Setting up for success when working from home

First and a more “seemingly obvious” thing is to have an efficient setup at home, this not only includes:
A. a comfortable furniture.
B. a desktop / laptop that has all the apps which you may need for your work.
C. a stable internet connection (preferably a high speed 802.11ac router and a separate high speed modem). Our personal experience tells us that a two in one model OR rental hardware from your cable company generally doesn’t cut it.
D. a printer – this may be completely optional but comes in very handy at times.

Second and a less obvious trap is lack of visibility – When at work we often bump into each other (break rooms, cafeteria’s etc, where a simple question like ‘what are you working on these days?’ is enough to get the visibility of your current work to your partners / stakeholders. When working from home, these opportunities suddenly vanish. Which is why it is all the more important to make your team / your manager / your partners aware of your short term goals, current projects, long term goals. Error on the side of over-communication than under. Make people clearly aware of what you are working on, why – and more importantly allow them to provide you with feedback. Listen, and listen patiently.

Watch out our future blogs on this where we will talk about a lot more on working from home, and give practical tips on keeping your sanity in these insane times.