In the current situation, working from home has become vital. Working from home is used to describe arrangements in which employees work in their own homes, rather than in an office. The employee will telecommunicate with co-workers and employers via telephone, video conferencing and email.
Working from home opens up a range of possibilities for the way businesses can work and structure themselves. As well as opportunities, home working brings new responsibilities for the employer and employee such as, flexible working regulations. Working from home is good on so many levels, not having to commute saves money and time and can make you happier. However, there can be challenges, below are some tips to help you with working from home and some document management systems we offer to allow all employees to access the same documents at the same time, rather than relying on employees in the office to email you the documents you need, which can waste time and money.
1. Identify a plan
When working from home it can be challenging to keep track on what you need to do throughout your day. It can be easy to lose sight of priorities, tasks and deadlines. Create a daily plan of tasks which need to be completed by the end of the day. Set goals and time limits for each task, after you complete a task, cross it off the list. Doing this will allow you to see how much is left to do on a task.
2. Regular routine
Just because you’re working from home, it doesn’t mean you should skip your usual routine. Set your alarm and wake up at your normal time, shower, get dressed in normal clothes rather than pyjamas and act as if you were going into the office. It might seem small but doing this will put you in the work mindset.
3. Leave the house for exercise
Sitting at a desk all day isn’t healthy for whether you’re in the office or working from home. Working from home means you skip your commute, you can use this extra hour or more to exercise, even if its going for a walk, run or cycle. Even going for a walk during lunchtime separates work and personal time, making you feel like you’re not stuck inside all day and allows you to use your mind.
4. Comfortable office
Although it’s sometimes tempting to work from your bed or even the sofa, it can end up being damaging to your productivity. A comfortable environment with a comfortable chair means you’re more inclined to stay working and therefore you’ll be more productive. If you don’t have an office desk or chair, use your dining room table, this will feel like you’re at the office and maintain good posture, avoid distractions and allow you to leave your workspace behind at the end of the day.
5. Video conferencing
It’s not always possible to meet in person especially with the current situation. Video chat applications such as: Google+ Hangout, Skype and Microsoft Teams is great for up to 10 people. Video conferencing is integral when working from home. Having a daily morning video call can set everyone up for the day and allow co-workers to update each other on how they’re getting on with their tasks.
6. Working hours
If you want to make working from home productive, its important to set specific working hours. It’s possible when working from home to be flexible, allowing you to work in your most productive hours. If you need to work around children school hours, it could be possible to work 7am until 3pm. When your working hours are over, distance yourself from doing more work, working out of hours could cause a burn out eventually. Remember to communicate your work schedule to your co-workers and employer. It’s important to concentrate during working hours, pretend you’re not at home, don’t answer the door. You can also post your working hours on your door and introduce a traffic light system for family members.
7. Discover your high productivity hours
Every individual is most productive and focused at different times of the day. For example, some people are morning people and they are most productive during the morning hours. For others, their most productive time in the workday is the afternoon or evening. Identify your most productive hours and use it to your advantage by building your work hours around your peak productivity periods.
8. Check in with your colleagues
Whilst working from home, its important to stay in contact with your co-workers and employer like you would if you were working in the office. With your plan to keep you on track and focused throughout the day, you can update your co-workers and employer on your tasks, so they can be confident you’re on top of your work. Alongside emailing it’s a good idea to check-in by confidence calling via Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
9. Document Management Systems:
Using document management systems can help employees who work from home and employees in the office share documents. A DMS enables documents to be stored in an electric filing cabinet. Therefore, employees can use documents at the same time from different locations, meaning telecommuting employees don’t have to come into the office and search for the documents they require. Below are our two most popular document management systems we offer; however, we do offer more on our website.
FileDirector:
FileDirector brings the future of company management and data distribution into today’s world. This electronic content management solution shortens the time required to organize and handle documents within an enterprise, enormously. This noticeable more productive and more efficient way of working reduces costs significantly.
Features:
Built-in control of ISIS and TWAIN scanners
Windows client or web browser access
Integration with Windows desktop and MS office apps
Audit trails, version control, and document control and document history
‘Print’ documents from any application like Sage
Create custom document exception reports
Thanks to its extensive range of functions, FileDirector meets all of your document management requirements – today and tomorrow. Ease of use, scalability and a wealth of expandable components make FileDirector the perfect partner for businesses of all sizes.
Scan & Upload: capturing information is a very quick process using FileDirector. Scanning was never easier, using pre-definable scan profiles. FileDirector records electronic documents as flexibly and quickly as paper documents. The particular format and source are not an issue and thanks to the included integration with Microsoft Office, you and your staff can archive documents, tables and emails with a simple house-click.
Sort & Index: indexing and sorting documents is handled manually or via OCR (Optical Character Recognition) zones in the document, via full text or barcodes. Index data can be imported via ODBC from other databases or files, or transferred automatically when importing or recording.
Search & Retrieve: FileDirector leaves you free to decide how to conduct your keyword search. You can use the defined index fields to search for information you need, either within an entire filing cabinet or within a given document type. You can also full text search to locate the documents you need via their content.
ScanFile:
ScanFile V10 redefines one of the most popular and easy-to-use document management solutions with a raft of new functions. ScanFile V10 is a flexible, robust and proven platform for archiving, indexing and searching your documents.
Activity report
Intuitive security concept
Full text and zonal OCR
Barcode and form recognition
MS Office integration
Based on .NET 4.5
ScanFile V10 peps up one of the most popular and easy-to-use document management solutions with a raft of new functions. ScanFile V10 is a flexible, robust and prove platform for archiving, indexing and searching your documents.
ScanFile V10 supports practically all commercially available b&w and colour scanners by providing a TWAIN interface and additionally, offers a wide range of document scanner drivers, out the box. There are wide-ranging functions for handling electronic documents such as Word or Excel files. Moreover, thanks to its Microsoft Office integration, you can initiate this directly from ScanFile
A clever feature is that ScanFile V10 was developed as a modular product, so you only need to purchase the modules you will actually use. But this modular design involves no sacrifice in terms of ergonomics: you can perform all tasks from the same application.
Contact us today or call us on 01785 785 650, and speak to one of our experts.