How to stay productive while working from home.

Covid-19 has seen a change in the way we work. For most of us, working from home is our new reality, and it is only fair that if you are new to it, or you love the hustle and bustle of an office, you would find it daunting. In this blog, I will share some insights on how to stay productive while working from home from both an employer's and employee's perspective.

Employer's perspective

As an employer, you need to consider the following issues when you ask your employees to work from home and ensure that they can be productive:

Security

Ensure that you have policies on data security in place to regulate remote work.

Are your internal systems accessible remotely or are they password or secure key protected? How are your staff going to access your company intranet while working remotely?

Communication

Be clear- clarity and brevity are key

Minimise your communication. Only send messages when necessary, do not inundate your staff with messages.

Have rules on communicating and set expectations e.g.  when to call vs when to message,  response times to messages & emails, etc.

To compensate for lack of physical contact, use video to communicate with team members. This allows you to address any concerns much better than with other forms of communication

Alignment

Be clear on deliverables- set weekly targets, KPIs

Be clear on delivery timeframes

Depending on your workflows, smooth the handover/takeover process especially between departments.

Have meetings at least once a week on video with your team.

Relationships

Touch base with your subordinates. Find out what challenges they are having working remotely, their productivity, morale, etc

Exhibit emotional intelligence- show empathy

Execution

If you can, use productivity tools like Asana, Slack, etc which details who is responsible for what and ensures that all the information is easily shareable and staff can collaborate easily on tasks

Google suite allows you to collaborate and edit documents live

Implement systems and process that are followed religiously to avoid a breakdown in work

Where possible, allow your staff to determine the time they work instead of rigidly sticking to an 8-5pm workday.

Capacity

Provide staff with the tools they will need to carry out their tasks if working remotely eg laptops, wifi/internet bundles, airtime, etc.

Train them on how to use productivity tools- slack, zoom, etc

Make remote working fun and less lonely- take breaks and ‘meet by the water cooler’ for a chat

 Employees perspective

 With the employer having provided all that an employee needs to do their work, it now falls on the employee to be productive. As an employee, consider the following issues when working from home:

The right frame of mind

Get up knowing you are going to work even if that work is to be conducted from your home

Feeling demotivated- talk to your manager

Start work on time

Conducive environment

Where possible, create a home office that detaches you from the home activities allowing you to concentrate on your work.

Wherever you choose to work from, make sure it is comfortable as you will be sitting there for +/- 8 hours.

Set ground rules with your household and stick to them. Let them know when you are busy, when they can approach you, when they should not approach you, etc.

Be deliberate

Be clear on what you want to achieve- refer to your weekly targets, KPIs

Create a to-do list: this will help you stay focused on the work you need to do

Seek help when you are stuck. Do not let a problem fester

Time management and prioritisation

Now that you know what needs to be done, prioritise your work and handle the most important tasks first.

Time yourself- this gives you an idea of how many hours you are actually working and whether or not you are using your time efficiently. I use Toggle for this, and I am currently trialling Time Doctor.

Build-in flexibility into your work. Remember your workmates, clients, family, etc will require your time too during the course of the day. You cannot ignore their requests.

Come up with a clear plan on when you will respond to emails and messages from colleagues so that you are not distracted from your core work. If your company has set guidelines on this, follow the guidelines.

Collaborate

You are working from home, but not working alone. Collaborate with others

Assist those in need and ask for help when in need

Socialise

Participate in virtual co-working to recreate what you would do when in an office

Do drop by the ‘water cooler’ and chat with colleagues

While being social, be respectful of other people’s desire to not engage in non-work related banter

Set clear boundaries- Depending on your company’s agreed on forms of communicating be clear when you are available to chat, when you do not want to be disturbed, etc.

End of the working day

End on time

Switch off all work gadgets.

Go spend time with your family, exercise, walk, etc

I wish you all the best with the new normal way of working!