Many small businesses have allowed their workforce to work from home. It has changed the way businesses have run day to day processes as well as the approach in keeping remote workers motivated. However challenging these tasks may be, professionalism can still be attained.
Maintaining Work Professionalism Remotely
Establish a dedicated workspace and office hours.
Many don’t have the luxury of designating an entire room as their office. There are still ways to set up your home workspace to maintain healthy work productivity. A desk can easily be placed in a well lit corner of a living space. Preferably, the space should not be in front of a television, or at a space where most people congregate like a dining room. If this is unavoidable, it’s possible to set office hours for people in your home not to interfere with your productivity.
Appearance still matters when at home.
As tempting as it is to “show up to work” in your pajamas, do your best to maintain a level of normalcy. Wake up, shower, and get dressed as if you’re coming to an actual office. Grooming is also essential, especially if you intend on participating in virtual meetings. Additionally, when it comes to virtual meetings, no matter where your working space is, be sure that it offers an aesthetically pleasing background, free from noise or other distractions.
Discourage multitasking during working hours.
Many videos on social media have demonstrated remote workers joking about doing chores around the house while working from home. Oftentimes, these videos depict workers doing laundry while listening in on a staff meeting or crunching numbers. However clever this may seem, studies have shown these habits can actually be harmful to productivity as a whole. It is crucial to set apart work tasks from house chores so that nothing suffers.
Manage your mental and physical health as a remote employee.
It can become too easy to isolate when working remotely when there are no co-workers to interact with. Be intentional with occasionally meeting up with friends during lunch breaks. Go for walks and schedule exercise breaks throughout the day to maintain your physical health as well.