Five Things You Can Do To Enable Remote-Work Success

There are many reasons an employee might find themselves working remotely, like new flexible work schedules, responsibilities at home or, unfortunately, crises like a widespread pandemic. In these scenarios, businesses must adapt to ensure employees can work remotely effectively, and as a remote worker, you must also learn to navigate new ways of doing business while staying productive. While this could be potentially disruptive to established workflows and processes, there are some key tips you can utilize to adapt quickly and smoothly. These simple steps enable you and your team to stay agile and flexible despite changing environments and circumstances – ultimately optimizing business continuity: 

Start with a dedicated “Home Office” space 

Creating a specified physical work zone, equipped with the appropriate tools and devoid of any distractions, supports mental clarity and focus. It may be tempting to lounge on the couch with your laptop, but a designated office area helps define separation between personal and professional spheres and promotes productivity. Planned office hours and standing meeting times with your teams also help build a schedule that allows you to get the most from your day. 

But also, stay flexible by leveraging mobility 

Having a defined workspace and work schedule are helpful to maintain a sense of structure, but it’s equally important to have alternate options. Employees may have other responsibilities at home that necessitate non-traditional work styles or hours. Mobile solutions have been a part of many employees’ workday for years, and a shift to remote work means they are relying on mobile tools to replace or supplement traditionally desk-bound tasks on an even larger scale. This might mean using dedicated devices equipped with Wi-Fi, LAN, Bluetooth, USB and VoIP – or fully integrated smartphone applications that enable advanced capabilities such as document creation and file-sharing. In either case, mobile capabilities at home or even on the go provide flexible ways to get work done. 

Stay connected, even when working apart 

Connectivity to your employer network, VPN capabilities and access to various work applications is foundational to effective remote work. In addition, coordinating strong, clear processes among teams is important to keeping up with the pace of business. Using solutions that enable browser-based workflow management and automation, constant anytime/anywhere file access and real-time virtual collaboration are just a few examples of how teams can maintain established processes and timescales. 

Utilize security best practices 

Because home Wi-Fi networks typically do not have the multi-layered, enterprise-grade security capabilities staffers have at the office, and because fraud is becoming increasingly sophisticated, it’s more critical than ever to take precautionary measures when working remotely. Using devices with password protections and multi-point encryption is key – but just as important are organizational security policies to which employees must adhere. Familiarizing yourself with your company’s protocols (spam and phishing best practices, password policies, data transfers and more) and putting them into practice helps guard against potential cyber attacks. 

Streamline time- or labor-intensive tasks 

You may notice that with remote work comes more administrative tasks, such as an increase in status reports, more time spent connecting with teams and project tracking, and other things that replace in-person work. To accommodate for the additional time these take, consider finding other ways to streamline your daily tasks. Utilizing technology-driven tools such as dictation solutions, automated workflow management and file-sharing can help you continue to maximize your time while minimizing manual and/or administrative tasks, allowing you to dedicate more energy to high-value work.