It sounds like a lot of people are working from home for the first time, and their organizations haven't quite figured it out yet. Here's some tips:
1) Be logged in on time, and have a way to "check in". It doesn't have to be a meeting, and it shouldn't be unless it's necessary. Just something that indicates you're working and available. Being logged in to the company instant messenger application, a database you use, whatever.
2) speaking of instant messenger - if you don't have an app for this, consider getting one. It's good to be able to message someone quickly when you can't stop at their desk. Even better if you can figure out group chats.
3) if you have some kind of remote meeting/web conference capability - webex, zoom, etc- get familiar with it and run meetings on it whenever you would be face to face or sharing a computer screen, looking at a document or PowerPoint, whatever. You need a way to communicate one on one and to groups using stuff from your computer.
4) Instant messenger, email, web conference, text and phone - they all have different uses.
Use IM for things that can be answered quickly, and don't get upset if you don't get an immediate response. Some people don't remember to start their IM app when they first log in, others don't notice when it's blinking or whatever it does when you get a message.
Email is good for asynchronous conversations - i need this by end of day, but not necessarily immediately. If you need an answer urgently, start with IM and follow up with an email that says hey i tried pinging you on IM earlier, do you know... They will hate you for using the word ping, but not as much as you hate yourself. Email is also good when you need a paper trail.
But be careful with email etiquette. Praise in public criticize in private. More importantly - if you need something from someone directly, and you have approval to aski for it, the first email goes directly to them, the second email is forwarding the first and asking for an update, the third has their boss on Cc. If you don't have approval, then the first email goes to their boss, not them - and you're asking the boss to ask them to do something, because the boss is the person who owns that thing. In an office, people aren't always this formal, but when everyone's remote, it really makes a difference.
Almost any email or IM conversation that needs someone to look at something can be handled more easily on a web conference. Don't be afraid to start a five minute web conference if it can avoid a 15 minute email conversation. If you're asking someone to join a conference, offer it, but if they say no don't push it. They might be busy, naked or have their kids at home - whatever. Just keep it in your bag of tricks.
Text messages are only for close friends or dire emergencies. Don't text me on my personal cell at work unless it's one or the other.
Phone calls are horrible. The only thing worse is voicemail. Voicemail is a way of saying "I tried bothering you by making a device ring in your pocket and not letting it stop until you answered, but because you didn't answer I'm going to force you to dial in to get your message, which I will hurriedly and extemporaneously leave instead of taking the time to write an email". #### you.
4) Status reports and meetings are good once in a while. They feel invasive at first but when people aren't sitting in the same room with each other it helps to have a formal reason to get together and communicate about what you're doing. Don't overdo it, and if people can't attend, keep meeting minutes
5) have a place where you can keep meeting minutes, project notes, action items, etc. Next meeting, have a web conference to review that page and update the status of the action items. If you're the boss, then do 3 things - update the current list live on the web conference so everyone can see it and change things if necessary, send out an email with the link to the page after the meeting, and a little before the next meeting send a friendly reminder note to anyone who was supposed to do something in case they'd forgotten. Once it becomes part of the culture you can stop doing the last two - you just need to update the notes on the call and follow up on your own stuff.
If any of this isn't normal for your team and you're doing your "wfh dry run" then recommending these things (in your own words) will be appreciated and make you look like you're taking this seriously. That's important even if you don't think you want to wfh in the future - it's better to look good than bad and it's better to keep the option to wfh on the table as long as possible.
