One of the main advantages of working from home has been increased flexibility. Many people have found that they are more productive while working from home than in the office. They are able to create their own work environment and make choices that work for them.
Hybrid working allows us even more flexibility - as we can choose whether we are more productive in the office or from home. We’ve talked before about the challenges of hybrid meetings, but the day-to-day process of moving between work and home comes with its own challenges.
Take advantage of this new flexibility by considering our tips to improve productivity:
Organisation
Organisation is one of the key skills you need to get ahead in business - but hybrid work is the perfect time to put it into action. Prepare in advance which days you will be in the office and make sure you have everything you need. Work from home on days that you will not be interrupted.
One important part of this is setting your working hours and making sure they are fulfilled. When you are at home, it is easy to lose track of your work-life balance. Before you start work every morning, you should make sure you have a good idea of where the day will go.
Organisation also involves making sure you are in the best position to do your best work. Getting eight hours of sleep, eating a well-balanced diet, exercising regularly and turning your phone to silent will all help improve your perspective on work.
Take Breaks
One productive hour is worth more than ten unproductive hours. This doesn’t mean you should spend your entire day resting, but it does mean paying attention to your mind and body.
Of course, breaks at home will take a different form to breaks in the office. When you are working with your colleagues, a break may be an opportunity to catch up with the person next to you. This will hopefully give you a new burst of energy. By setting a clear time to do this, and planning in advance, will give you a clearer balance between work and chat.
In contrast, working from home might be catching up on your personal messages. It’s also an opportunity to be productive in other ways: put your laundry on, empty your dishwasher or prepare for dinner. Unlike in the office, you will not find yourself distracted by other people’s expectations. You could even try meditating!
The best breaks are those that don’t challenge your brain but allow you to keep the momentum going. This is true in the office and while working from home.
Set Your Own Goals
Working between home and the office may make it more difficult to judge yourself against your team. This means it is more important than ever to create your own expectations for the week.
The nature of these goals will depend on the nature of your role but they should always be attainable and measurable. One way to approach this is by setting minimum and maximum targets. It may take a while to perfect these goals, as you need to pay attention to what you can achieve to a high quality.
Be Flexible
As we mentioned above, one of the main advantages of hybrid meetings is the flexibility. Make the most of this! Learn from experience and be prepared to make adaptations to your schedule if they prove necessary.
If you have decided to go into the office one day a week, don’t stick to it just because you like the idea. Be reasonable about the advantages and disadvantages. For example, if you chose to stay at home on Friday to prepare for the weekend, but find yourself lazing around and not getting work done, it may be time to make a change.
Invest In Software
In the digital age, you can connect your home work with your in-person work. Intuitive software will make it easier to maintain productivity while you are moving between locations.
Convene is an award-winning Board Portal designed to streamline your meeting processes from start-to-finish. We have a feature that will help you achieve every step of productivity:
- A Document Library with role-based access to ensure that your sensitive documents will only be seen by those you permit and other documents are available for all to see.
- A built-in audit trail so you can be sure you are compliant with any and all regulations.
- You can follow-along with the speaker during a meeting so you will literally always be on the same page during discussions.
- Integrated Video Conferencing so you can make the switch from remote to hybrid working seamlessly, whilst still viewing your Board Pack all on one screen.
- Surveys, with the option for anonymity, so you can be sure you are aware of your employees opinions.
- Our accessibility features, including text-to-voice, make us the leading accessible Board Portal.
- Not only do we help you save resources such as paper, and thus being better for the environment but we also save you money! The cost of paper adds up and our option for cloud-hosting also ensures that you can be at the forefront of energy savings.
- Our state-of-the-art security is CMMI-Level 5 accredited, which means we could work with NASA, so you can rest assured that your data is given the protection it deserves.
If you would like to learn more about how Convene’s wide range of features can help your organisation achieve better governance, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us, read our customer success stories, or book a demo today!
