With the way current situations are, 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. Below are some tips and benefits 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.
Tips for working from home:
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 when working from home, here are some tips to help!
Identify a plan - create a daily plan of tasks which need to be completed by the end of the day
Regular routine – get dressed, shower, and act as if you were going into the office
Leave the house for exercise – leaving the house separates work and personal time, even if it’s going for a walk, run or cycle
Enjoy flexibility – focus wavering? Take a break, go for a walk, help to get the creative juices flowing
Comfortable office – a comfortable environment with a comfortable chair means you’re more inclined to stay working, therefore you’ll be more productive
Video conferencing – it is not always possible to meet in person especially with the current situation, Google+ Hangout is great for 10 people and so are Skype and Microsoft teams
Working hours – post your working hours on your door, pretend you’re not home, don’t answer the door, introduce a traffic light system for family members
Discover your high productivity hours – every individual is most productive and focus at different times of the day i.e. mornings and evenings, use this to your advantage
Check in with your colleagues – check in with your boss and co-workers throughout the day, via email and calls
Benefits:
There are several benefits for working at home, for both employers and employees.
Benefits for employers:
There are a number of potential benefits for employers when they establish well-designed telecommuting programs for their employees. Below are some benefits:
Increased productivity – while it might seem out-of-sight employees will take advantage of opportunities to slack off, studies indicated the opposite. Studies show that in one case productivity increased by 13% when employees worked from home. Another study found that telecommuters worked on average, 5-7 hours per week longer than their in-office counterparts.
Reduced turnover – employee turnover can be a costly proposition for a business. Studies have shown that employees who are able to telecommute tend to be much happier than their in-office counterparts. When employees are happy, they are typically less likely to leave a position, which can add up savings for employers in the long run.
Increase morale – this, too, can have an impact on turnover. Employees who are able to work from home and enjoy a better work and life balance tend to feel more valued. A study showed that telecommuters tend to be less stressed and happier than traditional office workers.
Environmentally friendly – working from home/telecommuting takes the commute out of the working equation. For eco-conscious companies, this can be a big win.
Economically sound – employees aren’t the only ones who can enjoy financial benefits associated with telecommuting. Companies can save a large amount of money annually on each employee who telecommutes.
Benefits for employees:
Greater flexibility – most telecommuting jobs have very flexible work schedules allowing you to focus on other tasks that equally matter with ease, such as taking care of children.
Greater fulfilment – generally, you would be happier and more fulfilled than those who work under traditional work arrangements. This is brought about by a number of factors, including flexible work schedules, minimal supervisions and lack of commuting to and from work.
More savings – working from home requires no formal attire, no commuting expenses and no parking fees (or other means of transportation and costs), you are therefore capable of saving more money which can significantly boost your disposable income.
Increased independence – telecommuting negates the need for constant reminders, direct supervisions from the managers and bosses, and also offers less inflexible working environments. For those reasons you’d be much freer and more independent which contributes to greater fulfilment and productivity.
Suitability to vulnerable persons – telecommuting offers a plausible alternative for the disabled, physically handicapped, mothers, and others who may find it difficult to cope with traditional modes of working. For some this is the only way they can be co-opted into gainful employment.
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 is our most popular document management system 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 fined 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.
Benefits:
Centralise important business information
Secure your documents and share only with approved users
Capture information from scanned documents
Create custom approval workflows
Make documents accessible to customers
The benefits of an intelligent document management system are self-evident, for instance, of the import efficiency: documents are located, stored and distributed more quickly. What’s more, staff do not waste time or money on duplicated or distributing documents. Digitising avoids all these unnecessary steps and gives your staff more time to concentrate on the essentials. On top of this, document storage costs are reduced because a considerably smaller storage is required.
To find out more, please contact us.