Many businesses are trying to come to terms with the majority of their employees being forced to work from home due to the Covid-19 outbreak. All businesses need help setting up systems and processes for managing employees working from home. On the other side, many employees struggle with their work from home setup and routine.
Working from home is currently the most feasible option for businesses to survive in this critical situation. The experience of managing remote teams will be extremely handy in tackling similar situations in the future. Transitioning to remote work is a new experience for most organizations and their employees.
Right Work From Home Mindset
Working from home varies compared to working in an office. No manager is looking over your shoulder. But it also means that you cannot watch people reporting to you. While work is the same, the work environment is different. It would be best to have a different mindset and thought process when working from home.
You follow a routine set by office timings when you work in an office. In a work from home setup, there is no time pressure to get ready and do things at a particular time. You can create a work from home setup and schedule your work, but no one is around to enforce it. It would help if you had more discipline and commitment while working from home.
You also require to change the way you communicate with your team. It will help if you become comfortable talking to people over the phone and computer.
Best Work From Home Setup
You may think that setting up the home office is easy. But to be productive and effective, you must put much more effort into your work from home setup.
1) Designated Work From Home Desk
The location of your workspace in your home is important to your work. You need a space that is relatively quiet and has enough space for a comfortable setup. A room with enough space and a door to close the noise can be used for work from home.
Set up your table/ desk where you can plug in your computer and can access the internet easily. Check your wifi signal to ensure it is strong enough for video calls.
2) Proper Internet Connection
You will need a fast, 16 MBPS dedicated internet connection. You must have a 50 MBPS connection. Also, you need a backup connection just in case your primary connection goes down. You can only work from home if you have access to the internet. Hence, it would help if you had a backup connection too.
The backup connection must be from a different telecom company than the one that gives you the primary connection that could be cable, wireless internet, or any other. Whatever it is, it must be fast enough to support video calling.
3) Setup Right Furniture
Get a chair with an adjustable height, good back support, and adjustable armrests. For work from home setup, you must ensure that the table height is just right and the chair is adjusted for your feet and arms.
4) Allocate Strict Working From Home Hours
The biggest challenge in improving work from home productivity is allocating work hours. Hence, the next step in maintaining productivity is strictly setting work hours with specific breaks.
Consider you are working an 8-hour shift, then allocate 3 hours, 3 hours and 2 hours with pauses of 10-15 minutes. Allocating work hours would help ensure that the work at hand is delivered regularly, productively and always quality-centric.
5) Hardware Setup & Tools
Mainly, you should use a laptop instead of a desktop. A laptop provides the flexibility to work from another room. A laptop has a built-in camera so that it is less messy for video calls. While your computer may have an in-built microphone and speaker, it is recommended that you use an external mic and speaker.
Your computer screen should be level with your eyes. It would hurt your neck in a few months if the screen level is higher or lower. If you use a laptop, consider buying a tilt stand so that you can adjust the height of the stand to ensure you look straight at the screen.
6) Software Setup & Tools
You will need access to all the software and tools you need to do your work. If you use a company-issued computer, it will probably have all the software you require.
If you need to access a company’s server for storage, you may need secure access to the company’s network. In addition to regular tools and software, you will also need Zoom or Skype to communicate with your team.
7) Make Actionable Game Plan For Work From Home
Coming up with a list of things to be worked upon and ensuring all of which is done is imperative to improve your work from home productivity.
Also, ensure that you complete every task allocated for a day. Leaving out one of 10 things you had planned for the day will only pile up unattended work by the end of the month. Just keep the work hours allocated by you.
8) Small Calculated Breaks On Work From Home
One must ensure that the breaks are plenty but also time-bound to juice out productivity. Don’t overdo these or overindulge in getting out for breaks more than these.
9) Leave Household Chores For Non-Work Hours At Work From Home
Leaving household chores for post-work hours is what needs to be done. Therefore, refrain from going somewhere unnecessarily for household chores as much as you can and leave these things for the times when you’re not working.
10) Get Out Regularly While Working From Home
When on a consecutively longer work-from-home regime, regularly getting out for a stroll is also suggested. Such a habit would ensure your productivity outflow and help your creative juices flow.
For creative individuals and those who sit behind a desk for a long time, it helps induce new ideas and stimulates enthusiasm & will to work within.
11) Listen To Music
Listening to music works in improving your work from home productivity. Play the favorite alternative rock band, some instrumental bliss or anything that keeps you productive.
You need to ensure that it shouldn’t be distracting enough but should sync in your flow. Keeping low volume but audible is one thing you can do. Choosing a work-specific playlist is another. Music can elevate your work from home productivity.
Conclusion
When working from home, you need a work from home setup that helps you stay productive and effective. It includes not just the physical infrastructure such as computers, internet and software but also softer aspects like having the right mindset and processes.
