When you work away from the office it can prove to be rewarding and annoying in equal measure. From one perspective it can be quite a buzz to be able to work from somewhere close to your client or even from home, but on the other hand the lack of structure to your day can potentially reduce how productive you can be and let’s not forget the lack of essential amenities you take for granted around the office.
Planning to Work from Home Today?
Working from home is great right? No morning fight through the crowds to get on your train, flexibility to work when you want to and best of all, no office noise.
Working from home has many benefits. With the main one being the ability to mix work with family commitments. But your clients and customers expect you to still meet deadlines and appear professional. That’s why it’s important to have a reliable phone system you would expect from a full time office and a good mobile signal. Missing calls is one of the biggest single problems when you are away from the office. Voice mail must have a professional message for the calls you miss. And make sure your land line has the same!
You also need to set some basic ground rules for home working. Ensure you have a dedicated space that allows you to shut away the noises and distractions a busy home can throw at you.
If you don’t have a home office, invest in a desk so you can work productively from an upstairs bedroom. You hear a lot these days about seating and posture and most companies provide support to ensure your monitor and chair are at the right height. A great ergonomic chair can ensure you don’t get backache. So remember the same rules about your work space in your office apply at home too.
Planning to Work on the Move Tomorrow?
With statistics suggesting a third of the UK workforce works on the go during the average week it’s important to remember you need the ability to work from a professional location for meetings. Free Wi-Fi is essential too. So always check it’s free and provides a reasonable service before setting down somewhere to work between clients.
Local cafes are often a popular choice but we all know they can be very noisy and you have no control on the distractions around you. And when you look around everyone else had the same idea. It can make working productively quite difficult. A quiet meeting room, which are widely available from a choice of providers should be ideal for a quick meeting, the coffee is great and many have an amazing view too.
If you are working during lengthy commutes to meetings it’s often difficult to get good Wi-Fi on public transport and often you may need to access documents on the go. Think about the benefits of cloud storage using a provider like Dropbox. You can then access large files no matter where you find yourself. And a portable Wi-Fi hub works wonders too and they are not that expensive.
So, remember some basic ground rules when you are working away from the office:
- Make sure you can take your important calls
- Access to important documents is vital in case you have no signal
- Your business image can be compromised without the tools to do the job
- Make sure your productivity doesn’t suffer because of distractions
Finally, don’t forget we can always help with remote working locations at Loc8 Commercial. Just give us a call to find out what solutions would be best for your needs.