Working from home and staying connected as a team through COVID-19 is a challenge for everyone. Some are struggling more than others with social distancing rules and complexities that arise from working from home. Here are some ideas to help you navigate our new normal:
- Make a time to connect daily with your team and protect that time.
- Set clear daily achievable goals to avoid procrastination. Many find it easier to focus on and achieve more immediate goals in these times of uncertainty.
- Create a new routine. Some people like to block out an hour per day to work on a critical task, their phone and email notifications are on silent and their family knows it’s a ‘don’t interrupt’ time. Communicate your plan with your team because they can’t see you to read your body language when they want to interrupt!
- IT issues can be a significant drain on your time and your energy. Speak up early to your IT team and then try to be patient with yourself and them while the issue is being resolved. So far my NBN has gone down twice since I’ve been working from home. It’s frustrating to say the least!
Working from Home has its challenges. Remember that each member of your team is a person who may suddenly find themselves struggling to find a quiet place to work, juggling young children, using a variable internet connection, and they may have genuine concerns about managing within the COVID-19 environment. Be kind to one another, share good news stories. Our team has a WhatsApp group where we share funny memes with each other.
Find your WFH equivalent to chatting in the work kitchen while you heat up your leftovers for lunch – because it’s those connections that we are missing now.