Tips for switching seamlessly between working in the office and working from home
As the world begins to reopen from the coronavirus pandemic lockdown measures and restrictions, many businesses have begun to opt for hybrid working practices, allowing employees to work either from the office, from home, or a mix of the two.
Therefore, learning from the ways we switched to working from home amidst the first wave, here are some tips for switching seamlessly between working in the office and working from home.
- Have a flexible office space
As many people have been forced to work from home during the past year, you may have found that some people may want to work from home full time instead of returning the office, and some might only come in part time.
If employees wish to continue working from home because of COVID, this might leave you with the need to temporarily downsize your office space. However, this can be very simple when you opt for a flexible office space.
Flexible office spaces are easily personalised to your desired capacity and can be scaled up or scaled down in the future, depending on whether employees take to a hybrid working style and what they want their working pattern to look like.
- Use video conferencing
Video conferencing has been the saviour of many businesses during the past year. In fact, the video conference software we are all most familiar with, Zoom, jumped 30-fold in its usage at the height of the first pandemic lockdown.
This is because Zoom and other video conferencing platforms allowed employees to easily communicate with their colleagues even when working from home.
In the same way, the continued use of video conferencing for daily briefings and meetings, even when some people are back in the office, allows employees to switch seamlessly between working in person and working from home.
- Clear and effective communication
Whether employees are sat right next to each other or at their own homes across town, clear and effective communication is essential. Set up an instant messaging system like Slack so that everyone can consult their peers when needed.
- Save things on the cloud
Storing work on the cloud, such as Google Drive, has allowed people throughout the pandemic to work from home, as they are able to access their files by logging into an account through the internet.
In fact, IT leaders saw a 13% decline in on-premises workloads post COVID-19 pandemic, as widespread remote work practices forced workloads to cloud storage. Over the course of the pandemic, workloads stored in public and private clouds increased by 5% each.
Continuing to store work in the cloud will allow employees to access their work in the same way, whether they work from home or from the office, allowing for seamless flexible working.
- Or, have a work laptop
If you struggle with your internet, or don’t like the idea of cloud storage, by getting a work laptop, if your company offers one, this will allow you to store your files on the hard drive of the laptop. You can then simply take the laptop to work or home with you, allowing you to work seamlessly no matter where you are.
And there you have it, be prepared for hybrid working practices by following these five simple tips for switching seamlessly between working in the office and working from home.
