By Muhammad Sohail
CEO & Managing Partner
Alif Consulting
What is a ‘home office’?
For many people employed by modern, digital companies, working from home is nothing new.
However, the COVID-19 crisis is giving others their first experience of working from home.
Some employers – more used to traditional working methods – may view this with some skepticism. They’ll question how effective people will deal with their day-to-day tasks remotely.
They needn’t worry. Research indicates there is an increase in commitment from employees with flexible work arrangements, with a greater dedication and willingness to ‘give back’ to the organization and improve their performance.
Although, there are a few handy hints and tips that help people get the most out of working from home. Here are my top 10 suggestions:
- Get comfortable
Start with your ‘office’ space. Make yourself comfortable at home. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a massive office with a giant desk overlooking a quiet park area or an ocean? Okay, let’s face it, that’s not likely to happen for many of us, but you are in the driver’s seat for your home office. Design it with productivity in mind.
Find a quiet corner – from now on, this is your dedicated work area. If possible, you could paint the area another color to make it separate space. If that’s not possible, you can decorate your desk with plants or pictures of friends and families to make it more personal; although try to choose nothing too distracting, it should be something peaceful to look at, with enough space so you can work comfortably.
- Allow yourself little breaks
When we’re in the office, we don’t think twice about having a quick chat with a colleague while grabbing a coffee. But those little distractions are also helpful in increasing productivity. After a short break you can recover from stress and have new ideas or a different perspective. So, don’t be too strict with yourself – allow yourself to have a little break. If you don’t want to be isolated, call a friend or colleague and have a chat.
- Anything that doesn’t pay rent can take a hike
If you don’t have much space at home, it is important to get rid of the clutter. Make it a habit to keep your home office clean. Half read books, empty coffee cups or dried pens – who need this? A clean desk will help you to stay focused.
- Structure
At work we have start and endpoints. You might commute to your place of work, but now you save that time. Find suitable working hours for you and stick to them. When working remotely, it’s easy to work longer and without breaks. Give yourself more structure and set alarms for the start and the endpoint of your workday.
- To-do lists will make you happy
Create daily to-do lists to record what you have achieved each day. If you’re alone at home, you may feel you didn’t accomplish enough throughout the day. However, if you visualize it, it brings a happy realization of how much you accomplished.
- Connect with your team and customers
It might feel either too lonely or too busy, depending on what your family life is like, but never forget you are part of a team. Stay connected with colleagues and customers. Have virtual meetings, coffee breaks or brainstorm together.
- Have a purpose
Make a list of tasks you need to complete every day – and then do it. Make sure everything you require to get your work done is available to you, whether in your office or on the computer. Cross items off the list as you go.
- Dress up like you are going to work
Have your daily routines. Get up at your normal time, get dressed like you would go to the office. Don’t forget that your calls with customers can easily switch to a video conference and you wouldn’t appear to a customer in your pajamas, would you? So, get your shirt and trousers ironed and style your hair 😉
- Set expectations
This might be the hardest point because you don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but set the expectations with your spouse, partner, friend or roommate during the workday. They need to know you’re working, just as if you’d gone to the office.
- Have virtual meeting guidelines
If you feel like you’re over-communicating, you may still only be communicating just enough. So, make sure you dial into every meeting and contribute; enable video on dial in whenever possible, including 1:1s , as 80% of our communication is visual; send frequent updates in the chat room; send a daily email update to your manager – let them know what you’re working on, what your successes for the day were and if you’re struggling with anything.
And finally…
Maintain your relationships. In a special time as we experience it with the current COVID-19 virus, it is important to stay connected. Watch for signs that your directs are getting too isolated – your introverts might need to be nudged. If you have that feeling, send over a little message, even if it’s just ‘I’m thinking of you’. It’s sometimes the small things that count.