Tip #1: Promote a healthy work-life balance amongst employees
For most, working from home was a blessing in disguise. It gave us the opportunity to reflect on the major financial savings we benefited from however, we soon found that it was almost a double ended sword in the sense that it made it more challenging to create the fine line between home life and work. Often, because of the fact that you are at home and don’t need to worry about commuting, you carry on working into the late hours of the night, leaving yourself little time towards the end of the day to enjoy personal relaxation.
No matter how disciplined you are or how good you are at focusing and concentrating, working from home doesn’t quite offer the same sort of experience working in an office does. Due to the lack of available space at home, exposure to other social environments, being unable to relocate to another area that an office offers specifically to cater to individuals requirements, it can result in being counter productive.
So how do you tackle this challenge and create a healthy work balance that helps to refocus your energy and achieve all that you need to?:
When it’s time, switch off!
Plan and prioritise your days so that when it is home time you switch off completely. Allow half an hour before you are due to finish to wind down and complete outstanding tasks or allocate time the following day to complete them
Explore new hobbies
Thought about doing something for so long but have constantly put it off because you ‘just don’t have the time’? Find a hobby that you know you’ll be able to really get into so that you can forget about work
Expand your horizon with online courses
If anything positive has come from this pandemic, online courses have been booming more so than ever! The other great thing about online courses is that they are cheaper
Regular walks
Periodically step away from your computer and take 5-10 mins walk to get fresh air during the day
Listen to music to ease your mind
Each to their own but sometimes creating a new playlists and allowing yourself to relax a little whilst working can help boost mood and overall productivity
Tip #2: Informal company catch-ups and improving communication
Company catch-ups don’t always have to be about internal developments as such. They can also be used as an opportunity to acknowledge staff for their performance or efforts, encourage staff to visit an internal company platform with ideas/collaborations or simply to encourage health focused initiatives. More so than ever, it’s important that people feel confident in having a leader that will take consideration to their input or well-being so that they feel valued. So how can this be achieved?
Encourage virtual bonding
Team leaders/teams should be encouraged to have regular informal meetings where it allows for brainstorming, sharing ideas, provide feedback and openly talk about joint challenges and explore solutions.
Dedicated staff well-being groups
Setup groups dedicated to focusing on staff well-being and nominate individuals to manage this. Implement a plan that will then focus on 1-2-1 regular catch-ups so that you can ensure staff are well taken care of
Virtual social gatherings
At the end of the week, it’s always a time where people start to wind down which is the perfect opportunity to create themed virtual gatherings, or have some sort of social gathering depending on your company culture – whether that be with a gin and tonic!
Tip #3: Improve access to resources
A bigger part of some of the challenges we have collectively faced whilst working from home is having access to all required resources. Although the majority of us are now up to date and have the correct setup, there are still some of us that are lagging behind with ensuring staff have the right resources to fulfill their day to day duties. To mitigate against this, we would advise that you do the following:
Resource check with individuals
Check with individuals that they have all that they need whilst working from home i.e. laptop or computer, correct chairs, access to the internal server, remote access, all necessary programs and correct PPE gear if you are travelling to locations as part of your role.
To find out more about how you can support your staff, get in touch with our team today.
We have years of experience working with a wide range of businesses, so to get started planning your ideal office fit out, call us on 01438 731990, ask a question using our Live Chat, or fill in an enquiry form today.
