We are experiencing weird times, wouldn’t you say? It may seem flippant to say weird, but we are experiencing a fantastic and bizarre situation that is also uncanny. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have some level of anxiety as I watch this all unfold. As of today, millions of students and employees are piecing together their own productivity strategies along with those who lead their organizations. On a recent episode of our podcast What the Tech Just Happened, we discussed how working remotely could revolutionize the way you work from here on out.
Find Out How Many Meetings Could Be an Email
Consider this a new opportunity to have more control over your own time. A report in 2017 showed that the average office worker attends 62 meetings a month, 37% of which are valued as unproductive. Use your next few weeks at home to evaluate your recurring meetings to understand what value they bring you and those who attend. If you feel strongly a meeting needs to happen, then make the best use of the time by preparing attendees in advance with discussion topics or questions that need answers. If you’re being asked to attend meetings, don’t be afraid to ask the host to prepare you in the same way. You are going to have a lot of competing priorities in the next few weeks—go ahead and decline 30–60- minute meetings if you feel they will be unproductive—let them send an email.
Reduce Your FOMO with Virtual Events
One of the first major conferences in our industry that was cancelled was HIMSS 2020. This annual healthcare conference is nearly 60 years old with more than 45,000 attendees that were expected to turn out. Obviously there is no replacement for a face-to-face or hands-on experience, but there is a replacement for information sharing and networking. With a comprehensive list of digital influencers and topical hashtags, those who were planning to attend can learn and engage in conversations in real time with industry innovators. With uncertain times ahead of us, more event professionals are developing virtual attendance strategies, allowing you to continue to learn and interact with others right from your personal device.
Bring Something Valuable Back to the Office
This is one of those rare opportunities where you’ll have the time and space to foster your creativity. Look back on ideas you’ve had that could improve process or bring more value to your role, team, or company. A change of scenery doesn’t just include the inside-out view thanks to windows in your corner office (read: a corner in your toddler’s room). It also includes the outside-in view of your organization, team, and basic job functions. This global remote work proof of concept will end, and just imagine if employers were greeted with innovation and increased productivity as a result. Your ability to capitalize on the opportunity to create change could pave the way for the workforce that has begged for more flexibility in where and how they work. I encourage you to make the best of the next few weeks and be up for the challenge ahead. If your current role has left you in crisis mode to manage a remote workforce, we’ve got something for you too. Listen to the full episode of What the Tech Just Happened and learn three ways employers can meet the needs of their employees with solutions including VPN management, security software, and hardware.
Penny Conway
Penny has a passion for enabling digital transformation through cloud solutions and services. With a background in managed services for hardware and software across the partner ecosystem, she seeks to break down complex solutions into industry-relevant conversations with customers regardless of where they are on their cloud journey. When she isn’t networking on LinkedIn, or hosting podcasts and webcasts, she really enjoys cooking and having dance parties with her daughter.
One thought on “3 Tips to Keep Focused While Working from Home”
This was a great read . It gave me some great insight for moving forward.
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