Working from home is not for everyone. Whilst others can adapt with little interruption. The fact that so much of our work is digitally connected doesn’t negate the fact that physical interaction and place of work is crucial to many of us.
You can imagine how in our world of making physical products, not being able to go to work means many of our team can’t do their job and how we operate is limited. Thankfully we design with digital tools, and have been working in the cloud since we started. With Dark Horse as an E-Commerce focused business, we service clients “remotely” as a standard of doing business. That being said, we’ve still gone through an adjustment period in working from home.
Work out routine – Either from our trainers going online or some amazing You Tube content. Surprisingly even 10 minutes per day has had a massive impact in mood and balance.
Cooking – Many of us enjoy cooking, so being able to try out a different recipe or perfect an old one has helped.
Reading and Courses – Putting aside an hour a day to learn something new has given a great sense of accomplishment to the day.
Yet trying to work remotely as a team has challenges and considering that this isn’t or natural state of operations, here are some insights we’ve researched and applied over our lock down period:
Create Communication Norms:
Let your colleagues know the best way to connect with you (cell phone, email, IM, etc.) and the best time to reach you.
Task sets:Try create task sets with clear outlines and timelines – This will avoid constant checkups. Keep Your Calendar Updated: Update your electronic calendar to ensure that others have accurate availability information.
Update Your Availability Status: Think of your status like the door to an office. Leave the door open – your status is “Available” when you’re available or may be interrupted. Close the door – your status is “Unavailable” or “Do Not Disturb” when you need to be left alone. Update as your availability changes.
Respect your colleague’s status: When your colleagues’ status is “Unavailable”, reconsider communicating with them unless the issue is time sensitive.
Home Office:
Create your home office: You need a place to leave your things; a separate room is best; however if that isn’t possible, make a specific table or the end of the kitchen counter. Define this space and it will lead to less conflict.
Recreate your ‘it’s time to go to work’ schedule: Start and end your day at a consistent time; this helps reinforce separating ‘work’ from ‘home’. It will also help manage your time so you are not working 24/7. Whilst not easy if you have kids but working in shifts can help to create more focused work sprints.
Catch up: Starting your day with a routine and quick chat with a friend can help set the tone and direction for the day.
Take a break: get up, move around, get a fresh cup of coffee – you did it at work, you can do it at home.
Working Tips & Tools
Communications Checklist:
Create a regular cadence for team calls and updates
Err on the side of over-communication and -clarification
Structure team calls like a virtual ‘stand-up meeting’ – focused, fast, with clear next steps
Do mute your phone/headset when you are not speaking to eliminate unnecessary background noise.
Do keep your cell phone away from the telephone/computer being used for the Audio conference to minimize interference during the meeting.
Do place your cell phone in silent/vibrate mode when entering a face-to-face meeting to minimize disruption.
Organization / Facilitation
Do be on time! If the meeting organizer is late, what does that indicate?
Do have someone facilitate the meeting while someone else takes notes so that you minimize audience distraction and keep the meeting moving forward.
Don’t allow the topic to wander. Be polite but firm if people talk too long or talk over each other. This avoids wasting time.
Don’t try “add value” if you don’t have anything to contribute – Everyone wants to move on and get to doing the work
Lastly we’ve found that giving our selves the space to not be constantly busy with more deadline driven tasks than constent online hours has proved more productive. It’s difficult for families and households where kids and cleaning take up the bulk of the day. So planned tasks and outcomes allow everyone to schedule their time – If it’s for Netflix or Art class, getting the work done is all that still matters.
When the lock down ends and you need some help getting your home office just the way you would like – Feel free to reach out and we’ll help add an edge.
Home office – Ideas, tips and tricks
Working from home is not for everyone. Whilst others can adapt with little interruption. The fact that so much of our work is digitally connected doesn’t negate the fact that physical interaction and place of work is crucial to many of us.
You can imagine how in our world of making physical products, not being able to go to work means many of our team can’t do their job and how we operate is limited. Thankfully we design with digital tools, and have been working in the cloud since we started. With Dark Horse as an E-Commerce focused business, we service clients “remotely” as a standard of doing business. That being said, we’ve still gone through an adjustment period in working from home.
Some key things we’ve needed:
Yet trying to work remotely as a team has challenges and considering that this isn’t or natural state of operations, here are some insights we’ve researched and applied over our lock down period:
Create Communication Norms:
Let your colleagues know the best way to connect with you (cell phone, email, IM, etc.) and the best time to reach you.
Task sets: Try create task sets with clear outlines and timelines – This will avoid constant checkups. Keep Your Calendar Updated: Update your electronic calendar to ensure that others have accurate availability information.
Update Your Availability Status: Think of your status like the door to an office. Leave the door open – your status is “Available” when you’re available or may be interrupted. Close the door – your status is “Unavailable” or “Do Not Disturb” when you need to be left alone. Update as your availability changes.
Respect your colleague’s status: When your colleagues’ status is “Unavailable”, reconsider communicating with them unless the issue is time sensitive.
Home Office:
Working Tips & Tools
Communications Checklist:
Meeting Etiquette
Desk phone / Cell phone / Headset /Computer Audio:
Organization / Facilitation
Lastly we’ve found that giving our selves the space to not be constantly busy with more deadline driven tasks than constent online hours has proved more productive. It’s difficult for families and households where kids and cleaning take up the bulk of the day. So planned tasks and outcomes allow everyone to schedule their time – If it’s for Netflix or Art class, getting the work done is all that still matters.
When the lock down ends and you need some help getting your home office just the way you would like – Feel free to reach out and we’ll help add an edge.
Some references we’ve found useful:
https://blog.trello.com/work-from-home-guides