Working remotely was initially a choice depending on your line of work. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has not left employees with a choice to work from home. All the same, employees had to adapt to the situation despite the challenges. It was not easy due to issues such as children being at home and causing a lot of noise and commotion. There was also the challenge of having to adapt to office work and home chores. It was also expensive. The extra costs are such as buying computer gadgets for every employee.
Also, maintaining, those appliances at home is not an easy task. There is the challenge of curious children who want to explore the computer. There is also the challenge of accessing the internet. It is especially when the worker’s home is in rural areas. Meetings with colleagues also became a challenge. It’s because they dispersed to different parts of the world. There are so many distractions around and also workers feel isolated from the office. The office stationeries such as staplers became a challenge to get every worker. Well, despite all the challenges, work needs to be done. Below are some of the tips on how to improve your work performance.
Have a Standard Schedule
There are companies who had no other choice than to fire their workers to save on the budget. Thus you need to create a schedule and stick to it. Be productive in the company so that they won’t think of firing you. The schedule will act as a guide to you so you can know what should be done and completed by the day. The schedule is also for the employer to note the work that should be done.
The work is then divided into the employees. For the work to be completed, it is essential to consider the amount of work given by the day. It should also be written in simple language so it can be understandable to everyone. Moreover, it should also be flexible for change. Therefore, the schedule is essential to both the worker and the employer to act as a guide for the remote work.
Manage Your Distractions
There are so many distractions at home. One of the distractions is the children and the surrounding noise. The first thing to do as an employee is to let everyone in the house understand you are still at work. As much as you are now not in the house, you are still working. Set a boundary and let your children understand the consequences of crossing it. If they need anything, they should wait for the break hour or do it themselves.
The other way is creating a work station where you can work with limited distractions. Noises coming from the television and radio can be limited. You can choose to set the time to switch it on and off. With this kind of limitations, you will be in a position to get your work done according to the schedule. Master your distraction and learn how to deal with them.
Set Priorities and Self Discipline
Set priorities for your workflow. Create a hierarchy of the work you need to do before the day ends. Start with the most important to the least important. Alternatively, you can start with the easy tasks to the hefty ones. It will help you prevent spending too much time doing one task. As soon as you are done with the easy one, work on the heavy one and get done with it. In the office, you have a supervisor to monitor your work, here you need to be self-disciplined.
You also need to be disciplined if you want to manage data. Most of the remote tasks need data to get the work done. You should thus discipline your consumption. There is no one to keep checking on what you are doing. Thus be self-disciplined and guide yourself. Have a to-do list to guide your work performance. Be self-disciplined to estimate when you need to wake up to do your house chores so you can do office work. You also need to estimate when to go for lunch breaks and other brakes. Moreover, you should consider when to end working time. You should use cloud computing to store important data so you can produce quality work on time.
Work On Your Communication Skills
Communication is very important when doing office tasks from home. You need to communicate with your colleagues. It will help you know what work is done and how it should be done. Communication is also effective in meetings. It is now a digital error and therefore uses technology to communicate. You can use online sites such as zoom meetings among others. It will help you communicate effectively and even has cameras that will help you see each other. Communication skills are essential for flexible remote jobs to work successfully.
Motivate Employees with Awards
There is a need for motivation in the workplace. It is especially during such challenging times. There are so many challenges that employees face to get the work done amid the situation at home. Thus the management board should consider rewarding their employees.
Some of the rewards can be in terms of payment or leaves and trophies. Either way, employees need to feel motivated to work in tough conditions.
The Final Word
Telecommunicating can be an uphill task at the beginning. However, when you learn to manage yourself, it will be easy. With time, you will learn to manage your distractions and other challenges around you.
About the Author
Monica is a passionate writer and content creator. Her interests include outdoor activities, fitness, technology, entrepreneurship and everything in between. Say hi to Monica on Twitter @monical_lee.
Monica is a passionate writer and content creator. Her interests include outdoor activities, fitness, technology, entrepreneurship and everything in between. Say hi to Monica on Twitter @monical_lee.
