If you are a young professional like me who enjoys flexible hours and travelling, working from home offers you exciting opportunities to lead a happier work life.
However, the need to communicate efficiently, improve your workflow, and balance your professional and personal life are key to maximizing the benefits of the work-from-home era.
To help you adjust and make the best out of the new normal, here are a few tips from our team at Vantree!
Communicate openly with your team
Communication with your peers is essential. There’s nothing wrong with expressing your needs to your superior. If anything, it should strengthen your relationship and make your work experience more enjoyable for both of you, the sooner you do it.
Tip #1: Not everyone works the same. Be proactive and share how you think you can work best by discussing scheduling, office IT setup, and collaboration tools.
Benefit: You will do your team a favour! You can think of it as an opportunity to improve your workflow and help you continue making valuable contributions to the organization.
Tip #2: To stay motivated and efficient, meet with your manager regularly for virtual coffee to discuss personal goals.
Benefit: Direction matters in any work you do and without it, you can easily feel lost. By expressing your vision and listening carefully to their feedback, you can meet your objectives and confirm they are in line with the company.
Tip #3: In the digital space, it’s more difficult to know when your colleagues are busy and to be thoughtful of their time. Check your coworkers’ online status and determine the importance of what you wish to discuss before engaging with them.
Benefit: Collaboration is easier when team members understand each other’s needs and timelines. Being considerate of their goals means they can also do the same for you.
Collaborate efficiently
While you gain a lot more independence, you must also find efficient and meaningful ways to stay connected for better collaboration.
Tip #4: If your company hasn’t invested in collaborative tools such as Monday.com, Asana, SharePoint or others, it might be worth suggesting. Engage on communication platforms for opportunities to contribute to the team. Participation is important!
Benefit: Using these tools facilitates the need to have back and forth communication, allowing team members to collaborate in one central place, and giving staff many hours to spend on other value-adding activities.
Tip #5: As much as you would like to say yes to every meeting or task, it is important to stay open and honest with your coworkers about your availabilities.
Benefit: It’s ok to say no or offer to reschedule to ensure you respect your personal time. It doesn’t mean you are not a team player; it just means you are giving equal (if not more) importance to your life outside of work.
Tip #6: With fewer social interactions, you might feel lonely. It is important to schedule time to catch up, share fun moments and celebrate wins on a regular basis.
Benefit: By doing so, you can stay motivated, strengthen relationships and boost your morale.
Control your environment
With easy access to messages and tasks through your devices, you might find it challenging to set boundaries when working from home, leaving you feeling tired, overwhelmed, or uninspired. To ensure you remain focused and calm in your professional life, you must pay attention to your habits starting with simple steps you can take throughout the day.
Tip #7: One of the most important tools to remain productive and positive at work is your calendar. Consider pre-booking your lunch, coffee breaks, and time to focus.
Benefit: Even though your company and team are there to support you, you ultimately are responsible for creating a successful routine, which can feel empowering as you have more control over your process.
Tip #8: We all know that sitting in front of your desk all day can take a toll on your body, which is why we suggest you speak to your manager about getting wireless headsets so you can be free to stand or move around comfortably. You can even have your meetings outside!
Benefit: You have the chance to work more autonomously by having your own space to complete your tasks so take advantage of it for more comfortable experiences.
Tip #9: If you haven’t done this already, mute your notifications after work hours and set status messages for your colleagues so you can avoid feeling the need to answer in your off-hours.
Benefit: By setting a purposeful work routine and clear boundaries, you will less likely fall into the trap of not being able to unplug and save your focus for working hours.
Tip #10: While you might be thinking about your next task or project outside of work, keeping your devices in a separate room will help you enjoy the time you have doing activities you love and being present with those close to you.
Benefit: Remind yourself that a happier work life is a balanced one. You don’t want to burn out, especially since working from home is a chance for you to lead a healthier work life.
Just because Vantree provides 24/7 visibility on all your EDI transactions, doesn’t mean you should be up at midnight working, every week – there’s more to life than business.
We hope you can use these tips to stay focused and make the best out of your work-from-home experience.
With a good mindset and effective habits, you and your team can have more freedom to explore your goals inside and outside work.
Lorine Berwari
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