The number of people working from home has increased due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus. Switching operations to remote working sounds like an easy task. In reality, it brings unprecedented challenges as employees go through adjustment stages. This is especially true if remote working is new to them.
It is important to businesses to ensure remote workers are getting work done right and on-time. At the same time, both parties should place importance on maintaining good physical and mental health. Here are some effective working-from-home tips to increase work productivity and practices to maintain a healthy mental balance:
To create the most productive work environment, you will need to minimize distractions and develop a plan to work around them. Can you easily hear your kids playing? Are there family members watching movies or playing video games? Is your sweet little dog barking at everything that moves? The downfall of working from home is that some of these occurrences are unavoidable. Take control of the situation by making the quietest room in the house your new home office. Don’t forget the use of noise-canceling headphones as well.
Communicate to your family your working hours and let them know when they can interrupt. Create a “Do Not Disturb” sign and use it when you have a video conference or routine conference calls. You may use this sign whenever you need some quiet time to finish that very important task that requires zero disruptions.
Keeping open lines of communication is vital to effective remote working. The more you communicate, the more you are connected to the team. This approach enables you to remain on task with your operational workflow and team collaboration. If a task requires urgent attention, get on a quick call or conference to resolve it right away. Return emails, calls, and voicemails promptly. Utilize technology and maximize tools offered to optimize these lines of communication. We recommend the use of TelWare’s OneCloud technology to unify all forms of communication, all under one platform.
Make sure to plan objectives and set clear expectations for the week. Never make any assumptions and make sure you have an open discussion on how tasks and specific projects will get accomplished. Remote workers need to be proactive and keep their team up to date on their progress as they accomplish short-term goals and target larger tasks along the way. When it comes to team collaboration, it never hurts to over-communicate.