Well, how else can I say it, COVID-19 has already affected all of us and my deepest sympathies go out to those fighting it or those helping family and friends who are fighting it. We are treading in uncharted water with everyone trying to make heads or tails of the deluge of news articles and trying to find our new sense of “normal”. This applies across not just our personal lives but our professional lives as well.
One of the most dramatic changes we have seen is the shift that companies have made to embrace, promote, and in some hard hit geographies even mandate telecommuting or work from home. Work from home (WFH) has been a reality for almost 2 decades and has been part of many companies business continuity plan for just as long but this is different as the vast majority of the working population, at least for the next few weeks or even months, adapts to work from home as their “primary office”.
Being a late stage Gen-X’er I came into the workforce in the mid 1990s just as companies were migrating away from client server applications (remember VMS) and embracing client server. In the mid 2000s both Citrix (through their acquisition of Xensource) and VMware brought the concept of a “hypervisor” to desktop computing allowing users to access their corporate image (and files) from anywhere. Since then the concept of VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) has come a long way in terms of performance, scale, latency, embedded security and extension to mobile devices. Ultimately VDI is one of key enablers of remote connectivity along with Internet and mobile bandwidth, VPNs, SaaS and others. Without them we all might be in a much different situation today.
But the technology is only the enabler, what about the people and process adaptations necessary to work from home? Well, for the last 15 years I have primarily worked for home and to that end I have picked up a few key tips I’d love to pass on to those who are interested….
- Treat your office at home like you would your office at work – Specifically, have a dedicated workspace, with a comfortable chair and desk. If your office does not have a door ensure it has some form of separation from the rest of your house and set clear rules around treating the space as an “office”. Try not to have your office inside of your bedroom as it can disrupt your sleep patterns.
- Leverage Video for meetings – Teleconferences can be impersonal and can at times be hard to follow. Move as many meetings as you can to an interactive video platform like Zoom, Skype, Goto Meeting or something similar. While you may have concerns about being on video I can tell you it makes a HUGE difference when you can see the presenters and you can interact face-to-face
- Take breaks and get outside if you can – When working from home you can tend to sit for long periods of time and you don’t get the traditional “meeting room shuffle” when all of your meetings are via video. For this reason, take structured breaks and get outside to enjoy the weather or get some fresh air between meetings. It make a huge difference in your mindset and energy levels
- Embrace the extra time from not commuting in traffic – If you are used to fighting traffic 1 hour each way reclaim that 2 hours and make good use of it. Maybe you can take your kids to school now? Maybe you can catchup on your reading? Maybe you can put more time into your favorite hobbies? Maybe you can take a course online? Maybe you can workout more often?
- Stock up on healthy snacks and lunches – Yes, you will eat more when you work from home, that’s a reality. Get ahead of it by stacking your fridge with healthy snacks and lunches so that you don’t get into the habit of ordering fast food every day.
- Set boundaries with your spouse and kids – It’s important for everyone to understand that your office at home is your workplace and for that reason you need folks to respect your privacy and try to be as quiet as possible. One tip I have is to simply open and close your door as an indication of whether you are available to talk. Conversely, set boundaries so that work doesn’t interrupt your family time by leaving your work in the office.
- Get a quality headset – If you plan on delivering any large scale presentations via video conference get yourself a high quality headset. It will make a huge difference for folks who are on the other end of the line
- Communicate, Communicate, Communicate – Don’t stop interacting with your peers and your direct teams just because you are physically present in the office. You will miss the physical interaction of an office environment and your teams will want to stay connected to the “buzz of the business”. Leverage your phone, video conferencing and instant messaging tools to keep your teams informed, focused and to keep the camaraderie going.
Any tips to share? Feel free to enter them as comments below.
#WFH #Telecommuting #Homeoffice
Leave a Reply