Working from Home

I wanted to take some time away from my usual topics of leadership and cyber security to talk about a topical subject, remote working.

Specifically, working from home which has had (or does have) a certain stigma around it in many organisations. I believe if there is a silver lining to recent global events it is this stigma is being put to the test in many organisations. In fact, I have found the opposite to be true. Working remotely and with remote teams for many years now and have very few incidents of people not meeting or even exceeding the expectations put on them professionally.

This will be the first of two posts, focusing on working from home while the second post will be how to lead and get the best from a team working remotely. This is through my years of experience in this form of working and am happy to hear from anyone who has had the same or other experiences.

There are 5 rules to working efficiently from home.

you need a space which is ONLY used for work

1.      Have a dedicated space for work

 This may sound simple, however, to make this work effectively you need a space which is ONLY used for work. This sets the mental stimulus for diving into the work without distraction. So not on the kitchen table, or on the sofa with your kids watching Frozen 2.

 You will find more often than not you are the weak link in this rule, especially when the kids are home.

2.      Rules for the family and yourself

In my house, if the office door is closed then everyone knows I’m on a call or working on something sensitive and can’t be disturbed. It is actually very easy to communicate this to your kids, over a short time and a few video conferencing walk ins this will be ingrained in everyone. This is the perfect spot to remind you that while you are scheduled to work you should limit your social network time. And when I say 'limit' I mean turn off Facebook chat notifications and don't interact at all until you have scheduled breaks or time to do it, this one mistake will kill all productivity and you don't have to learn this the hard way :). If you are like me you will find more often than not you are the weak link in this rule, especially when the kids are home. I am like many reading this a spouse and parent first and foremost. You need to build discipline yourself when you first start out

You need to keep the same daily and weekly routines.

 3.      Routine

This is the most overlooked rule for remotely working. You need to keep the same daily and weekly routines. Daily get up early, exercise, shower, breakfast, help kids get ready for school, team stand-up and whatever comes next in your day. Weekly (I do this on the weekend before which is a bad habit don't do that) Set up your work week with scheduled time for breaks and tailored to how you work best. For me an early riser I work best between 5am and 2pm then I get a lull until about 5pm to 8pm. After 8pm I am of no use to anyone! So I load my mentally intensive activities and meetings in the start of every day leaving the latter parts of the day for everything else. remember at least a 15 minute break every couple of hours and stand up and move every 30 minutes or so EVEN IN THE OFFICE! This will create and reinforce the mental state to be as productive as possible in your work day!

 The power of face to face meetings should NEVER be underestimated.

4.      Video conferencing facilities

Following this rule you too can be as satisfied as this gentleman in the picture. Now this is an interesting subject and at least in the technology space people can get caught up in the detail here, it doesn’t matter what tool you use so long as it meets your employer’s tech, financial and security standards. The power of face to face meetings should NEVER be underestimated. The importance of social queues and body language in building relationships is very important. This will help you get the most out of meeting with team members, leadership and stakeholders.

Communication IS collaboration so communicate often

5.      Collaboration tools

I’m not going to plug any apps or systems here and your company most likely has invested in some kind of tooling in this space. I will add that EVERYONE from CEO down the line should do the training provided to make sure you are using this resource effectively. This is one of the main reasons people have a stigma with working from home. Ineffective use of these tools leave people thinking nothing is happening on tasks. Communication IS collaboration so communicate often and remember when working remotely there is no such thing has too much communication. The largest tool tip I can give here is with my IPad pro there are whiteboard apps which allow multiple people to draw at the same time. This allows for remote whiteboard sessions which in my space has been a COMPLETE life saver many times over.

The TL;DR of this post is, In my humble experience to be successful in remote working you have to use each step on this list regularly and often.

I would love to hear the tips and stories you have acquired in your careers.

Cheers,

Adam