Having an employer that ensures you have everything you need to work remotely should never be taken for granted. Speaking up if you find you need something specific to you’re your environment more comfortable.  Or start a Work from home chat group where team members can share their ideas and approaches to making the space yours.

Faulty and old equipment can seriously slow and hinder your ability to work. If you think your PC is slow then there are many online computer performance benchmarks that will help identify if it’s the computer, or your wifi that is the laggard. Alternatively you can check it out yourself using Task Manager – Performance, see this article from Microsoft for more information. 

Designating a desk or table, sitting outside if it is an enjoyable day, having all the equipment, stationery, and items you need easily accessible is a good place to start. 

Also think about the background you are sharing with others in online meetings – you can personalize these as well to share more of your personality It doesn’t have to cost a lot to make a space your own, and conducive to being able to focus.

What benefits do you have working from home vs working from an office?

Ensuring you have a good work life balance is essential when working from home. There is no travelling to and from work to help you decompress, no commuters to chat to or colleagues to walk out of the office with.

Finding a good way to make the switch between work and home is different for everyone – putting a sign on the door when you’re in a meeting, being in the right clothes or mindset to be able to make the distinction and reduce the chance of interruption and disruption.

Having an employer that encourages flexibility to help balance your life is particularly important. You may have the choice about how often you come into the office, the ability to set your own hours, and care for others while working. Many of our team are parents, and this allows them to step in to help when needed during the day as well as be there for school drop-offs and pickups.

For some people this flexibility of working from home gives them the chance to do chores when they need some time to think away from their desk, or move into different scenery for a break. The flexibility of working from home and working out what routine is best is individual for everyone, and to manage your other commitments and work to accommodate each other. 

How do you separate your work and home life when you are at home?

It is a difficult balance to be able to keep a company culture strong and thriving while working from home. The Accuteque team have been very welcoming especially when we were all working from home and had the major barrier of no physical office and no face-to-face interactions.

People leaders and team members have regular one on one check ins for workloads and wellbeing, and new starters receive welcome boxes of Accuteque goodies delivered to their door. Our stance of working together virtually continues to evolve, with our whole of business meetups during quieter work hours to encourage people to attend, we also now record it for those that miss out and want to catch up later.

The new regular session of an “hour of writing dangerously” has seen some of the team drop in to a session to do some ideation, writing and complete a feedback loop, with some working together and alone while still on the call. The small things of still being respectful of people’s time is also a big factor, and having our daily stand ups give everyone a sense of who has capacity, may be out for an appt or is on leave that day which reduces issues of miscommunication and betters everyone’s level of understanding.