With the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic taking India by storm, many companies have extended the work from home mandate until the situation is under control.
While working from home comes with many advantages such as reduced commute time, increased time spent with family members, better work-life balance, it also has its limitations.
Many industry reports have reported that while working from home, employees are also likely to be distracted, unfocused and burnt-out as their social interactions are limited.
Here are a few tips and tricks on how you can make ‘work from home’ truly work for you.
1. Make online meetings interactive - Create online meeting environments that promote collaboration and sharing by allowing all participants to share and review documents and screens and work on ideas as a team in real-time. If you are on a video meeting, and the only content you are sharing is the agenda or a slide that says Q&A, take it down to maximize your ability to see the other attendees.
2. Ensure focused discussions through high-quality audio - In a 2016 survey from Poly, more than 64% of our respondents stated that they are distracted by some kind of noise around them when on a conference call. During a conference call, you want to hear and be heard—your headset isn’t about just you. Frantically turning up the volume will not block out background noise around you, like family members or mixer or grinder sounds. Invest in headsets which have features like Active Noise Canceling (ANC) technology to block out background noise, so you can stay focused. A good headset will also block that noise from reaching the rest of the attendees on a meeting, too, saving them from frustration. You can also consider investing in speakerphones such as Poly Sync which will not only allow you to attend conference calls with ease and clarity (as it is Microsoft Teams certified) but also lets you enjoy your favorite music in HD audio quality during your down time.
3. Set up a virtual watercooler environment - Chance encounters are harder to come by when you are not in the same building. Replicate the office watercooler environment with instant messaging or set up a daily five minutes with your line manager or your work friend—even if it is just to do a quick check-in. This will not only help in improving your mental health due to the social interaction that is associated with the check-in but it will also let you ideate or understand more about the latest developments at the company or industry from a different perspective.
A top priority for any remote office needs to be "technology parity". IDC defines this as ensuring that all workers have secure access to the resources needed for their jobs, whatever device they’re using, wherever they are. It’s vital that remote workers don’t become "second class citizens" and the aim for organisations should be to create seamless, virtual collaboration using the best technology and tools available.