If you’re a boss, setting up a home office is imperative. You need a command centre you can use to control all your minions, ensuring they’re doing their jobs properly. But that can be a challenge, especially if you can’t actually work alongside them right now.
Bosses up and down the country are facing similar challenges. Companies are finding it hard to monitor how workers are spending their time and the output they’re creating. And that means that they need offices that serve them at home just as well as the real thing.
Get Your Team On The Cloud
Want to find out what people are really doing with their time working from home? Get them all to work on the cloud. This way, you can track progress, update other members of your team, and ensure they are meeting deadlines. The last thing you want is a single lazy employee whose work is holding up the whole team. That’s a disaster.
Get A High Quality Printer
If you are wondering whether you should buy a printer, the answer is “yes, you should.” Having a commercial-quality printer makes it easy for you to replicate the facilities in your regular office and post out relevant mail.
Remember, in some cases, you’ll need to send mail as email is not an acceptable format. For instance, you may have to send mail to employees advising them of disciplinary action or changes to their pay and compensation. You may also have to send letters to the taxman explaining a change in circumstances or something related to the furlough scheme. Doing this in writing is usually easier than trying to get it done over the telephone.
Install A Chat App
No doubt your team will want to communicate with you all the time while you’re away from the office. And when they do, your email inbox will soon start filling up with questions and queries.
The best way to deal with this is to move over to chat apps. These are essential cloud-based messenger services that allow employees to fire off quick questions like a text message. It’s much easier to process than email and helps to streamline things.
Keep The Noise Levels Down
Bosses need to keep noise levels down as low as possible when working from home. But, unfortunately, the office can sometimes be the loudest room in the house. Noise from neighbours or a nearby building site can interrupt your work. Even birdsong can be an issue sometimes if you are sensitive to that kind of thing.
You can cut out some of the noise by switching your office with a better-positioned bedroom elsewhere in your home. You can also wear noise-cancelling headphones to pipe soothing music to your ears while cancelling out all other noises.
Put Your Desk In The Power Position
Ideally, you want your desk to remain in the power position, facing the door. This setup reminds you how important you are, even if you’re relegated to working from home.
Make the most of natural lighting.
Working from home means that you may find it a little harder than usual to get into the ‘working’ mindset, especially when distraction lies around every corner. As a result, you need to ensure that your office is specifically designed to heighten your focus and productivity. One way in which you can achieve this goal is by making the most of natural lighting. This is due to the fact that it can sharpen your senses and help you fight midday fatigue.
To begin with, position your desk as close to your window as possible while making sure you won’t have to deal with any glare from the sun showing up on your screen. You can also swap out bulky curtains for lightweight blinds. However, if you notice that your windows are chipped or otherwise damaged, you may want to look into window replacement services.