Etiquette on Working from Home
Working from Home? Yes, There is Proper Etiquette for This…
As the Coronavirus continues to spread and Americans are being advised to stay home, practice social distancing and take additional precautions to avoid spreading the virus, many of us find ourselves working from home. Working from home is a wonderful option for many people. It provides flexibility to bridge responsibilities of our professional and personal lives and keeps us safe and away from the risk of the current pandemic. It is important to remember that despite the dire circumstances, you must make the extra effort to keep things professional.
If you have ever been on a conference call and suddenly hear someone’s dog barking, you’ve experienced where the lines of professional and personal life get blurred. If you are working from home while your colleagues are in the office, you will need to take the extra time to create an environment that allows you to work at the same professional level you would if in the office. Working in your living room in pajamas is awesome, but you should take some steps to ensure that your casual attire doesn’t lead to a casual work ethic.
Here are a few etiquette tips to consider when working from home:
Make sure you have a quiet place, preferably with a door you can shut for privacy if there are others in your household including pets
If you have an important call scheduled and are not alone in your home, let others know so they can respect you and the quiet privacy you’ll need. This will hopefully ensure that your children don’t have a tantrum right outside the door, or your roommate doesn’t choose that time to run the vacuum.
If you have a house phone, make sure it is off the hook or silenced so you aren’t rudely interrupted by a telemarketer while also on an important business call.
If on video, make sure you look just as polished and professional as you would in person. This not only helps you behave professionally but shows others that you aren’t skipping a beat, even if you are wearing yoga pants.
Before a video conference, take a good look at your surroundings. What is behind or around you? Is the lighting adequate? You will need to ensure your environment isn’t distracting from you, and the purpose of your visual communication.
Just as you wouldn’t or shouldn’t eat at your desk while in the office, take a break and walk away from your computer, even if it is sitting at your kitchen table.
Prior to a conference call or video conference, test your internet and technological capabilities before dialing in – just in case. Most of our homes aren’t wired the way an office building is or we may not have the same equipment and set-up we’re used to. What we use at home for online shopping, streaming Netflix, or perusing social media may not be up to snuff for your business needs.
Make sure you have the supplies you may need in advance, such as a working printer, extra monitor, working camera for video meetings, etc.
Take time to prepare. It may be harder to get organized in your casual home environment to get all the information in front of you to prepare for a meeting. Slow down, take more time, gather your thoughts, and make notes before you shoot off an email or pick up the phone.
You should speak and write just as professionally as you would if you were wearing a suit and sitting in a room of business colleagues.
Even in these circumstances when your colleagues are also working from home, it is important to take the extra steps to remain as professional as possible.
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