Work from home is the way ahead!
It was the unforeseen circumstances that nudged us to work from home! It was the daily long travel hours and traffic jams and the stress that too nudged us to work from home! It was the health issues that forced us to work from home! It was the family need at times which nudged us to work from home! There was always something at different times which pushed us to work from home!
Corporate/Offices demanded us to be there at the designated time slots, to be there in front so that we can be pushed to work to justify our salaries!
Things were changing way too slowly and all of a sudden we have unprecedented pandemic which forced us to stay at home and ensure that there is minimal social contact for another year or so. All Corporate/HR rules on employees to be in offices have been forced to be thrown out of windows/every available openings and for a very long time. Time to value and look at humans as humans and not mere resources!
Now when we are forced to introspect and work from home either for a company or for self, why not do it in the best possible manner!
One a lighter note to self : "I love working from home! I get along with everyone in the office, I can show up in my pajamas, and I'm always employee of the month!"
Some Great Tips To Work From Home:
"There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it"
1.Create/Fix Morning Routine with Gratitude and Pray:You must have a fixed routine to get up at the same time, Have fixed time for mediation for mind/soul and physical exercise for body and heart. Must write down or talk in your mind/head about what things you are grateful for.Pray for the best for all. Have faith in self that you can manage it well.
2.Set Work Hours: You must have a predefined schedule and try and stick to it as much as possible. You must set clear number of work hours. Company requires you to work X no of hours and give Y output, that's enough and as long as you are productive enough consistently and don't ask much you are good for them else we all know where its headed.
Entrepreneurs need not define this but they need to take all stake holders in picture and take care of their requirements as well typically a family you have or people you are staying with.
3.Have a fixed working space(dedicated for you):It gives the work feel or should give when u sit at the desk like you do in office. Body and mind must be tuned to it or that space.It should be used by you only as you understand the clutter and vibes.
4.Penn down next days work schedule and goals you want to achieve: Its hard to do this in office due to privacy issues but at home you can freely put down next days schedule with goals to achieve. Scheduling is like 2 hours for this and 2 hours for that and so on. Goals can be like larger goal broken down into smaller daily goals to achieve that.
5.Eat that frog first or eat that live frog: Work on the hardest task first if there are few to choose between and then Move to other. Or if you have a live issues at hand ,dont just sit and look at it ,handle that first or to say eat the live frog if you must and eat it now.
6.Have ground rules set with people who share space,take strategic breaks and have family times well defined: You are working from home and maybe your partner or other in family.Respect their space and time. Discuss and set boundaries/ground rules and when to take common breaks and have a good family time in between. Kids must understand that you/you all are working from home just like office days. Of course with you at home kids will want your attention, give due attention to all.
7.Happily share household work responsibilities along with kids health,education and play:The pandemic has increased responsibilities of home also as its hard to have a helper at home.especially for working partner who is managing home also. So be sensitive to these needs of the partner and share the work load like cook few meals,help in washing dishes etc .If all can help,it will be easy ride and happy as well.
8.Take 5-10 mints walking/stretching break each hour(or 15 mint in each 2 hours):This is critical to stay healthy, alert and active and have some bonding/fun time with family and people around(on calls) This gives you time to think as well if you are stuck on some work and cant take next steps with clarity.
9.Share Progress reports with boss or partners and take progress reports of your staff:Take reports from staff reporting to you and check if they met some of their goals and advise on what they need to do to improve further. Look for their advise or comments too.ensure they have next days plan ready and discuss how they can achieve it.
10.Winding Down/Shutting the work time: As you end the work day, if possible list your achievements and what you need to improve upon. Check family progress too, kids work and partners work and what they might need more to make it better. This about tomorrow work schedule it and set goals and leave it on your desk.
Yes there would be some more tips like Have best technology to work with ,demand what you need from your employers(like laptops,printer and so on) so that you can work better at work from home. For emotional support or for fears you need to talk to right people etc etc.
Regarding Author: I am "The Sales /marketing/BD professional" with 18 plus years of varied experiences in managing ISPs/ITSPs/White goods Consumer durable/Global SIP/VOIP from scratch and large teams in India.product development as well. Global Market penetration for VOIP Solutions,Philippines was done on my own initiatives with multiple visits. Have BPO/BP-ITM/Coorporate/Carrier/Providers as clients in 20 plus countries including India,Philippines,AU,UK,US,Canada, Pakistan,DR,SA,NZ, Germany, Malaysia ,Indonesia,Japan etc Have been offering solutions to BPOs/IT-BPMs/Corporate for voice solutions and dialers which help in reducing pain points and increasing productivity.
Note:I have very efficient and reliable ,cost effective work from home predictive dialer solution with mobile app and working with chatbots for better CX along with speech to script and using AI/Data Analytics giving greater insights into client and agents capabilities,emotions,moods, voice tones and their requirements can be matched with best capable mix.Like best agent at x with clients with x mood or y requirements etc.We offer High quality VOIP on pay as you go or unlimited plans for dialing international be it predictive or manual along with Inbound DID/TFN Numbers.
I am available at:Skype: basskype2011.Email: [email protected]. Contact for whatsapp: 919810887227/918178811330 to discuss further. Demo can be arranged within 24 hours as well.
I have prepared a survey for companies looking to engage staff to work from home and this will help me to understand it better and offer you a better solution.
Here is the survey link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrGoNtvBH9hNI2NRaHx9ZwIjx7T691kajF5MG21hP3R51CvA/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1
Stay Safe, Stay Productive. we will get through this together and come out as better us not just u and me.