, remote teams, this presents a difficult new challenge.

To remain safe and healthy during this uncertain situation, XE wanted to take this time to share some of their advice for those of you who’ve suddenly been thrust into working (and managing) from home.

1. Keep a structure.

It’s easy to stick to a schedule in an office. Even if you don’t have set hours, there’s usually at least a clear window for when it’s time to work and when you’re off duty. When you’re working remotely, it can be hard to maintain the same level of organization.

• Set work hours. If working hours haven’t already been established by your employer, establish set working hours. Treat these hours like you would any other hours at work. You wouldn’t stop working in the middle of the day to spend a couple of hours reading or gaming, right? And this goes both ways—in addition to establishing when you’re on the clock, make sure to give yourself the same hours off that you would normally have.
• Establish your workspace. Even if you don’t have your own personal office, you can take over your desk or clear out a spot at your table and dub it the “work zone”. Do you normally like to spread out across your desk in the office? Find a way to do the same at home.
• Don’t get distracted by household chores.It’s one thing to take 30 seconds to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer, or to check on the pot roast in your slow cooker. It’s another to vacuum the living room or make a quick pharmacy run during “work” hours. Make sure to focus on your work. It can be difficult if you have family members home with you, but find a way to communicate that you’re at work and not to be disturbed—whether it’s a sign on the door, a locked door, or a pair of noise-cancelling headphones.

2. Communicate everything.

Suddenly, it’s no longer as easy as leaning over to ask your teammate a question or stopping by another coworker’s office for a quick catch-up. Most conversations will happen in writing, and the lack of body language, facial expression, and intonation can easily breed misunderstanding.

You don’t need to micromanage, but you should aim to communicate more frequently and more specifically than usual. What would seem clear in a face-to-face session might not be as clear in a quick email, and you won’t have the benefit of overhearing pertinent conversations when you’re working remotely. Ask yourself: is there any ambiguity here? Could anything I’m saying possibly be misunderstood? Odds are, you’ll be able to say yes to both questions. Communicate as frequently as possible. There’s no such thing as too many details.

3. Take measures to prevent isolation.

In addition to putting a jump on your business communications, don’t forget to frequently reach out to your team on a personal level. In 2018, 21 percent of remote workers reported that they were concerned about feeling isolated, not just informationally but also socially.

We’re not encouraging you to put yourself or anyone else at risk. But along with frequently reaching out to other members of your team to communicate and collaborate, consider other ways to boost connectivity. Some managers have implemented “team lunch” conference calls for everyone on their team to virtually eat together and catch up. While this may not be feasible for your team to do every day or even every week, talk with your team and work out some ways to create socialization.

4. Be patient.

Let’s face it. Technology has revolutionized the modern workplace, but it can create its fair share of issues. Just this morning, the massive influx of remote workers in Europe caused Microsoft Teams’ chat tool to briefly go down.

These events can be frustrating, but they are inevitable when working from home, and even more so when you and your colleagues are not accustomed to regular remote work. Understand that technical difficulties are bound to happen—especially within these initial days—and that some people may take some time to adjust to the new status quo. It can be easy to get annoyed, but think instead of what you can do to help your teammates through the transition.

5. Take time to breathe.

New updates about coronavirus are constantly pouring in, and it can be easy to feel distracted and even overwhelmed by the news, particularly for those who have preexisting health problems or worry about the safety of their loved ones.

In most office settings, you’re free to step out for some air if you need a breather. Just because you’re not in the office doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t let yourself have breaks if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Build breaks into your schedule and communicate with your team and managers if things are growing difficult for you.

For managers and higher-level employees, make sure to check in with your teams and direct reports during this tumultuous time. This is an uncertain, overwhelming, and even scary time for a lot of people, and it can be hard to focus on everyday work in these circumstances. Be mindful of the situation and aim to work with your teams, not against them.

For many of us, this is one of the most frightening, challenging things we have experienced in our adult lives. Along with taking the right measures to stay hygienic and prevent the further spread of pathogens, the best thing we can do right now is work together to ensure that our customers and those relying on us have our full support, with whatever we can offer.

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Money transfer comes in two forms: payment and transfer. When you use you debit card at a store or your boss gives you your paycheck through direct deposit, you’re experiencing small-scale money transfer. When you’re sending money to another account or person, whether it’s across town or across the world, you’re also making a transfer.

When would you need an international money transfer? If you’re:

• Purchasing property overseas
• Sending tuition or spending money to a student studying abroad
• Making an international move
• Preparing for an exotic trip

…then money transfer is the way to go. Your money is in good company: experts estimate more than $2.5 quadrillion moves around the world each year.

Don’t let the technical details overwhelm you. Online money transfer is a quick, simple, and secure process for any of your currency exchange needs.

Is one money transfer method better than the others?

If you’ve been looking into making a transfer, there’s no doubt you’ve run across several different methods for your transfer. In addition to money transfer, you’ve probably also heard about:

• Wire transfer
• Money order
• Balance exchange
• Bank transfer

These options may seem more or less interchangeable—after all, at the end of the day, your money is moving where it needs to go, so does it really matter how it gets there?

Yes, it absolutely does. Choosing a money transfer over some of these other methods can influence:

• The speed of your transfer
• Your currency exchange rate
• Whether or not you incur any additional fees during your transfer
• The ease of the process
• The amount you can transfer
• Where you can transfer
• The currencies you can exchange.

When you make a money transfer through Xe, you can trust that your money will reach its destination quickly, securely, and with no tacked-on fees.

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Hong Kong having slipped into recession last year seems as if this is likely to be repeated in the wake of the Coronavirus and months of political unrest. Hong Kong GDP already contracted at an alarming 3.2% in the middle of 2019 and key signals from economic data are already pointing at a continued slow-down of their fiscal situation. Japan is widely believed to enter a recessive environment as well suffering a huge typhoon and then a big tax increase and straight away afterwards the virus also affected their growth. There is a chance the UK could slip into recession following a protracted Brexit process and, if trade deals are not as positive as expected, the additional costs will threaten growth during the course of the year. Germany produced a string of contracting economic figures during the end of 2019 as it wore a sustained decline in manufacturing sector and auto sales. Italy was in a technical recession for half of 2018 and has not really recovered where they have seen weak productivity, big debt figures and unemployment and these do not appear to be being restored quickly. China continued to slow during the trade war and this led to a forecast of GDP growth of 5.8% which sounds very high, but when compared to the figures of 6.6% and 6.1% in the last two years respectively it is certainly a big reduction. Add to these, significant stresses in the economies of Turkey, Argentina, Iran, Mexico and Brazil and the picture for global growth could be gloomy.

In the UK, the situation is finely balanced and after the prolonged Brexit situation our attention returns to stalwart economic data production. We saw prints in jobs and earnings data and there are small positive signs there as earnings rose slightly. We are waiting for inflation data which will be a potent conversation in context of the UK’s buoyancy. Expectations are a significant rise in Retail Price Index figures year on year but a reduction month on month. Consumer Price Index figures are pointing at a slight increase year on year but a big reduction month on month. Lastly, Producer Price Index looks set to largely balance out so that is good news for the near future if forecasts proves to be accurate.

Looking over the pond at the US inflation and housing data, there appears a mixed bag of results expected. Housing starts seem to have an expectation of a big contraction but there looks as if the Producer Price Index data will be a move higher, which will push an increase in costs to consumers over time and increase inflation more generally but this has a likelihood to manifest in the requirement of tools to mute this price pressure, namely interest rate hikes. This would need to be a sustained factor for this conversation to play out in this way within the Federal Reserve.

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Currency market exposure comes in different forms. Any business selling goods and services overseas will be concerned that a rise in the value of the US Dollar could damage their competitiveness in those markets. Conversely, if you’re importing anything from overseas, a fall in the value of your local currency will make those imports more expensive.

FX markets are difficult to forecast at any time, but even more so when you look beyond 6 months. While economists and market commentators can predict all they want, the reality is they never get it consistently right which makes relying on forecasts a risky strategy for your business.

How your business can mitigate against currency risk

Your best bet in combating the uncertainty that comes with fluctuating exchange rates is to have a long-term FX strategy in place.

An FX strategy involves paying attention to and managing risk, and ensuring your business has the right mix of products and services in place to help reduce your exposure to market fluctuations.

This is where working with a trusted international payments provider, like XE, comes into play. The right provider will be able to work with you to develop a strategy and will advise on the most suitable products and services to deliver favorable outcomes to your business’ profitability.

Ready to learn more?

A team of Foreign Exchange Specialists at XE have compiled an essential FX guide for US businesses – stepping you through the three key factors to understand about foreign exchange and how it affects your business, so you can make an informed choice when selecting the right partner to help you manage your international payments and mitigate against FX risk.