5 tips to rock working from home
New habits need to be implemented in your and your staff’s “home offices” to remain competitive in this turbulent market
Many were forced to test the uncharted waters of working from home due to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, or maybe you just decided to try out something new. One way or the other, some basic ground rules are crucial to maintain healthy balance and improve focus when working from the home office.
For some this might become the conclusive time deciding whether their job or business will manage to keep afloat, while others will take this opportunity to masterfully cruise the stormy ocean to get ahead of others. Therefore, I want to offer you some work from home etiquette tips to help you use these turbulent times to the advantage of your business.
1. Create your work-at-home office
“Don’t work from bed. You want your bed to be a place of peace and calm, not work stress.” — Liz Grossman Kitoyi, co-Founder and CEO of Baobab Consulting..
Dedicate a certain space for work, even a different side of the couch would suffice. In this space you should conduct only job related tasks as you would at your actual office — do not eat or do any side activities such as watching Netflix, regardless of how attractive that may seem. Apply ROWE mindset to this space, which stands for “results-only work environment”.
2. Maintain your work schedule
“Establish a pre-work routine and an after-work routine. Working in the same place <…> can make anyone go crazy without proper boundaries in place.” — Marissa Owens, Opportunity Business Loans
If you are suddenly forced into learning how to work from home due to unexpected circumstances, such as a global pandemic, maintain the routine you had on your regular work days. Wake up at a similar time, eat your meals at similar times, and if you usually go for a coffee at a certain time with your colleague — do it over a video chat. Doing so will not only help you to maintain your productivity but also help you to get back to the office hours after the quarantine is over.
3. Conduct daily catch-ups
“Keep a team chatroom open. There is nothing more important in a group remote project than casual communication. Not just official emails and work updates, but the ability to sit back and chat.” — David Rabin, VP of Global Commercial Marketing, Lenovo.
When working from home your work performance might be seriously affected as you have no one to report to and are still not used to the work from home etiquette. To avoid this, organize daily calls, preferably video and at the end of the day, with your colleagues to catch up on what you worked and what is next on the agenda. Doing so will encourage you to maintain your usual performance and keep you up to date on what is happening.
4. Dress for the job
“Wake up and get ready just like you’re going to work. If you stay in your slippers all day you will not be as productive.” — Elijah Schneider, CEO & founder of Modifly.
This one might be a tougher one, especially that for most the not having to dress up part is the most appealing detail of the working from home. But it should be kept in mind that dressing up works as a subconscious indicator that now you will be assuming certain responsibilities that you have to carry out, such as completion of particular tasks. In addition, this also helps you maintain a healthy work-life balance by drawing a clear line when you are done with work — slippers on.
5. Remember the data security principles
“Hackers will be exploiting the security vulnerabilities that come with remote work. When people are scared and isolated, it’s much easier to target them because they are not using good cyber hygiene — it’s the last thing they’re often worried about in a panic.” — Aleksandr Yampolskiy, CEO of SecurityScorecard.
When you are working from home, you might not have many of the usual indicators telling you that now you should be more careful with the data that you are processing. Therefore, remain mindful of the documentation, when you are taking calls and remember to take care of your online presence by using a VPN.
Tech giants that support working from home
Amazon.com Inc.
Amazon.com is one of the tech giants leading retail and innovations in the field that also employs around 750,000 workers around the globe, many of which are working from their home offices. In September 2019, it had 30,000 open positions and rather few of Amazon.com employees work in company headquarters located in the state of Washington. With employees spread out everywhere, those not working at the main office need not feel left out. A plethora of roles at Amazon.com are carried out from home, ranging from customer service to global account manager jobs.
Dell Inc.
Dell is a multinational computer technology giant headquartered in Round Rock, Texas (USA) that offers both work-at home jobs as well as flexible jobs that include office time and remote work possibility. Dell is known for an assortment of employee-friendly perks, such as compressed workweeks and has work-at-home job openings in many fields requiring varied level of education and experience, ranging from tech support to marketing management.
Salesforce.com Inc.
Salesforce.com is one of the leading companies in customer relationship management services and was recognized by Fortune magazine as a top 100 company to work for as well as one of the world’s most innovative companies by Forbes. From around 49,000 of company’s employees many work from home. Telecommuting job openings at Salesforce.com usually require several years of work experience, but most entry-level candidates land work-from-home jobs by pursuing a sales job, such as sales account executive.
