Working from Home

Not everyone is used to working from their home – but with the present circumstances, many more of us will have to.

With no definite end in sight to the pandemic, this will be a very different working from home experience. It’s not just an afternoon here or there, but an ongoing way of life. In addition to what’s going on in the world, home-working can be an unsettling experience.

We’ve gathered some suggestions and resources on this page to help you navigate this experience, while also remaining healthy and effective.

This includes a recording our our recent webcast and notes on the key takeaways from this session. Please feel free to share with your colleagues and friends.

Key principles to bear in mind

If you’re looking for some top level suggestions on working from home for you and your team, consider these important factors:

Practicalities

Select a room or regular space to work from
Avoid using your bedroom if at all possible
Consider the ergonomic setup of your workspace
Agree some working principles with the people you live with
Minimise the distractions in your environment
Make sure you have the tools for the job
Consider how you can clear away work each evening

Your schedule

Get dressed for work!
Replicate your working routine as much as you can
Identify some ‘rituals’ for the start and end of your day
Be realistic about what you can achieve
Identify your key priorities for the day and list them
Keep an eye on the time
Consider what you can do with saved ‘commuting time’

Communication

Maintain contact with your team throughout the day
Agree some communication principles
Clarify appropriate use of comms channels
You may need to be more explicit in your messaging
Keep the social side going e.g. shared coffee breaks
Let others know when you’re logging on and off for the day
Be patient with those finding home-working difficult

Wellbeing

Ask for help from your colleagues when you need it
Take regular breaks from your screen and move around
Ensure your workstation is set up with wellbeing in mind
Eat and drink what you normally consume
Remember what you’re in control of
Manage your consumption of social media and news
Get exercise, as appropriate
Acknowledge there may be disruptions to your plans
Be as flexible and understanding as possible
Identify how you’d like to look back on this disruption
Engage with your personal roles with intent

Resources

We’ll gather relevant resources for your wellbeing, productivity and effectiveness here. This includes blog posts, podcast episodes and and downloadable resources.

Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll update our blog with posts relevant to the Coronavirus Pandemic and its impact on the world of work. We’ll also point you to third-party content from reputable sources.

Podcasts

Several episodes of our podcast have direct relevance to the present context. We’ll list the most pertinent ones here, along with third party podcasts we recommend.

Video

We’ll add relevant video resources here.

Our ‘Working from home’ webcast, broadcast on March 18th
Working from home workstation set-up from the HSE

Downloads

We’ll share downloadable resources for individuals, teams and organisations here.

Our ‘Working from Home’ webcast

This webcast was first broadcast on 18th March 2020 and covers some principles to make the most out of working from home.

The video below is a recording from the live session. You can also find this video on YouTube – please feel free to share it with any colleagues or friends you think may be interested.

Get in touch with us today to find out more