WORK FROM HOME SERIES: Dev Superstar, Jack

Working from home is a new experience for many around the world, as we navigate #COVID19 and the effects of social distancing. Some of our team members have been working from home for years, others only weeks, but they’re all ready to give you a sneak peek into what helps them stay productive and focussed.

Jack Curtis - SharePoint Developer

MY SITUATION: YOU’LL NORMALLY FIND ME WORKING AT OUR BRISBANE HEAD OFFICE, BUT I’M 100% REMOTE DURING COVID-19.

Working from home hasn’t really been a challenge for me as I've worked from home before, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. That being said, being stuck inside for a number of weeks since we shut our office, things have been a bit lonely and different. It really makes you think about how much you miss your colleagues and the social interaction/banter around the office.

However, working from home actually does have some positives! For myself, one of the best perks is the extra hour of sleep in the mornings.

Here are some tips that might help you if you are struggling with working from home:

• Get up for regular breaks! Stop sitting down for so long and get up, stretch your legs and get some fresh air.

• Play some music – The perks of working from home is I can play my tunes as loud as I like!

• Call your colleagues – keep in touch, whether it's for a chat or work purposes. Communication is key in times like these.

• Plan your tasks – At the start of the day, allocate yourself some time to get your tasks in order.

I hope you’re making the most of your WFH time, but if these tips have helped, shout out in the comments.

Best wishes,
Jack

Jack.Curtis(at)sharingminds.com.au

Stay tuned as we interview more of our team for their
unique and effective work from home tips.

WORK FROM HOME SERIES: William the Great

Working from home is a new experience for many around the world, as we navigate #COVID19 and the effects of social distancing. Some of our team members have been working from home for years, others only weeks, but they’re all ready to give you a sneak peek into what helps them stay productive and focussed.

William Cornwill - Specialist SharePoint Consultant

MY SITUATION: Occasionally working from our Melbourne office and client sites, but right now I’m 100% at the home office.

During my three years at Sharing Minds I have often operated out of my home office along with our WeWorks office in the Melbourne CBD, and of course the many coffee shops that I often review (Insta: @coffee_catchup).  I have found that working from home requires an extra level of discipline to ensure that interruptions are kept to a minimum.  My daughter has been doing her high school via distance learning from home since year 9 and this year is completing her VCE, so being home allows me to balance my work and life nicely. 

About two years ago I was diagnosed with a lung disease called pulmonary sarcoidosis, a chronic condition that causes me to have breathing difficulties and fatigue especially when I am stressed.  So being able to work from my home based office also provides me with a calming and reduced stress environment and one that I can control.  During this COVID19 crisis, and due to my lung condition, it has been advised by my doctors to lockdown and self-isolate for about 12 weeks. 

Now, as someone who loves to get out and catch up for coffee, this is proving extremely challenging.  As the rest of the company has begun working from home, I have found the level of communication, especially with the morning all hand video call, to provide the social connection that I had been missing.

My tips for working from home:

• Create a calming work space that is separate from the rest of the household activities – preferably one with views to outside (I use my study and not the kitchen table)

• Only check emails in the morning and towards the end of the day (don’t live in Outlook – get things done)

• Plan your days activities (I use Microsoft To Do to create check lists of activities to be done)

• Take regular breaks to stretch and clear your mind and have a decent lunch

• Listen to some music, burn a candle (in my case I also turn on my salt lamp and humidifier)

• Check in with others regularly (using Microsoft Teams chat and video calls)

• Leave work behind at the end of the day (make sure you knock off)

I hope these tips will help you to find your groove while you get used to working from home.

I’d also love to hear any other useful tips that you’ve come across, so let me know in the comments below.

All the best,
William

William.Cornwill(at)sharingminds.com.au

Stay tuned as we interview more of our team for their
unique and effective work from home tips.

WORK FROM HOME SERIES: One of our Superstars, Ashish

Working from home is a new experience for many around the world, as we navigate #COVID19 and the effects of social distancing. Some of our team members have been working from home for years, others only weeks, but they’re all ready to give you a sneak peek into what helps them stay productive and focussed.

Ashish Ghai, Senior Consultant

MY SITUATION: Mostly working from office and Client Sites with a bit of interstate travel. Right now, I’m working exclusively at home.

Throughout my career, I have been working in a corporate/office environment with a lot of friends (colleagues) and the luxurious facilities that an office provides to facilitate efficiency. I "had" a very strong belief that working in a formal work environment provides discipline, better coordination and teamwork, resulting in a high level of productivity.

When I heard we are going to be working from home due to the current situation, I was a bit thoughtful about how productive it is going be. At home, I have my wife who is a full-time homemaker and a teenager who is schooling from home, like myself. I was a bit sceptical of how it will work with two of us locked in office/class (our rooms) and my wife a bit disconnected in the same premise for most of the day.

I am a morning person, so to get ahead of the day I start early (7ish) to knock a few tasks out of the park, when it is quiet and fresh. Then have a break on the breakfast table with family to get set for the day. We have our daily stand-up via MS Teams on video every morning from 9:15am, a catch-up with all the colleagues on camera.

Key Challenges:

• Keep focus when you have one family member in next room trying to do activities like juicing/ vacuuming 😊

• It can become monotonous working in the same room every day for many days alone without colleagues around.

• At times there are too many meetings and at the end of the day you may find you haven’t got much done.

• Physical stress in sitting stationery for long hours - stiff neck and back.

A few of my tips and tricks to stay focused and be productive:

Adding spices to the curry!

1. Start early to get a lot done and look forward to a break with family.

2. Stay on camera on a daily stand-up and have some fun with your colleagues.

3. Go for 10 minute breaks every 2 hours, or after a long activity or meeting. I head to my apartment balcony to have a refreshing river view and get some fresh air to the brain, or get into the kitchen to add some spices into the curry that is getting cooked. This is my key to break monotony.

4. Watch the meeting times and number of meetings for the day.

5. Track the tasks completed everyday through our timesheet tool - Autotask.

6. Use Microsoft Planner for creating project tasks and that helps me to stay on track for the projects.

7. Use Microsoft Teams to conduct meetings, use more chat than audio to allow multi-tasking.

8. To manage the physical stress, I do a bit of stretching when I feel like I need it, and at the end of the day we make sure we use the balcony, or go down to a park and kick the soccer ball around or play softball cricket with my son.

All this above has enabled me to stay on task and be better connected with the family. I think I am more productive as it gives me back the travel time into work.

Hope you’re all doing well, too.

Cheers,
Ashish

Ashish.Ghai(at)sharingminds.com.au

Stay tuned as we interview more of our team for their
unique and effective work from home tips.

WORK FROM HOME SERIES: New Microsoft Teams preview feature - Live Captions

For those working from home or remote spaces, with hearing impairment or with loud or distracting noises in the background, a new preview feature in Microsoft Teams is Live Captions.

With live captions, Teams can detect what’s said in a meeting and present real-time captions for anyone who wants them.

To find out more on this feature and how to turn it on/off, visit:

Published by: Sharing Minds’ Communication Dept.
Published: Tuesday 24 March, 2020