Invaluable Tips - Work From Home
We as Indians never looked at a concept termed as “Work from Home” so seriously till the time Coronavirus pandemic hit humanity globally. There were some people who were working from home but most of us considered to enjoy or pass time at home all the time. Work from home is one of the most valuable topics/discussions at every forum today & how the Indian Population shall figure out the trick of working independently & remotely – also known as telecommuting. Here is what you need to be extremely mindful of when it comes to the perks & pitfalls of working from home.
Flexibility, Independence, Free from commuting to work, Taking breaks whenever you want, No boss to direct you are some of the perquisites of Work from Home; if not adhered in the right way there is a risk of endangering your work reputation drastically, in turn, falling prey to the negativity which in turn will affect you mentally, physically, emotionally & emotionally.
1. Flexibility. You can work in your pyjamas, at the time of the day. No need to commute during the rush hour for signing the muster or reporting to the boss to mark your attendance. You can take a break & consider working either in the morning, after or during night hours. You don’t have your boss to monitor your each & every move. However, work from home demands a lot of other responsibilities. If you are not responsible & don’t take responsibility over a period of time you will be exposed. You need to extremely updated in your subject & discharge your functions by being your own boss. At the end of the day, you need to take an inventory as to whether you have completed your task well or else slowly you will fall in your own grace.
2. Self Discipline is extremely vital. There is a lot of independence when you consider working from home but if you are not proactive, positive & upbeat you may tend to pass your time doing nothing & that is why your seniors quite often don’t believe you are actually working. Understand that when you are not going to the office or not reporting to the boss on a daily basis, you are not on vacation. Work from home doesn’t mean that you have access to Messages, Netflix, Coffee, Newspaper or TV all the time but it necessarily means that you need to get into specifics as to what are those 2 or 3 important assignments which you will start & consider finishing by the end of the day whether you feel like doing or not? No excuses, delay, blaming, criticizing or procrastinating. You have to build some new habits to be on the payroll of the company.
3. Manage Time Well. Working from home means that you have to respond to the needs of the family members & maintain the household chores in the midst of the office routine. Prioritize & sequence are very much essential. Understand the most important function from your organization point of view which you need to achieve with your colleagues; find out the most productive hours in a day wherein you can single-mindedly focus & energy to complete those tasks within the specific time frame without getting weird.
4. Scheduling is a skill. For the first few days of working from home, you may see that there is a lot of activities which might eat considerable time. Ex: When you sit with your coffee to see the news, you may unknowingly loose around 2 hours+ which is your most precious time. Then suddenly, you are reminded that you need to urgently speak / write an irate customer who has been demanding an explanation. You may not be prepared physically or mentally act today which may get pushed to the next day which your boss or organization doesn’t know. This is the kind of action that may end thwarting your progress. Bring a routine. Draw a plan to schedule your work during specific hours in a day. Plan a day before. Speak to your boss and colleagues & get the relevant information well before the start of work. Have a purpose & follow it diligently so that you feel happy & fulfilled at the end of the day. Draw a list (Must do, Should do, May do, Need not do). Complete the work as listed under ‘Must do’ & don’t consider taking up any task under ‘Should do’ when you ‘Must do’ work is pending.
5. Team v alone. You are at home working alone. Don’t just consider completing your assigned portion of the job & forward it to your boss. You are a team member & each member of your team needs to know to what extent you have completed those assigned functions & which of those areas your colleagues have to take it forward. You have to be proactive & responsive at all times. Keep a tab on your work & consider commuting to your team, boss, colleagues so that they are updated about each other’s work flow. The communication can be through a mail, message or could even be through a call.
6. Handle Technology Well. Being at home & passing one’s time aimlessly by forwarding unwanted messages, calling up & disturbing people, spreading gossip, rumor, venom is a sin. It is national waste of human resources. Work from home demands you to be tech-savvy. You can improve your knowledge on video conferencing to sharing of data on clouds, from accessing your company’s resources over a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to using only encrypted Wi-Fi for business & keeping your data secure – technology plays a vital role in ensuring productive & safe work from home arrangement.
7. Distraction is a killer. When you don’t have to report for work, commute or report to your boss then you can also lose time quite easily due to the distractions at home. Children preparing to go to school, maid & cook coming to work, frequent calls made/being attended by your family members could be an irritant & this could be a huge distraction. To be productive, you need to be focussed completely to do away with distraction. Robin Sharma, author of “Monk who sold his Ferrari” stated that in order to be productive one needs to be focussed completely to an extent of 90 minutes at one stretch on a single task without distraction to get a reasonable output. Thus, the most productive men/women are those who consistently work each day (90 minutes at a stretch 4 times in a day with a break of around 10 / 15 minutes) to get what they want. Avoid phone calls, kids from using your work devices & be extremely committed while at work. Have a specific time to call your office colleagues, WhatsApp messages & checking e mails.
8. Boost your work-ethics. Learn to take your work seriously. Don’t try to work in your night attire, don’t work sitting in your bed or sofa or while watching TV. Work is a serious business & every fiber in your body needs to be aligned positively to assist your brain to give the output which the organization is looking for each day. You need to be physically, mentally & emotionally fit & fine so that you can handle the complexities contained in your work. Have a work station comfortable enough to sit for hours, dress up in formals & a list of the most important work which needs to be handled during the morning hours. Allot specific timings for concal, video conferencing, handling mails, coffee break, lunch etc.
9. Work-Life Balance. Today, working from home has become a way of life. Be extremely mindful that there is no specific work hours, the risk is that either you end up working all the time & burn yourself or you become hopelessly unproductive. If you are unproductive & not working enough, you have to pull your sleeves failing which you may either be sidelined or asked to leave. If you are immersed in your work more often, then you need to strategize (Handle the most important assignments, delegate some of the functions to your subordinate & delay the task which could be taken up at a later date). Keep your boss & team informed all the time so that they do not get caught unawares.
10. Report to Office. You are an employee & consider visiting your office quite often to update & get updated. Schedule a meeting with your boss, higher-ups (business leaders) & keep them appraised. You must be visible to the Business Leaders & they must see the real value in hiring you. You must quite often exceed their expectations in terms of deliverance. In today’s times, it does not really matter whether you report at 9.30 am or 10 am & leave at 5 pm or 5.30 pm each day; what you do when you report for duty is all that matters.