Managing clients remotely is a skill that always comes in handy regardless, but now it’s basically a necessity. The coronavirus pandemic has everyone staying at home, but homeowners still need important services and contractors need to be there to deliver to the best of their abilities – all while taking the necessary precautions.
If you’re generally organized you shouldn’t have many problems, but working from home provides a new set of challenges. Sticking to a routine isn’t so easy when there are so many distractions available – or when we have children and pets to look after.
But at the same time, working from home provides a huge number of benefits. Let’s go through what they are and how you can remain productive and professional throughout!
Have a productive home office setup
If you can, set up a room in your house to become your temporary office for the time being. Doesn’t have to be anything too fancy, a comfortable desk and chair should do the trick – and everything else you can implement when needed.
The idea is to have a quiet place where you can concentrate, make calls, and get work done in a productive manner. Be sure to let some sunlight in, keep a clock in view to control your time, and have a snack or two ready for when you need them.
Working from home has that advantage – you can take quick breaks, make snacks, and have a much looser control of your time. It makes for a more relaxing work day, but as long as you have a home office setup and stick to the usual work hours, it can be just as productive.
Make good lighting for video calls
If you use video calls regularly for meetings and such, it’s a good idea to design a good background and lighting conditions for the best possible quality. The background shouldn’t be a problem – even a white wall is fine for the most part.
But the lighting can be an issue. Most webcams aren’t equipped to deal with highly disparate lighting conditions, meaning that if you have sunlight reflecting off a white wall behind you, it will be very hard to even see you in the video.
Sunlight is actually great for lighting videos, but try to control it with curtains or by moving yourself slightly. You can turn on the webcam and see yourself, helping in making the perfect frame before starting any calls.
Make sure your microphone is well-tuned
Microphones can pick all sorts of background noise if they’re not well-tuned. You can make some quick tests by hearing yourself and checking if the audio levels are acceptable, but most importantly, if the audio is coming as clean as possible without excessive noise.
Be sure to pick a quiet place for your audio calls, closing doors and windows if necessary to block out exterior sounds (like vehicles).
Upgrade your internet
The Internet will be your bread and butter during these times, and with the amount of people staying home as well, your connection can suffer at times. It might be wise to upgrade your internet plan to a faster option, even if it’s only for now.
Besides, assuming you make calls regularly, bad internet can seriously compromise the quality of your calls and your workflow. Despite these conditions, it’s important to remain as professional as possible!
Use other means of communication
Audio and video calls are great for more in-depth conversations or meetings, but many times a simple message or email gets the job done faster and more effectively. Don’t hesitate to use other means of communication to make your job easier – there’s no need to set up a video call for simple updates that can be explained in one or two sentences.
Stick to a routine
When working from home, it’s easy to get distracted and postpone work, but the opposite is also true: you can easily spend the entire day working and never give yourself a break. You can work from a home office, sure, but nothing’s stopping you from bringing your laptop to your couch and working there.
And hey, that’s fine. If you feel more productive that way, good on you, we all have different routines and strategies that work for us.
But it’s important to note how literally taking work everywhere with you can quickly overwhelm and frustrate you. If you’re someone who easily finds new things to work on, it can take up your entire day and by the end of it, you still won’t feel like it’s done.
This is why we recommend a routine: set a time for work and stick to it. When the clock says it’s over, it’s over. Go rest, take a shower, make some food, watch Netflix, whatever you do to relax, because work day is done. There’s no need to overwork yourself just because you can!
Work on other things
Even with most of us taking work home with us, it’s undeniable that business will be slower than usual for some time. If you find yourself with too much free time, you can find other aspects of your business to work on.
Here are some ideas you can start working from home:
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