The ongoing situation around the globe surrounding the corona virus outbreak is something none of us had expected to become a reality. Things changed quickly, and most of the world was not ready for an abrupt change in how we are living today, in self-isolation, quarantined in our homes.
Governments around the world have put their countries on lockdowns. India will remain mostly closed at least till April 14. The practice of self-isolation and self-distancing is pretty much our only shot against this disease, and it’s important to follow government regulations with full support in these challenging times.
While organizations centered around production are completely shut for a while, the IT sector has quickly adjusted to this change thanks to the concept of work from home. However, maintaining the same efficiency while working on a personal laptop as you would at your office is easier said than done.
When it comes to making the best out of your work from home schedule, there is a multitude of things that you need to focus on. Let’s discuss these factors point by point.
1. Ensuring Seamless Access & Connectivity
When you’re working in the Information Technology sector, robust internet connectivity is a must. Make sure you have a high-speed broadband connection. If you don’t, ask your neighbours if they are willing to share their wifi temporarily.
Another equally important thing is the backup connectivity of your device. Keep your laptops on charging so that you can work longer during power cuts. For desktop users, a fully functional invertor or UPS is very important. Additionally, if you’re working with international clients, you will also need proper VPN access.
2. Maintaining Effective Collaboration with the Team
One of the biggest challenges you face when working from home is synchronizing with the team. There are numerous effective tools to combat this challenge, so much so that virtual meetings are no longer a far-fetched dream. These include WebEx, Zoom, messengers, Telegram and Google’s very own Hangout.
Once you get used to managing these platforms, you can effectively communicate with your team and clients while maintaining the same level of productivity as before.
3. Prompt Communication with the Client
When you’re working remotely from home, maintaining frequent communication with the client is more important than ever before. They should be regularly updated with your daily progress through emails, phone calls, and if need be, one-to-one video calls in cases requiring urgent clarification.
4. Enhancing Review Mechanism
As most of the employees and stake holders are also working from their homes, an internal review of each other’s tasks goes a long way in maintaining synchronization among the team members. There is always something new that we can learn from our colleagues, and now is the best time to work as a team.
This period of uncertainty is bound to become a part of our past very soon, but until then, IT professionals can give a performance that is on a par with their regular performance in their offices as long as they stay calm and effectively leverage work from home culture to their advantage.
