How to work from home effectively

Many businesses are either already enabling people to work from home or considering it as an emergency option. If you have never worked from home before it can be a daunting prospect - how will you focus, what happens if you have a problem, where will you work, will you feel isolated?

There are a few things you can do to help you to make the most of the opportunity and show how productive you can be whilst retaining the sense of being part of a team. 

• Create a space to work – not everyone has a spare room so it may be the kitchen table. Make sure that you are able to reach a plug socket, are away from distractions and have sufficient wi-fi (or a long enough cable!) for your needs.
• If you are working at the kitchen table – make sure you pack everything away neatly in the evening. This prevents work getting mislaid, covered in sauce and creates a boundary between home and work.
• Make sure you are really clear on what is expected of you. What results or outcomes does your manager expect you to achieve or deliver and in what timescales. If you are not going to meet them, talk to your manager as soon as possible to discuss what needs to happen.
• Create a schedule for yourself – slot in all the things that need to happen at specific times and set reminders in your calendar or phone.
• Schedule time to catch up with colleagues via Zoom, Facetime, Skype, Slack, whatever medium you will be using. It is important you still get the social aspect of your role to prevent you feeling isolated.
• If you are managing a team remotely for the first time make sure you set clear expectations with everyone (and check their understanding), arrange time to catch up as a team every day (even just for five minutes to say hi!) and individually to check in on how they are feeling. And trust them, if you've done a good job managing them so far, they will want to make it work for themselves and for you.
• If you have a problem, know who to contact and how best to reach them. Don’t leave things to fester, get on top of them as quickly as possible as they may be harder to resolve remotely.
• Get dressed! Even if it is tempting to stay in your PJ’s all day, changing into real clothes marks the shift between work and home. As you become more used to working at home this might not be so important for you but in the beginning it can make a significant psychological difference.
• Don't switch on the TV - unless you have an iron will. In the days of box set streaming, it could be midnight before you realise you stopped for lunch a little while ago! (this one gives you a clear view into my psyche!)

Make the most of the peace and quiet to get through all those things on your to do list that haven’t happened due to too many distractions and enjoy the lack of commute whilst it lasts!

Who knows, maybe beyond this pandemic more employers will value the benefits of more flexibility around homeworking and the productivity it can generate.