Working from home has become widely popular around the world in recent times. Although mostly due to the pandemic and growing concerns about social distancing, many companies consider adopting these practices for the long term.
4 Challenges of Work From Home Setup (and How To Resolve Them)
However, for new businesses and employees making this adjustment, there are many challenges to consider. Here are some solutions to some of the challenges you will face when working from home.
Communication Is Harder
One of the biggest challenges in working from home is that there are extra difficulties in communicating with your team, your employees, or your supervisors.
Yes, you can send out an email, but often it will require much more time to get back to you than it would in an office setting where you can simply ask your fellow employee about your concerns.
One way around this problem is to set up video conferencing calls to stay in contact with your team members. This helps projects where you might have constant concerns and want to be easily accessible to others for solutions.
Additionally, you don’t have to remain always connected, but being available to call and inquire about problems is crucial for your work.
Considering Accountability And Time Efficiency
Working efficiently is another difficulty found when having to work away from the office and your home.
Being away from the office may translate to a mental sluggishness when it comes to time efficiency. When you get to the office during your workdays, you place yourself in a mental state to be productive.
However, not having that physical space designated for productive work can lead you to feel less pressure to stay on top of your work, as there is less structure or organization. The solution to this is timetrackapp and management software that holds employees accountable for their time.
This will monitor when employees are on the clock and provide analysis on a wide variety of data sets that track attendance and if users leave, translating to more accountability and progress monitoring for your various project needs.
Using management software helps monitor and ultimately improves overall performance.
Dealing With Distractions
Being at home and trying to work is challenging because there are so many distractions when working away from the office.
If you are a parent, you will ultimately be thinking and worrying about your kids if they are also, at present, trying to study from home. Even if you live alone, many distractions tempt you to be less productive when working.
You might be more inclined to take longer breaks or be on your devices without others monitoring you. You must remove as many distractions as possible where you set up your workstation.
Separating Working Space
One major contributor to the number of distractions present in your work from the home setup is that many people do not know how to separate their personal and work.
You want to establish a space that is separate from your home life. For many people, this means having a room you can identify as an office dedicated to working. If you do not have the space to accommodate this addition, consider merely redesigning your home spaces to facilitate a certain area where you can focus.
Set up barriers or panels to create that separation to help you mentally stay focused on your work. If you cannot do that, having a desk that holds nothing but work items and is kept clean can still accomplish your separation goals.
Scheduling Your Day
Separating your work and personal life is not just about your physical surroundings but also how you schedule your days. You want to create a schedule that applies to your working days, allowing you to decompress and relax with set hours where you know you will be off the clock.
This is important as it will enable you to mentally separate the days, which translates to you focusing more when you are “at work” and not worrying about your job when you are off. Without worrying about work, you can recover and relax and be better prepared to tackle any job and project the following day, maximizing your productivity.
As tricky as the adjustment may be to working from home, once employees have become accustomed to the new settings and processes, there is a great opportunity available.
Working from home will provide flexibility and the chance to spend more time with your loved ones and relax after work. Once you’ve adjusted, you will see the boosts and benefits of working from home.
Some other articles you might find of interest:
Marketing blogs you must follow as an entrepreneur:
29 Marketing Blogs Every Small Business Must Follow
Are you feeling cramped in your home office space? You might enjoy this article:
Home Office Design Ideas for Small Spaces