Thanks to local efforts around the world to flatten the COVID-19 curve, cities are beginning to ease their stay-at-home requirements. TaskRabbit Clients who have been waiting for weeks to fix that hole in the wall, deep clean their apartment, or even move to another home will soon be asking for your help!
While all tasks will be possible when local quarantine requirements are lifted, COVID-19 continues to linger in our communities, and there are still many unknowns. How should you approach tasking in this recovery period?
Take Precautions on Every Task
Our communities will continue to feel the effects of this virus for a long time. As you task, we recommend that you take precautions to protect your and your Clients’ health. Some things to keep in mind:
- Try to perform tasks in a contactless way. If that isn’t possible, a best practice is to maintain a social distance of 6 feet/2 meters from other people.
- If you’re tasking indoors or in close proximity to a Client, we strongly recommend using protective equipment like a mask and gloves.
- Sanitize hard surfaces that you touch. Always wash your hands with soap before and after your task, and keep hand sanitizer with you. If avoidable, try not to wash your hands at the task site; if you must, bring your own towel to dry your hands.
- Consider working in a separate room from the Client, if possible.
- If you’re working with another Tasker, communicate with him/her to confirm that you are not experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms and ask for the same. To the extent possible, maintain social distance from him/her while working.
- Never task if you’re feeling ill. Remember–if you are diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspect you have been exposed to COVID-19, please cancel your tasks using the Crisis cancellation reason and inform Customer Support.
- Always follow local government and public health regulations.
You may have clients who share that they are quarantined due to a diagnosis or suspected exposure to COVID-19. While we’ve amended our cancellation policy so that Taskers may decline tasks with ill clients without penalty, we also know that these people are often in great need, and a contactless task may supply them with food, medicine, or other essentials when they are unable to leave their homes. The decision about whether to take these tasks is up to individual Taskers.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
While some Clients may be thrilled to finally cross an item off their to-do list, other Clients may feel uncertain about hiring someone to work in their home so soon after quarantine. Tenured Taskers always say that communication is the key to success on any task; now is the time to over-communicate to help your Clients feel more comfortable. Some tips:
- Update your Skills & Experience pitch to include precautions you continue to take to protect your health and that of your Clients.
- Example: “I use a mask and gloves when I task, and sanitize the area after completing my work.”
- In the Chat Thread, reiterate with Clients the precautions you’re taking, and ask if there is anything if they would like you to do (task in another room, for example). This demonstrates that you care about their health.
- After you complete the task, inform your Client via the Chat Thread about how you performed the work and sanitized surfaces you came into contact with (if applicable).
By communicating frequently, your Clients will appreciate your attention to detail, customer service, and level of caring.
Popular Categories during COVID-19 Recovery
Clients have long lists of tasks they’d like to accomplish after quarantine, and if you can tackle several at once, Clients will be delighted! Be sure to let them know the range of different tasks you’re able to help them with.
The Burrow is a learning library with articles about categories that will be in high demand in the recovery period. Sharpen your skills, or learn some new ones!
- Deep Cleaning: After several weeks of confinement, Clients will want a comprehensive cleaning of their home–and possibly sanitizing. Learn how to make homes sparkle.
- Minor Home Repairs: While Clients were at home, that hole in the wall didn’t fix itself. Become a fix-it whiz.
- Moving: Summer and autumn are the most popular times to move. Despite COVID, this year is no exception. Pack, move, unpack, repeat.
- Furniture Assembly and IKEA Furniture Assembly: Just because Clients were stuck at home for weeks doesn’t mean they got around to assembling that flat-pack furniture themselves. Put it all together.
- Mounting: Your Clients bought a TV to binge-watch shows, but they didn’t know how to anchor it to the wall. Here’s how to hang it up.
One of TaskRabbit’s core values is “Lead the Future Together”–and that’s exactly what the community is doing as we navigate the ambiguity of these times. But sharpen those tools and dust off that dolly, because we expect tasks to come your way soon!
