Many companies around the world are allowing their employees to work in the comfort of their own home. The remote working arrangement has increased a total of 115% since a few businesses first introduced the idea in 2005. This number had doubled up by four percent after a couple of years. Some studies show that 38% of the company’s full-time employees will be working remotely in the next decade.

Working remotely is when an employee does their daily work responsibilities from a place outside the four corners of their company building. Some prefer to work at a coffee shop or even in a train station.

Most companies have adopted this concept because they believe that it can increase their employees’ productivity, save operational costs, and allow them to create links across the globe. These are just some of the few good reasons why work from home arrangement is a good idea. However, remote work does not apply to every business, but to those companies who succeed are the ones who were able to optimise and fully understand the risk of working remotely.

Here are some ways to easily optimise working remotely and can help you be productive and produce better results.

Communication tools

Just like a normal day in the office, you need to communicate with your team for a collaborative means. To be able to become productive together with your officemate, you will need a communication software that is effective and fit based on your needs. Presentations are great for remote team collaboration. Using tools like impactful PowerPoint templates can help to create visually engaging remote presentations thereby enhancing overall team collaboration.

Chat applications like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Skype are some of the most popular and effective communication systems available today. These apps give a seamless and more efficient way of sharing information among your colleagues. However, remote working has a downside too. It can be easy for employees to get loose out of track resulting in being unproductive.

To avoid this from happening, you can use video conferencing apps and engage with your colleague more and be productive altogether. Each video conferencing software has distinct features that separate them from others. Choose the one that gives real-time and face to face collaboration.

File sharing

Once the line of communication has built, the next move to optimise remote working is to establish an easy way to collaborate with other departments and between teams. Having a cloud service provider is essential even in the modern business world as it eases up the process of accessing files and information anywhere and from multiple channels.

The applications that offer an efficient and convenient way of file sharing are Google G Suite and Microsoft Office 365. They offer real-time share and edit features that can easily access important information and even access to new training manuals without the need for lengthy email threads or a heavy hard drive. Having a good and reliable cloud service provider lessens the risk of losing valuable company data and being attacked by people with malicious intent.

Protection

When working remotely, you are vulnerable to different kinds of threats. Exposing a lot of confidential data, not just your personal information but also your company data.

As an employee, it is important to prioritise security since you are transferring a lot of data in a day. You can get a reliable VPN or Virtual Private Network software to encrypt your data and add a layer of protection. It is a good investment as it protects you from harmful threats that can sabotage you and your company’s security measures.

One of the things companies prioritise is security. They value the power of a business surveillance system. These security systems allow companies to see an overview of what’s happening to their workspace and give them peace of mind that their business is protected at any time of the day. These systems surveillance protects not just the company’s resources but also the welfare of every employee.

Workspace

When everything is all set up, the next thing you need to do is to have the right home office setup that makes you an effective and efficient employee. Your coach and your bed might be the best spot when working remotely.

However, these areas are associated with relaxation. It is a good idea to create a dedicated work area that emulates just like an actual office. It makes you more productive and gives you a more serious and professional business work approach. If you don’t know where to begin, invest in a good pair of headsets. No matter if it’s wired or wireless, as long as you are comfortable wearing them during long hours of video call meetings. Make sure that you also find a quiet and peaceful place to do your work.

You don’t want to be interrupted by the sound of your tv blasting out in the living room. To have a seamless workflow, subscribe to a reliable and good internet service provider such as Earthlink or AT&T. 

Set priorities

Working from home can be a very challenging experience. In an everyday office scenario, the workflow is led by supervisors and managers. Various departments may be running and asking for additional tasks.

When working remotely, you need to identify your priorities and what is not. Setting a priority makes your life easier and makes you more effective and efficient. Keep in mind that sometimes its quite easy to get out of mind when working, especially when everything is on the right track. However, this could burn and tire you out. Taking a break is not bad. Set yourself a boundary when to work, take a rest and unwind. When setting a boundary, take it seriously.

Working from home indeed gives us the chance to make use of our time and money well. It makes us more productive and gives more time to our family. If you were able to manage to do all of these things, you will master and optimise the remote working experience.