Are You Prepared to Work Remotely?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are encouraging, or requiring, employees who can work remotely to do so. If you do not typically telecommute, your remote environment may not be conducive for remote work. If you’re working remotely for an extended amount of time, small problems will become big ones. Here are some important resources to consider so your remote work time can be a success:

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1. Your Home Broadband Connection

Does your role require you to lead presentations or participate in videoconferences? Will you be downloading/uploading large numbers of files or large individual files? If so, you'll need adequate bandwidth to handle the extra data.

• Increase your bandwidth by upgrading your ISP plan or switching to a new provider.
• ‍Ask your employer to subsidize this expense, since it is required for your work.
  

2. Your Phone

Find out about the "personal hot spot" functionality on your smartphone. This is useful if your home broadband goes down, or if you need to work from another location where no wi-fi is available. Consider printing out instructions for how to do this.

• Contact your cellular provider for assistance if you need to turn this feature on in your cell phone plan.
• ‍Ask your employer to subsidize this expense, since it is required for your work.‍
  

Decide, in cooperation with your employer, how you will send and receive phone calls while working remotely:

• Is there a VoIP phone you can take with you to your home office? Is there a place to plug it into your home network
• Is there a softphone application that routes work calls to your smartphone?
• Do you have a headset so you can easily be on the phone hands-free?

3. Your Computer

Test all the resources you'll be expected to access from home to ensure they work from outside the office.

• Do you have records of all the credentials you need?
• Are your bookmarks the same at work and at home?

Your IT support team might be inundated with requests to reset passwords or resolve connectivity issues, so test these credentials and tools well before you need them.‍

4. Your Work Area

Try to recreate your office desk as closely as practical.

• Find a quiet part of the house
• If you'll be using a webcam, think about what's visible behind you
• Don't neglect ergonomics! Your first setup may create back or neck strain after a few days, so keep adjusting.

5. Your Work Culture

Create structure around your day.

• If your schedule will be different at home, notify your coworkers and manager
• Schedule breaks and some time to eat
• Review your upcoming meetings to make sure they indicate how people working remotely will attend

We all need to acknowledge that when you switch from working in an office to telecommuting, with minimal time to prepare (mentally and physically), this will be far more stressful and challenging than it might appear to any friends and family who already regularly telecommute. At Net Friends, we understand this shift is challenging, and we will work extra hard to ensure you have what you need to be successful. Contact us today!