How To Work From Home

And before the global pandemic made commuting from home a temporary reality for millions, a growing majority of people were saying farewell to their onerous commute to work. It's no longer important to be in an office full-time to be a productive member of the team, thanks to ever-evolving technology like Skype, Facetime, Slack, Zoom, Google Hangouts, authenticator software, and cloud storage, not to mention texting and email. Many forms of jobs, in fact, can be performed almost as effectively, if not more effectively, from a home office.

Photo | Nelly Antoniadou

As enticing as remote work is to workers, it would not be such a strong theme if employers did not find advantages on their side of the desk as well. According to a recent Harvard Business School study, companies with work-from-anywhere programs can increase staff morale, decrease attrition, and reduce corporate costs. According to another report, telecommuting employees with very complicated roles that don't require a lot of coordination or social help will outperform their office-based equivalents. A dispersed team is also well equipped to keep activities going in the event of a natural or man-made catastrophe, even though part of the community goes offline.

Significant TAKEAWAYS

• Working at home can increase productivity, minimize attrition, and lower workplace expenses for workers, while workers reap benefits such as convenience and the elimination of a commute.

• To work easily from home, you must have the requisite technology, a separate workspace, Internet access that suits your needs, a workable routine that you can adhere to, and ways to collaborate with others.

• Computers and IT, education and preparation, and healthcare are among the most common areas for remote work; occupations include customer service agents, virtual assistants, data entry and transcription, students, and others.

• A host of top companies, including Amazon, Dell, Humana, Kaplan, and Salesforce, offer remote job options, but be wary of scams.

How to Operate At Home Effectively

Worked remotely one day a week (or more) or full-time—whether by choice or due to a health condition or environmental event—it is critical to ensure that you are set up to be efficient. This involves providing a dedicated office with the necessary technology; strategies for interacting with infants, pets, and other possible disruptions; and a routine that provides for the social interaction and relaxation that is usually synonymous with working in a workplace with others. Here are few tactics and pointers to help you succeed as a remote worker. 

Understand the ground rules

Is your boss demanding a nine-to-five routine, or is there any leeway? Is it permissible for you to operate on public Wi-Fi? Which tech tools, such as Zoom for video conferencing, Slack or Microsoft Teams for group chats, or Trello for project management, would you require? When you work with someone else, make sure your supervisor sets out the ground rules and provides you with the required resources, such as a laptop, as well as network connectivity, passcodes, and directions for remote login, including two-factor authentication. Be sure to run practice runs to iron out any issues that might arise. Many of the same techniques can be needed if you work by yourself.

Create a working workspace

Not everybody has a dedicated home office, but providing a private, quiet room for your work is important. Where practicable, keep your work environment apart from your personal spaces and use it exclusively for work.

Get the internet connection you need

If you have children, their FaceTime and Xbox use can cause your link and download speeds to slow. Moving as close to your Wi-Fi network as possible will aid (distant devices appear to use bandwidth), or you can try converting to Ethernet. Since laptops no longer have Ethernet ports, you'll need a dongle as well as an Ethernet cable to link your device to your router.

Utilize smartphone devices

If your work requires you to make long-distance and/or international calls, Google Hangouts, WhatsApp, and Skype all allow you to dial around the globe for free through the Internet. And if you and the person you're calling are also subscribers of the same service, the call would be secure.

Reduce distractions

Try investing in noise-cancelling speakers, such as Apple's AirPod Pros, whether you have a barking puppy or a jackhammering worker outside your windows. And if the kids are at home and you don't have childcare (say, during the summer or a natural disaster), see if you and your partner (or a neighbor in a similar situation) will take turns caring for them—which could mean talking to your boss regarding working overnight hours.

Make plans for further social activities

Some people relish the idea of working alone, but even the most introverted among us can become claustrophobic after a few weeks at home, alone, looking at the same project for long hours. It can be lonely at times. Prepare for this by scheduling a time to interact with the outside world, such as a lunch date (even though it's at 3 p.m.), a videochat with a neighbor, or an exercise lesson.

 

According to Gallup's State of the American Workplace survey, the percentage of Americans who worked remotely at least half of the time in 2016 increased from 39 percent in 2012.

Photo | Charles Deluvio