Working from home tips

Working from Home

Many individuals and companies are rapidly getting used to home-working. 
Here a few tips to help you adapt. 

Stay connected:

It’s extra important for managers to keep their staff informed, both on day-to-day issues and long-term outlooks, and to find out how staff are getting on. Check in regularly and share as much as you can about how your business is doing, how your work is going and how you expect to be operating in weeks and months to come. 

Keep it social:

The day-to-day chat in the office is one of the biggest things staff are likely to miss.  Make sure the team keeps in touch, and do it with video calls for face-to-face contact wherever possible. These can be start-the-day team meetings, coffee breaks taken together, a “kitchen” office chat which is kept open for anyone who wants to drop into, or anything else that suits you and your team.  

Get the work-life balance right:

Set start and end times for work and stick to them. Take breaks when you need. Remember to get out of the house to take your daily exercise. Don’t be shy if your children join a work call – and be welcoming when it is your colleagues’ children. Be understanding about colleagues’ requirements outside work and adapt around them.   

Try out new tools:

There are a wealth of applications which are finding increased use as work tools. Zoom has had a surge in takeup for video calls, based on its ease of use and snazzy backgrounds. Slack enables text conversations while Google Hangouts supports both text chat and video. 

Brush up on your skills:

If business winds down and you find yourself less busy than you have been, this is the ideal time to build knowledge in areas you are interested in or that will help your career. Look out for online training tools and courses from providers like Linkedin Learning, Futurelearn or Udemy.   

Infographic © iStock / dilyanah