Photo - Charles Deluvio - Unsplash
Your "office", your problems
Telecommuting has many benefits , so many telecommuters feel happier and work more efficiently. According to statistics from the company RescueTime, which develops the time-tracker of the same name, telecommuting specialists devote 4% more time to their main work - this is 58 additional hours per year. However, the benefits come at a price, and the employee has to independently solve problems that simply do not exist in the office.
Workplace arrangement... Usually this task falls on the shoulders of the employer - he purchases furniture, table lamps, office equipment and so on. But with the transition to remote work, all this needs to be done by the homeworker. Part of the problem was solved in organizations that allow to take home corporate devices or practice the BYOD (bring your own device) strategy - when they use personal laptops, tablets and smartphones for work. But even in this case, the issue of arranging the work space in the apartment remains open.
It is clear that a comfortable workplace can improve well-being and increase productivity. Back in 2003, specialists from the Institute for Employment Research. William Upjohn and colleagues from the University of Texas establishedthat employees who sit in good office chairs with a lot of adjustment work 17% more efficiently. Considering that the situation with the "remote" will continue for some time, the investment in comfortable furniture can fully justify itself. But apart from equipping the workplace, you have to think about creating the right atmosphere.
Office atmosphere . During the day, a large number of meetings, meetings and conversations over a cup of coffee usually take place. On the remote site, the situation is different - 100% of communication has gone into chats and video calls, but such communication often causes negative emotions. Back in 2014, specialists from the Berlin Higher Technical School establishedthat a pause of 1.2 seconds during a video conference already creates an uncomfortable environment. Given the high number of calls made during the day, this aspect can negatively affect work processes - for example, 57% of millennials believe that video calls only complicate work.
Photo - Charles Deluvio - Unsplash
But "remote conferences" will have to be put up with for some time. Many employees are in no hurry to return to offices and continue to work from home, which creates their own problems - household chores sometimes make it difficult to concentrate on work tasks.
Work-life balance . If you are a homeworker, it is rather difficult to separate "office" and "household" duties. This fact was confirmed back in 2019Survey of Airtasker (a marketplace for outsourcers) among 500 American telecommuters. Because of this, performance and concentration decrease, and professional burnout occurs. A study by one cloud provider says more than 66% of developers working remotely notice signs of emotional fatigue. One of the reasons is that family members distract by talking: no, no, and they will ask for help with some trivial question, knocking out of the state of "flow".
"Remote" has become a trend for many years to come, so it is important to be able to switch between work / home modes in order to perform tasks efficiently. Fortunately, the comfort and productivity level of telecommuting depends not only on external circumstances, but also on personal skills. Next, we will provide some tips from "avid remote workers" and the companies in which they work.
How to adapt
Pay attention to the workplace . It is rare that an employer will agree to provide you with a table and chair for working from home, so you will have to purchase them yourself. But this has its advantages - you can choose good office furniture that suits you. However, it is not enough just to buy yourself a decent chair. It is important to create an office-like atmosphere at home, according to engineers at Red Hat . On the Internet, you can find a large number of instructions from specialists in ergonomics and videos with guides for arranging a workspace in an apartment.
One of the basic rules is that there should not be “household” things nearby: children's toys or scattered clothes. This reduces the number of distractions and makes it easier to stay focused and focus on tasks.
Establish asynchronous communication . According to the Harvard Business Review, over the past two decades we have started to spend 50% more time on various kinds of meetups. We have to plan the day around a few meetings, with distractions by mail or Slack in between. But on remote telephony, the “live” communication format does not work well - colleagues may be in different time zones and not be able to participate in meetings.
Photo - Prateek Katyal - Unsplash
Asynchronous communication is increasingly becoming the solution to the problem. This is a communication format where you send a message to a colleague without expecting an immediate response from him. In this case, he is less distracted and can calmly complete current tasks, and youyou get the opportunity to spend time waiting for other things that are of value to the organization.
To build effective asynchronous communication, messages need to be clear about what you need from the other person and in what time frame. When answering questions, it is worth giving exhaustive comments - this approach can save everyone time when communicating in an asynchronous environment. To better understand these aspects, it is necessary to pump up soft-skills. You can start by studying thematic literature.
Quite often in these collections gets the book " Difficult Dialogues. What and how to say when the stakes are high . " Written by Kerry Patterson, he has written four New York Times bestselling books and receivedawards for the development of the science of organizational behavior. It is also worth paying attention to “ Remote. Office is optional ”from the developers of the project management system Bacecamp and the e-book“ The Art of Async: The Remote Guide to Team Communication ”with the best practices for implementing asynchronous communication.
Observe work-life balance . Scott Dawson, author of The Art of Remote Work, recommendsdetermine the time when it is easiest for you to concentrate, and devote it to solving the most important problems. For example, it may be early in the morning when the whole family is still asleep and will not be distracted. In addition to working hours, it is worth deciding on the time for personal communication - with family and friends - since correspondence in chats with colleagues is not able to fill the psychological need for communication. Habr's user @pishukad in his material recommended thinking about how to arrange leisure activities related to communicating with people - even if you are an introvert by nature.
Photo - Jake Nebov - Unsplash
Moving to a remote location always involves stress - it is likely that it will be difficult for you to concentrate for some time, and it will take more than one day to set up a home office and negotiate with children. But in the end, you can experience all the benefits of telecommuting. In any case, the tips we have provided today are not universal - you should always stick to the strategies that work for you. Share your life hacks and methods in the comments to help you work remotely, stay focused, and be productive.
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