Remote working: Our challenges and tips
Like many companies, our People Business team have been completely remote working for a few weeks now. Whilst we’re no strangers to working from home, it’s always been occasionally, so it’s still a shift in style for us.
We thought you’d be interested in the challenges we’ve faced with remote working and our individual top tips. We hope you enjoy this slightly different article from us!
Our Remote Working Challenges
Interestingly, we are all finding that our remote working challenges are around our household circumstances rather than work. The themes that cropped up repeatedly are:
- “I have literally no break from the kids”
- “There is no quiet time – constant distractions with the kids or other people in the household who aren’t working”
- “Getting teenagers to focus!”
- “I really struggle to stop working – it’s too easy to just carry on”
Luckily, we found far more tips than challenges, so we hope these help you…
Our Personal Working Remotely Top Tips
- “Don’t forget about your posture – get up and move around regularly. Also, don’t forget to say thank you and recognise effort –it’s easy to forget when we aren’t face to face, but it’s really important to still acknowledge people” – Lucilla Kearsey, Senior HR Consultant
- “I have a plan to do something every day that isn’t work related –‘after work I’m doing to do x’, even if it’s as simple as playing with the dog in the garden” – Harriet Dolan, Junior Consultant
- “Where possible set up a space for work that is away from where you relax in the evening – it’s a psychological thing for you but also for the family to signal when you are working. Oh, and set up a snack basket for the kids!!” – Zoe Reynolds, HR Consultant
- “I maintain a regular schedule – i.e. waking up, meals and bedtimes” – Katie Skelley, part-time Bookkeeper
- “I get dressed for work rather than staying in my dressing gown! I also make sure I get some time to relax in the garden” – David Ive, Finance Director
- “I pay attention to and differentiate between the times I’m working and times I’m not working. I clarify this with the family and switch off when I’m not working. I also make sure I take a lunch break every day.” – Graeme Rainbird, Consulting Director
- “I give myself one big goal each working day to achieve rather than stressing about a long list of things to do. A friend shared this helpful 5 F’s of working from home:
- Food – make sure you eat well every day;
- Family and friends – stay in touch;
- Fitness – do at least 20 minutes of some kind of exercise daily;
- Finish – mark in your daily calendar when you will finish and stick to it;
- Focus – focus on planning all the above before you start your work” – Kate Cooper, Marketing Manager
- “I work in 25-30 minute bursts, then get up from the screen for a short break” – Andrea Gregory, Managing Director
- “Stretch daily before work and throughout the day!” – Chrissie Saunders, Senior Learning and Development Consultant
- “Keep in touch with your team – to team build, celebrate successes, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries with the team by using Zoom, MS Teams, New Row etc. It is more important now than ever to keep in touch remotely to ensure your staff are engaged, motivated and happy” – Natalie Chotai, HR Consultant
- “I aim to enjoy healthy solitude instead of apprehensive isolation by focusing on a positive thought/event/idea every single day, and sharing it with at least one person outside of my household, as it helps to combat withdrawing and isolating even further when anxiety kicks. By chatting to someone else I get to offer them support or company for a few minutes in return.” – Lynette Daley, Office Manager
- “I work with my energy – if I have a day of researching and writing, this may mean I’m working at 5am, then take a break for a couple of hours at 10am or finish early” – Julie Ware, Business Support
We hope you found this interesting! If you’ve any different remote working challenges or tips you’d like to share, please email julie.ware@peoplebusiness.co.uk
