WFH and Managing yourself

 

A recent new concept to the majority of the UK workforce has been the requirement to WFH and managing yourself.

On the face of it, it looks to have so many benefits:

  • Time saved travelling
  • Costs of travelling
  • Setting yourself up how you want
  • No ‘walk past’ distractions!
  • The opportunity to focus on specific things
  • To start and finish work when you want.

Plus many other fringe benefits.  So why do some people struggle and why do some people prefer to go to the office?

The lack of interaction with like minded colleagues; particularly if you are new to a company; has been sited as one of the major contributing factors to high staff turnover.  For employment longevity, staff need to feel that they belong and they are part of something larger.  Working from home can create that opposite situation and the feeling of isolation.

Another issue is some staff struggling to draw the line between work and home life.  Where is the dividing line when they both happen in the same place?!

 

It is clear, there needs to be more support to help overcome these issues.  There needs to be so very clear guidelines around WFH and managing yourself.

 

WFH and managing yourself tips.

Discipline and implementation of ideas is the key.  Not all techniques will work for everybody, so it is a case of giving them a try and see what works for you.

  1. Get up and get dressed for work. Ensure you have a difference between your work wardrobe and your leisure wardrobe.  Even if you have no scheduled meetings, still put on that work shirt and take it off when you have finished.

 

  1. Have routine start, lunch and finish times so that your body clock is in sync with your physical actions.

 

  1. Walk! Before, work, during breaks and certainly after work.  When working from an office, the travelling home time provides us with a time to reflect on the day and start to unwind from work before switching into ‘family time’ mode. You are not a light switch; you can’t just go from one mode to another with a flick of a switch.

 

  1. Manage your remote meetings. Pre WFH, there is a break going from one meeting to another; even in the same building. With accessible calendars, people can fill your day with back to back remote meetings.  A simple tip would be for every meeting booked in your diary by somebody else, add 30 minutes to the length of it in your calendar, when accepting the invitation.

 

  1. Don’t play email tennis! Bouncing emails back and forth to other staff wastes a lot of time and causes inefficient distractions.  Ensure your email notifications are switched off and you have scheduled times built in to access your emails.  Open them once and then deal with them.  If there is anything urgent, people will phone you instead.

 

Here at Unlock Staff Potential, we are committed to supporting and training your staff to ensure they have the appropriate skills to WFH and help your business flourish. Contact us for a bespoke training quotation.