INDIANAPOLIS–So, you’ve been told that you need to work from home. That may require a few adjustments, especially if you’ve never done it before. Those adjustments aren’t necessarily just for you either. The whole family may need to support your new venture.
“Now you’re working through communication media instead of walking down the hall to see people,” said Kevin Eikenberry, of the Kevin Eikenberry Group of Indianapolis. He’s written several books on management and on working remotely.
LISTEN: Kevin Eikenberry’s advice on working from home
“So, you’re gonna have to be more intentional about how you communicate with folks,” he said.
That means just an e-mail might not be enough.
But, Eikenberry said working from home requires you to be more intentional about every aspect of work.
“The first thing is that you’ve got to make sure before you go that you have all the technology needs taken care of. Make sure that you’re friends with the IT people so you can take care of getting logged in and all those sorts of things,” said Eikenberry.
He said communication with the boss needs to be intentional so that you know how your boss defines success in a work from home situation.
Eikenberry said actually getting the work done requires some routine and discipline and that the novelty of not having to commute will wear off quickly.
“I don’t care what you choose to wear. If you want to wear your robe all day that’s fine. But, you do have to create some routine so that you can get your work done,” he said.
But, for some people it’s not just about working. It’s about stopping.
“Now the time that you were spending commuting you could spend working and so we have to get good at not only working when we’re working, but stopping, as well, because the work’s still gonna be there and if you see the laptop you might want to keep on working.”
Eikenberry said setting expectations is good for you and the family. Kids have to know that when you’re working you need to be left alone, even if you don’t have an office.
