How to Work From Home & Be Productive
Tahlia • Mar 17, 2020

Many businesses across the world have closed their physical offices, forcing people to work from home due to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. For some, working from home long-term is a dream come true – no colleagues to distract you, no long commutes, sleep-ins, work-life balance, etc. For others, the distance from others and lack of social interaction is a nightmare. Not to mention managerial concerns around productivity and outcomes.



There are ways to manage these concerns however, both from the employees’ and managers’ perspectives:

 

Set Office Hours


Whether it’s company-wide or set by the individual, ensure that everyone is working to set office hours and that these are known throughout the business. This will help individuals set boundaries within the home and with others they share the space with. For managers, knowing the hours their teams are available will help maintain accountability, communication, and set expectations.

 

Be Organised


Employees working from home need to set aside a dedicated workspace, preferably one that’s away from distractions and other household members as much as possible. Organise this space in a way that’s conducive to productive work, such as removing the Playstation and setting up a desk organiser for any papers you need to access. If your job involved taking lots of calls, ensure your work phone is close at hand and consider getting earphones or a headset to make taking calls easier and hands-free. Don’t forget a comfortable desk-chair too. That alone can make a world of difference!


Managers need to ensure that employees have remote access to files and have a device from which they can work. Depending on the company setup, this can be very easy or extremely difficult.


However, Google Drive and Microsoft One Drive are easy ways to ensure access to files on the go and should be considered as an alternative to shared networks moving forward. Finally, remember that even when employees are working from home, they’re still your responsibility. Think about your WHS policy and how this applies to remote working, or if you need to set a policy in place for this.

 

Communicate!


Communicate with your team, your manager, your employees. Over-communicate if need be. The biggest draw-back and most common failure of remote working is a break down in communication. We’re living in the 21 st Century with access to a multitude of devices and programmes that allow for easy, affordable communication, so use them and use them well!


Communicate what hours you will be working if they’re aren’t set times; communicate that you need to take the dog for a walk early because he’s being a pest; communicate that you need to take your kid to the doctor, etc. Treat it as if you were in the office and let your team and managers know what you are doing.


Additionally, it may be helpful to communicate what you’ll be working on or what you want your team working on. Whether you set daily, weekly, or monthly expectations of tasks; be clear about what you expect them to accomplish or what tasks need to be completed. This will help foster communication and trust in the long term too.

 

Take Breaks


Perhaps it’s because we feel the need to prove we’re working or want to be seen doing more while working from home, or it’s because we don’t need to go out and get lunch, but whatever it is, many people report taking less breaks or sometimes none at all when working remotely.


Whatever the reason, breaks are a necessity and assist in heightened productivity long-term. Set time aside to take mandatory breaks and don’t allow for excuses. Go for a walk, watch Netflix, play with your dog – anything that will take you away from work from for at least 30mins.

 

Self-Discipline


This applies to every other point made, but deserves a point of it’s own. Self-discipline will be the key to productive work at home. Ensure that you are disciplined when it comes to the office hours set and be firm with household members about this. Be diligent and strict in maintaining organisation. Ask yourself if you’d let your desk at work look like that; or if you’d be on Facebook that long. If not, it’s time to change that behaviour at home too.

 

Make time to Socialise


Whether it’s with household members during your break time, or organising virtual meetups with colleagues to brainstorm, it’s important to maintain a degree of social interaction. The amount needed will differ greatly from person to person and some people will need it much more than others (looking at you, extroverts!). Social interaction and the feeling of community is crucial to our mental well-being as humans, so ensure you’re getting an adequate amount, especially during this time of much needed social distancing.

 

It’s increasingly likely that the COVID-19 pandemic will result in the largest experiment of remote workers, with so many being forced into self-isolation and social distancing becoming the new norm, and these are some easy ways to ensure you, your team, and your business maintain healthy productivity during these strange times!

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