{"id":7438,"date":"2020-04-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kateunderwoodhr.co.uk\/blog\/uncategorized\/guide-to-working-from-home\/"},"modified":"2023-01-19T15:48:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T15:48:00","slug":"guide-to-working-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kateunderwoodhr.co.uk\/blog\/uncategorized\/guide-to-working-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"A Helpful Guide to Working From Home (and How to Stay Sane!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guide to Working From Home<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a small business owner, you may be used to working from home already, and so may your team, but these are very different circumstances that we find ourselves into the normal working from home routine.<\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks as the threat of COVID-19 has increased, the nation has been forced into \u2018lockdown\u2019 and for most that has meant a shift to compulsory working from home, but also with the addition of perhaps partners, kids and animals to keep you company.<\/p>\n

So, we thought we\u2019d create a quick Guide to Working From Home to share some tips which you might find useful to support you and your family in your new working from home scenario. We hope you enjoy it!<\/p>\n

Your New Working Environment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Working with your team<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first tip in our Guide to Working From Home is communication. Your regular team meetings can stay in the diary even though you are all at home. There are many different online tools that mean you can all still meet and see each other; it will just be done virtually. Some of the free tools you could use include Facetime, Skype, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.<\/p>\n

Online Training<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your team\u2019s working days may have changed a little with working from home, with fewer meetings, etc., and so this could be the perfect time to introduce some online training.<\/p>\n

Take a look at our learning and development page<\/a> for our recommendations, or get in touch if you\u2019d like to know more about how you can implement E-learning. We will have some online courses coming up soon, so do keep an eye out for our updates on this if you are interested.<\/p>\n

Another online learning tool we\u2019ve recently discovered is Kahoot<\/a> \u2013 you can design simple quizzes for testing knowledge or even just something for fun!<\/p>\n

Networking<\/strong><\/p>\n

For any regular business networkers, you may be missing that interaction with your peers at the moment, but there are online options. Of course, there is LinkedIn where you can stay connected with other businesses, but there are also a lot of other communities popping up. Our friends at All-Star Marketing Club have started the Business Owners Lounge group on Facebook, check it out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Health & Safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just because you and your team aren\u2019t in the office, it doesn\u2019t mean that general office safety measures shouldn\u2019t still be put in place. Although you can\u2019t physically check how your team\u2019s work station is set up, it might be a good idea to share this DSE workstation checklist<\/a> with them so they can check they are set up correctly, you can find one on the Health & Safety Executive website here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

How to Stay Sane!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Team Socialising<\/strong><\/p>\n

The How to Stay Sane section of our Guide to Working From Home is just as important as the business section!<\/p>\n

If you’re looking for a way to socialise with your team during the current coronavirus crisis, one idea could be a virtual pub quiz. You can host your own or, if you search online, you’ll find there are many people hosting quizzes. What better time to make new friends!<\/p>\n

We particularly like the idea of this 7-day online murder mystery challenge\u00a0\u2018Beware the Isolated Easter Bunny\u2019<\/a> which could be a fun virtual alternative to a team night out…or even something to entertain the kids whilst you work over Easter. Speaking of which, we mentioned our Guide to Working From Home was for you and your family…<\/p>\n

Kids<\/strong><\/p>\n

Celebrities Keeping Them Entertained<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have children and need to keep them entertained, you\u2019ll have probably noticed that The Body Coach, Joe Wicks<\/a> has been running daily online PE classes.<\/p>\n