Working at home - adapt or die...

Good morning everyone! Wow what a week. I can honestly admit to being slightly overwhelmed by all the Covid-19 talk right now and I'm sure you're all feeling the same. Hourly News, updates, restrictions, headlines and information changing daily - Phew! ...talk about information overload right? So, you're probably in that cohort that's just been told to work at home for a while and, before you jump into the "..woo hoo! sleep-late, working in pj's, shower late and no make-up mentality" you might want to read on a bit.

I have to hand it to all the HR Departments across the country who are diligently pulling out all the stops to ensure their workers are all as informed as we can be about corporate initiatives to keep us all safe. Whether that means working in the office in a "workspace sharing" initiative, or whether we've adopted a full "working from home" (wfh) concept - they've done a great job. I'm one of those people who are part of a global team and have adopted the wfh initiative. I also happen to work for one of the country's largest mobile networks - #Optus #Trustwave - so I know i'm in a good space. I'm not a newbie to the wfh concept either, having had the opportunity to work in global roles for a few years now but, for those of you who are new to the idea, I have two things to say to you:

1. Don't panic!
2. Get organised...

For the most part your day's going to be pretty much the same if you think about it and, for those of you that are used to commuting to work; yes, you'll get a bit of lie in and can avoid those mundane things such as late transport, parking hassles and queues in the morning and evening. Working at home can work very successfully if you embrace it.

This is where getting organised really comes into play. I for one enjoy my walk to work - getting off the train or bus a station early and taking the opportunity to blend in a little exercise before work really helps set the tone for me. You can still do that, just get up at the same time and take yourself outside for a brisk walk for the same amount of time you used to! If you have early morning conference calls like me, choose to do them whilst exercising or walking? Take your smart phone and ear phones with you and walk whilst listening - I promise you you'll enjoy it so much more and the best part is you'll get to increase your steps limit too! Imagine how healthy you'll look when you do go back in the office... everyone loves a compliment right? If you're a spreadsheet junkie, chart your progress each week and you'll be amazed at how much you can accomplish.

Make good use of your company's video conferencing solutions - whether it's Zoom, Slack or MS Teams - if you look into these solutions in a bit more depth you can actually do a lot more with it than you thought. Used to an Agile environment with a daily stand up? Set up a Group on MS Teams so you can allow your team to still have that stand up each day - just make sure you get everyone to adopt the collaborative approach and use the video option so you can still see everyone.

I was speaking to 2 school teachers yesterday who have chosen to utilise MS Teams to continue to teach their Yr 5, 10 & 11 classes respectively. They've set up a virtual classroom environment using MS Teams groups and a calendar of daily times where their students can work with them and share things across the group so their students can keep abreast of everything they need to whilst at the same time staying collaborative and interactive with the entire class. I gotta tell you their kids are loving it! The kids have even come up with some great ideas! What better way to use technology as the enabler and ensure our kids still have the same collaboration experience they would as if they were in a classroom environment or Uni. We can all do the same.

From a work perspective, staying in touch with your team has never been easier and yes, it does work if you make it your business to do so and think outside the square. I spoke to a colleague of mine yesterday at work who used to meet his team every morning down at the coffee shop just for a social catch up as part of their day. Now that they're all using the wfh concept, he's set up that 15 minute break every morning to do the same on MS Teams instead. The catch is you have to have a coffee in your hand to attend the meeting when you show your face on the video collaboration! Regular communication is key to making this work and it's easy if you put your mind to it.

If you have kids at home who are worried about their school work or losing touch with friends, make sure they have access to a laptop and encourage them to use technology like MS Teams to set up groups so they can stay in touch with their friends during this time, share homework difficulties, group assignments, reading updates, Q&A etc.

I remember when I was travelling I used to have a set time i'd read to my son every night and I used MS teams or Facetime to make sure even though I wasn't there I still read him his story. He loved it and it really does work - I still felt involved and it was almost as if I was right there with him!

My biggest piece of advice is get organised. I'm a self-confessed "list" person. I write a list every day of what I need to accomplish and work my way through it on a daily basis. Yes I know, but before you put me in the OCD cateogry, I'm a firm believer that there's no better satisfaction than getting to the end of the day and it's all ticked off. Its the same concept you'd adopt at work from a time management perspective. As an ex-team coach I know kids will warm to this idea too.

When I'm at home I have a study/space I use as my office. I get dressed as if I would every day for work - okay not a suit, but at least smart casual. I get my work stuff ready on my desk and I start my day as if I would if I were at my desk. I get my coffee and toast and get right into it at the same time of day I usually would. The more you stick to a routine the better it will be in the long run. Take regular breaks just like you would to grab a coffee but, instead of going back to your desk, take a walk for 15 mins in the fresh air with your coffee in a keep cup to get away from your desk. You'll get your steps up too. Get your kids to count their steps on a daily basis and set up a graph on the fridge so you can all chart your progress. If you have kids they can all measure their steps daily and at the end of the week offer a treat of their choice to do on the weekend. Set up a group on MS Teams and rope in other families so you can share it with other families in their class to show everyone that they're keeping fit whilst learning! Do the same with your office workers!

Eat healthy. You owe it to yourself not to become a couch potato! Just like you would at work, if you walked to get a salad and ate it in the lunch room, do the same at home but eat it away from your desk so you still have that break. Being organised you can prepare your salad the night before and put the time in your work calendar or set a reminder on your smart phone to take a lunch break away from your desk. Go to a park or sit outside with the kids. Take them a packed lunch like yours and tell them they have one hour to play and run around - use this time to play with them and don't sit on your phone the whole time - remember its your break too. Take a ball, the dog and get some exercise as part of your lunch break. Even if you walk with the kids, the dog, or you walk by yourself, you're away from your desk and getting that break. My son's at Uni and he's adopted this approach to study. Believe me it's great for the sanity, its FREE and it works! ...and yes, you get your steps up.

For those of you thinking about expenses there are many things you can do with very little funds or for Free - especially for those of you with kids. Libraries are a great place to get books at very inexpensive prices and... keeping the list thing in mind, you also have a time limit on when you can read them. Now's the time to visit, get your stocks up and get your kids reading more - chart their progress so they can see the results. If they're older and have assignments, encourage the use of MS Teams to get them to collaborate with their teacher and classmates to help and guide each other. Share books across teams if you have faster readers than others in the family or if you use electronic libraries of books instead, offer to share them. I know Uni's adopt this approach when they have group assignments.

Finally, share ideas! What works for you might not work for everyone but if we share and collaborate it will be a lot less like you're in isolation and we'll all continue to learn from each other. We're Aussies and now's one of those times to use that exceptional Aussie spirit we're famous for people - roll up your sleeves and jump right in ... she'll be right!

LinkedIn and a plethora of others have come up with some great tips/ideas for working at home and you can check them out below. Enjoy it, embrace it and get involved.

Staying Informed and Connected: Resources to help navigate work and Coronavirus

New to Working Remotely? These Resources Can Help

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/productivity-tips-working-from-home

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/03/05/working-at-home-13-tips-tools-best-practices/4955847002/

Paula Kilby

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/paulakilby/