Working from home is one of hottest employment perks offered by companies today. Discover some of the best practices you can implement in your company today to increase employee satisfaction and boost productivity.
Most employees today prefer working from home options and many progressive companies have led in their efforts to implement this benefit. Reports of higher productivity and better chances of attracting top talent are among the main reasons more and more employers have begun to adopt the idea of remote work.
We provide five best practices for employers seeking to implement working-from-home programmes.
Enhance your working-from-home experience with these 5 tips
1. Communicate clearly for best results
American basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski probably said it best when he pointed out that “effective teamwork begins and ends with communication”. This is especially important in a remote work environment where immediate responses to questions may not be immediate.
Use simple language and avoid technical jargon when speaking so you can communicate in a direct and straightforward manner.
2. Use technology to make it work
The use of technological tools to enable better working from home experiences cannot be overstated. The rise of video conferencing and messaging tools such as Slack, Zoom and Whatsapp are instrumental for workers to be able to provide and receive support on matters related to work.
When exploring workplace apps, companies can leverage on their trial periods to learn what works for their company.
3. Clarify your expectations with W-H questions.
Often when employees say yes to something, we expect them to do it without addressing the issue of How. This sets a dangerous precedent and expert negotiators like Chris Voss remarked that “Yes often means nothing without How.”
Not setting apart time to clarify the “How’s”, “When’s” and “Who’s” of a project will probably result in failure and effective managers know that clarifying details is the key to getting things done with precision.
4. Schedule time for socialising
There is no replacing the importance of direct human connection. This is why despite the popularity of working from home programmes, we still see places like co-working spaces and work-centric cafes thrive.
For the best results, one can choose to join a membership at a co-working space or build an in-person community with other remote workers.
5. Set healthy boundaries
When working from home. do you find yourself working beyond the stipulated work hours to be able to complete your work? This may be a cause of potential burnout and you may be putting your mental health at risk.
While work is important, employees need to be able to define healthy boundaries for themselves at work.
Featured Content
1. The myth and benefits of setting up a distributed workforce
