Since mid-March, the impact of Covid-19 on businesses both large and small has been widely felt across the world. In the UK, many businesses have had to shut up shop altogether during the lockdown period, resulting in significant pain and disruption.
For some businesses, such as office based organisations, the option of switching to a remote working setup has enabled them to continue, but with additional friction and difficulty. With large teams of people working from home, businesses have to adapt to the change, fast. What’s more, employees must find a way to work from home which enables them to continue to carry out their role as effectively as possible.
With this in mind, here are 3 tips to help you work from home like a pro:
1. Avoid wasting too much time in virtual meetings
Even before the world was hit with Covid-19, time spent in meetings was a real drain on business resources, both in terms of time and money. The team at CIPHR.com created a virtual meetings calculator to show just how much meetings are costing businesses.
For the typical office worker who spends around 5 hours per week in meetings, and earns a salary of around £40,000 – the cost of time spent in meetings is almost £6,000 per year. For a higher paid executive on around £120,000 per year, who may typically spend around half of their working day in meetings, the cost per year would be over £60,000 – which is fairly significant.
2. Invest in the right equipment
If, like many people at the moment, you’re planning to work from home for a period of a few months or more, you should invest in a home office setup, rather than just a standard laptop. Working from a laptop alone for long periods of time can lead to musculoskeletal problems, which is a very serious matter.
Consider investing in a home office setup, with a desk, monitors, and a keyboard and mouse. If space at home doesn’t permit, this could be setup on a dining table as a temporary measure, and stored at the end of the working day.
If you haven’t got any form of video / microphone equipment, consider a cheap combined option which can be found on Amazon or eBay for around £30. It will help you to keep connected with your teams, and avoid falling behind on any important projects or tasks.
3. Dress like you’re still in the office
One of the benefits often cited from working from home is being able to turn up to work in your pajamas. As nice as this may seem, it can have negative physiological effects and lead to you not being as productive as you may otherwise be in your standard work outfit. Dressing for work can help to put you in the right frame of mind, and ensure you’re as productive as normal.
Not only this, but working from home means you’ll likely be spending more time in meetings, which can often include video calls. You’ll want to stay professional, and this includes looking the part on your 9am Zoom call.
