Going Home Office Overnight — A Guide To Productivity
Many people over the world are being forced to start working from home in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus. It’s already been proven that working remotely has many advantages like increased productivity, but being pushed into it basically overnight is not an easy feat.
Based on our remote workforce experience at LaterPay, here’s a guide to help you set up for a good home office experience:
Stick to your routines
It’s tempting to skip the ‘getting ready for the day’ part of your routine when you’re suddenly able to work from home. After all, now you can just wake up and open your laptop — even if you’re still in bed! Chances are, however, you’re not going to get much done that way — and on top of that, it’s bad for your posture.
Stick to your morning routine instead. Take some time to get ready for the day as you normally would. Stick to your work routine, too! Do you normally start your work day by catching up on communications, or do you normally reserve some time in the morning to do some deep focus work? Keep starting your mornings the same way. Sticking to the routines that you’ve already established work for you will help you get into the right mode. And don’t forget to take breaks!
Overcommunication is key
Just because you don’t see your colleagues anymore, doesn’t mean that you can’t collaborate with them. In fact, you should plan to communicate, communicate and communicate even more. Whether that’s over Slack (our default tool for communication), video meetings with Google Meet or Zoom, or over email, become deliberate about working together while you’re all remote. Over-communicate about what you’re up to, what you need help with, what you’re not sure about, etc. But also reach out to people about things that are not work-related and catch up with each other, perhaps over a virtual coffee!
Another part of overcommunication is documentation. Document as much as possible so that your co-workers can read all your latest updates on how projects are progressing, which tasks need their attention, etc. Have one central place to store all this documentation so that anyone in your team, group, or company can see what’s going on.
Set up your workspace
Set up a space in your home where you can work comfortably and really focus. Not everyone has the luxury of a separate home office — I sure don’t! But do try to carve out a space from which you can also step away at the end of your work day. Maybe all you have available is your kitchen table, but then make sure to clean up when you finish work so that there is a clear separation between your work day and your private time.
Trust me, having that clear cut between your work day and private time does wonders. Managers often worry people will slack off when they’re working remotely, while a lot of remote workers actually have a hard time finishing work as there is no commute home at the end of the day during which they can separate themselves from their office.
Are you not home alone while you’re working? Find a way to get a calm and productive space, either by using a different room and making it off-limits to kids, roommates, partners etc., or by agreeing on a no-interruption rule. You could have no-interruption slots at specific times or you could agree that if you’re wearing headphones, that means you should not be interrupted. Whatever works for you, make sure that you communicate those expectations clearly.
Note: I don’t personally have kids so I cannot offer any specific advice on how to handle a home office when your children’s schools or daycares are closed. However, here’s a post on LinkedIn with tips on how other parents deal with this situation in the comments.
You’ve got extra time now — use it!
All the time you used to spend commuting to work is extra time now. Spend that time with your family, your friends, do a work out or have a nice long walk with your dog, or finally read that book you haven’t managed to even get started on. Whatever you do, enjoy it. Make sure you don’t get completely stuck in your house (unless the government is telling you to stay at home) and go out and catch some fresh air.
For the managers…
Making the switch from working at the office to working from home can be a hard one. Check in with your team members regularly on an individual basis on the topics described above:
- How is their routine going?
- Are they staying in touch with colleagues?
- How is collaboration going?
- Have they been able to set up a workspace?
- Have they set boundaries and do they feel they can stick to them?
Acknowledge that this is a challenge and encourage your team to be vocal about how they feel and what’s difficult to them. Listen to their challenges and work with them to keep improving how you’re handling this new situation.
Be transparent about what’s going on, whether it’s home office-related or refers to any of the normal work that’s going on. Continue to give ownership to your team and show them that you trust them with that ownership, even when you can’t see them. Last but not least, make sure you expect best intent. Written communication doesn’t include facial expressions, body language or tone of voice and can therefore easily come across more direct, negative or rude than spoken, in-person communication. We find expecting best intent from each other creates a positive and productive work environment.
Also read our blog post about collaboration in a remote setup.
And some more interesting and useful reads:
- GitLab’s “What not to do when implementing remote”
- OwlLabs’ “How to create a remote work policy quickly”
