If you’ve decided to work from home, you can get ready to welcome productivity and flexibility into your working life. However, before you dive in, it’s best to set some ground rules so that you can work from home in the best way possible for you, your job and your schedule.
We’ve delved into some of the most effective ways to work from home so you or your team can start remote working in the most productive way to achieve positive outcomes for your business.
If you’re starting to work from home, it’s important to still make it feel as though you’re at work, even if you are in your own front room. Create a workstation or office for yourself somewhere in your house so you can work from home whilst still being in the working mindset. Make one spot in your house where your mind can start switching to business-mode, encouraging you to remain productive as you work from home.
Declutter your space so you don’t see that stack of washing up or the ironing pile in the corner of your eye, distracting your mind and invading your to-do list. By creating a clear space away from any reminders of household chores, you can work from home in peace, staying focused on the tasks in hand.
When you work from home, it’s also important to establish some ground rules with anyone you share your house with. Tell your housemates what your schedule is, so they know when they can and cannot disturb you. Just because you work from home doesn’t mean you can act as though you’re at home, so just ensure the people you live with can understand and respect your working space.
Remote working can take some time to establish and fine-tune, but it’s important to find a routine that fits into your schedule and helps you to continue working in the most productive way, even though you now work from home. Time management is one of the most important aspects of a routine when you work from home. Set aside a schedule so you know exactly when you should and should not be working. As you work from home, it’s easy to get carried away, but it’s also important to switch off and refresh, so make sure you establish break times and a definitive finish time to your working day. The great thing about remote working is that you can set your own schedule, so you can work from home at the times when you know you’re most productive.
Make sure you keep a to-do list when you work from home and include the tasks you need to complete each and every day, so you’re always aware of what you should be doing, helping you to avoid distraction. Set limits to how much time you can spend freely browsing the Internet and social media, and try to be mindful of keeping procrastination to a minimum so you can keep your focus on your to-do list.
If you’re just starting to work from home, you can try acting as though you’re going to work as you normally would. Keep your morning routine the same and once you’re dressed and ready to work, head over to your designated space to get your head down. Something as small as dressing for work will put you in the mindset for the job straight away, so you can enjoy a productive day of remote working.
Whether you work from home or not, it’s a really good idea to get up from your desk or workspace every hour or so to escape the screens and stretch your legs or get some fresh air. Keeping a clear head is even more important when you work from home, as it’s easy to get distracted by your personal life, but setting strict working hours and having regular breaks will certainly help you to master productive remote working. Try to leave the house each day, even if it’s just for a little walk on your lunch break. The beauty of remote working is that you can even up sticks and work from your local coffee shop for a few hours to break up your routine and enjoy a change of scenery. As long as they’ve got an internet connection, with Sage Hosting from The Isobar, you’ll be able to access your data and applications without a worry.
When you work from home, you’ll find that your technology and your equipment become all the more essential. You’ll need to make sure you have the right chair and desk to sit at your computer throughout your working day, so it’s worth investing in these if you’re planning to work from home regularly.
Staying connected to the rest of your team is increasingly important when you work from home in order to keep your processes running as smoothly as possible, so ensure you make the most of technology such as instant messaging and video conferencing. Remote working will also mean you strive for the peace of mind that your data is safe as you move from the main office to your home office and beyond. Here at The Isobar, we pride ourselves on having a water-tight Sage Hosting service, so you can access your desktop safely, wherever you choose to work.
Conferencing service Zoom has come out as one of the nation’s favourite remote work solution, with even the likes of politicians using the software. Zoom offers a range of communication tools to help you conduct meetings whilst out of the office. The platform allows up to 49 users to share HD videos of themselves and allows 1000 participants to join the stream and watch. Zoom provides users with transcription tools for easy minute taking and the ability to share screens. It is integrated with several email systems (such as Outlook), allowing you automatically post events to your teammate’s calendars. The software can also act as a phone system, allowing users to preview and log incoming calls. This feature can help users who work within customer service.
Additionally, regular webinar holders can benefit from using the service. With the ability to connect to a range of CRM systems, presenters can control stream subscriptions and can broadcast seamlessly to viewers. This feature can work well for product announcements, demos and thought leadership streams.
All in all, Zoom is a versatile option for staying in contact with customers and colleagues alike. Video chats let you exchange information visually, such as through body language, to communicate the right message whilst working from home.
If you’re looking for an instant messaging service to deliver quick updates to team members, Slack is a great option. With a straightforward screen layout, Slack will update your co-workers in real-time and is ideal for collaborative projects. It’s the quickest way to communicate whilst working from home.
Instant messages allow you to share and receive information faster than email correspondence. Slack works by flashing a small notification on the user’s screen which shows a preview of the latest message received. Teammates can then click onto the chat boards to read the message in full.
Chat logs can be organised via ‘channels’ which can be named by the users and customised with public or private settings. The platform also gives you the ability to share files with colleagues, including Word documents, spreadsheets, and image files.
The platform even comes with an app store for further customisation. Along with interactive apps such as polls, Slack can be connected to separate programs such as HubSpot, Monday and Dropbox.
Slack is a great way to improve communications amongst teams and enhance project management whilst businesses work from home. Its simple design makes it accessible to all users and provides teams with instant updates to help them stay coordinated.
Whilst taking your laptop home is simple, the same cannot be said for your office server. The Isobar eliminates the issue by hosting your software online.
Servers are pieces of hardware which connect your computer to your electronic office files. On-premise servers are limited by location, meaning that you can only access your files if you’re in the office. Cloud servers, however, store your data and software online so they can be accessed from any device.
The Isobar is a hosting and storage solution. It uses cloud-technology to host your software, making it accessible from any device. With several built-in layers of security, cloud servers keep your information and files secure. The Isobar uses features such as two-step authentication and dual-layer firewalls to keep confidential data protected.
The remote software creates regular backups to act as a safety net, making it possible to retrieve data if it is accidentally deleted. The Automatic Failover feature helps reduce office downtime by switching out faulty hardware, so work stored is not compromised. Cloud servers allow you to work remotely for the long-term. On top of this, The Isobar’s technical team can remotely log in to perform updates and resolve software issues.
The Isobar is suitable for businesses who use Sage 50 and can be a great asset to any team that decides to work from home.
If you often have multiple projects always running at once, you should consider a project management software, such as Monday. These platforms exist to provide insight into project progress and the workload of teammates.
Monday lets you see the status of tasks at a glance. With a user-friendly layout, you can see exactly what stage work is at and managers can make sure employees are on track for deadlines. The platform has a simple column structure where you can choose what kind of information you would like to be displayed. The columns types include text, timelines, dates, numbers, and ‘people’ for assigning tasks. Once you are happy with the arrangement, you can preview this information as a timeline, calendar, or Kanban board. You can separate each board you create using workspaces. This allows you to organise projects by department or work area, making it easy to find what you are looking for.
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