Start your day as if you are actually going to work
Get up in time
Shower and get dressed
Have your breakfast as normal
As you will not be traveling to the office, have some period of mindfulness before your day starts
Call and have a chat with any of your colleagues like you would have a morning catch-up at the tea point
Start the day with a short team call instead of a team meeting
At the normal time, you would start work, begin work at home
Log-in, set-up and check your internet and phone signal
Stick to your daily routine as much as possible – respond to emails, complete admin tasks, write to-do lists, etc.
Instead of meetings there will be calls – set-up alarms 5min before start to ensure you set-up and connect.
Have your camera on if possible and stay unmuted for reasonable periods
Send any materials necessary prior to calls and follow up with any actions via email or internal chats
Make sure you take breaks and eat your lunch, stand up and move around, make coffee, go and get some fresh air in the garden / on the terrace and stop working at the usual time
Set rules for unplanned interruptions such as personal phone calls, instant messages when focusing etc.
Set rules for family and home life interruptions.
Make sure you stay connected, working from home for long periods of time can be very lonely
Make sure you have external contact by phone or video chat
Communicate with your manager, team, HR department
Have someone you can vent to when you are frustrated
Tips for more effective communication and connectivity
Create team/group chats on internal messaging or social mobile apps in order to stay connected.
If you need help on a particular task just message, email or call someone from your team who can assist, instead of going over to their desk when in the office.
Similar to when in the office, if you are focused on a particular task and do not want to be disturbed, notify your peers by updating your status or log out
If you are experiencing connectivity issues check with your other colleagues who are working remotely to see if the problem is company wide.
Respect standard working hours.
Managers have to make an extra effort to connect with distributed team members on a personal level. Pick up the phone or send an instant message to ask about their day.
Some engagement signals are lost when working together virtually for example when video conferencing, unmute your microphone from time to time or give a head nod to validate contributions from others.
Ensure your camera is on and you are visible on the video screen.
When sending a calendar invite for a virtual meeting ensure you add agendas and relevant documents.
