The world is faced with a global pandemic and this has resulted in many people practicing self isolation and some organizations to shift to remote work.
While some teams may have practiced remote work before, perhaps not many have done at this scale or just recently made the change. Here are some of my working from home tips to help ease the transition.
On Mental and Physical well being
- Take regular breaks. Set a reminder if necessary or better yet set up virtual coffee breaks with your colleagues just to have a quick chat on how they’re doing.
- Check in with your coworkers occasionally even if you’re not a lead or manager. It’s important to show care and concern during this time as not being physically present easily makes us forget to connect with people.
On Meetings
- It goes without saying that we should be punctual for meetings and as the host, always test your setup to make sure you’re able to start on time.
- Block your lunch times as a team in your calendar. As meeting organizers, it is also advised to avoid booking common lunch times in consideration of other people too.
- Use video when running meetings if your connectivity allows it but remember to mute when you’re not speaking to reduce noise.
- If your conference software supports it, use virtual backgrounds when possible. Static backgrounds avoids distractions and it could be a good conversation starter if you pick an interesting one.
- Scheduling meetings with 5-10 minute gaps. Instead of 1 hour meetings, consider 50 minutes or 25 minutes for a 30 minute one. This helps attendees to have a short break between calls instead of jumping from calls to calls to avoid video call fatigue.
- Use hand gestures or emote options in your software to politely interrupt a session as it becomes harder to manage larger meeting groups.
On Working From Home
- I recommend sticking to your regular work routine as much as possible. This allows you to start and end your work hours with little distractions and staying in focus.
- Use a pair of headphones if there are noise distractions at home.
- For folks with families, it’s best to have an understanding with your team if you need more breaks during the day.
- Keep the team informed when you’re taking your lunch break or returning from one. It is also best for the team to call it a day together to avoid working late into the day.
I would like to end my sharing with an advice I came across forums:
Just remember that it is ok not to be at your most productive during this period of time. Not everyone has the privilege of turning a pandemic into something fun or productive.
Stay safe everyone.