Many are finding it hard to adjust to working from home (WFH) because it came on so suddenly and they’ve never experienced it before.
On the upside, it offers greater freedom and flexibility with potential to enhance creativity and productivity.
The flip side, however, is that much corporate culture and success hinges on collaboration and camaraderie.
With little or no face-to-face interaction or guidelines for all to observe, teams can become disconnected, demotivated and dysfunctional, impacting on company performance.
A range of experts were canvassed to compile a guide to getting your head around WFH for optimum results.
For those newly headquarted at home, and not at all sure about it, some basic tips:
- Create a comfortable, suitably equipped designated work space where you can focus without distractions.
- Get your telecommuting facilities and skills humming ASAP. ViacomCBS’ Sydney office – one of the first in the media/advertising space to experience COVID-19 lockdowns – has some good tips for managers and teams alike from its own experience.
- Set working hours for yourself and abide by them. Also be clear to others about them so you’re not interrupted when you’re busy but not “on” all the time.
- Be available to relevant parties during those working hours – don’t go off the radar without telling managers or colleagues.
- Identify what needs to be done every day. Do it.
- Get showered and dressed.
- Don’t let friends drop in or indulge in chatty social calls/emails. Ditto social media for non-work.
- Take breaks as you would at the office. Ideally, get out of the house for a while – a walk, maybe a lunchtime fitness session, a snack or mind break at a nearby café.
- Overall, you are still at work. Pretend you’re not at home.
A one-time WFH veteran, adland comms expert Jane Morey, founder and director at Morey Media: “Working from home requires discipline as there are always distractions at the ready – be it visiting the fridge, flicking on the telly or doing some washing. I had ruls of thumb I always abided by so that I stayed on track and on top of things.”
The prospect of ditching the commute, working in your own space to your own schedule (in your pyjamas or trackies all day, if you choose – but generally not recommended) can feel liberating. Exhilarating even.
But it’s also peppered with minefields of distraction that can create a slippery slope to reduced concentration, procrastination and poor productivity.
Deadlines and important comms can too easily slip through the cracks of a scattered mind, impacting on your employer and putting your own job in jeopardy.
To set the tone, it’s important to create a designated “workstation” area at home where you can concentrate on the business at hand and feels business-like.
Sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast or lunch, or on the sofa in front of the TV while you work on that presentation, check emails/voicemails or make calls is an invitation to be hopelessly sidetracked.
Your schedule doesn’t have to be as formulaic as “office hours” but it’s probably not a great idea to, say, kick the working day off with a sleep-in.
It’s not conducive, either, to mix things up with personal tasks, like putting on a load of washing, popping out to buy some supplies (if, of course, there are any to be found on supermarket shelves …), cleaning the bathroom or washing the dog.
You might enjoy an hour of TV or catching up with personal Instagram or Facebook while you break for lunch but a bad idea for such activities to be randomly interspersed through the working day.
And it’s all very well to impose these disciplines on yourself but it’s just as important for other people to understand the boundaries – that they don’t expect you to down tools at their whim.
Of the utmost importance is to make sure your company’s telecommuting devices and applications such as Zoom and Google Hangouts, as well as the company’s VPN access if necessary, are hooked up and in good working order so you can stay connected with managers and fellow team members.
Also, that you’re ready and available for video calls and teleconferencing as the need arises. Don’t go “off the grid” while you concentrate on your own patch and risk missing important hook-ups.
As one manager told us: “All those communications streams won’t make a difference if the team member isn’t on the other end!”
As we all adjust to this new world working order of self isolation and social distancing, maintaining one’s sanity will be another crucial trick to master. But that will be the subject of another AdNews story soon.
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