Working From Home: Tips & Tools

We surveyed our most experienced Annkissamers who work from home on a regular basis to put together this guide. While many of our staff rarely work from home, there are some who often do. We hope this is helpful during this transition to more remote work and have attached some additional resources that we’ve found useful.

Tips for Working from Home

Set up an "office"

Having a functional workspace is important to minimize distractions. We all have different spaces, but we find it helpful to separate work from personal space (couch, bedroom, etc).

Create a Routine

It's important to set a schedule while working from home. Start off your day by getting dressed, listening to a podcast, reading, cooking, or exercising.

Set Boundaries

Don't expect to complete house-work tasks. It's easy to be tempted to complete tasks around the house. While it's okay to throw in a load of laundry and make a quick meal, there are other times designated to keeping up with housework

Take Breaks

Remember to cut yourself some slack. It's easy to get caught up in our work, but taking breaks can actually increase productivity. Get a a glass of water or a snack, take a walk outside, or stretch.

Be Patient

Working from home might be a huge adjustment to your regular routine. Remember to be patient with yourself and allow some time to figure out what works best for you.

Communicate

It's easy to feel isolated in a WFH setting. Keep in contact with your coworkers via phone, conference, email, or instant message.

Recommended Tools for Working from Home

Flowdock is a collaborative group chat for teams. Flowdock allows for the creation of "Flows" for different teams/groups. This is great if a group discussion needs to happen. Flowdock is not HIPAA-secure.

Zoom is a video conferencing tool that allows for screen sharing capabilities. We use Zoom for standing meetings with clients, as well as internally. Groups of participants can join calls and view a users screen. Zoom can be HIPAA-secure for sharing information over screen share. This is a plan we chose and may not be the case for all subscriptions.

Google Chat (Hangouts) is a rapid form of communication that we use internally. It's integrated with Google Mail. Users can send instant messages to coworkers for small updates/questions. G-Chat is not HIPAA-secure. Alternatives are Microsoft Teams.

Google Meet is like Hangouts, only for business meetings. Video calls allow up to 30 users per meeting and you can set up a phone line as well.

Monday.com is a project management tool that allows for users to manage and track projects across a digital platform. This is a great way to track tasks, assignments, and deadlines. Users can assign tasks, post updates, and automate features. Monday.com is not HIPAA-secure.