Efficiently Working from Home

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In the previous article, we talked about communications, mindset, and tools for working from home. Here we will talk about another way on how to work remotely and be efficient.

Work like a Freelancer

Freelancers work efficiently without an office. During the COVID-19 lockdown, emulating a freelancer mindset will help or increase the productivity of the otherwise office workers. Let’s see how freelancers work differently from people who work in the office:

  1. Tribal mind: People who work in the office have similar-minded colleagues they work with. They work effectively because each member of the tribe looks after another. The freelancer does not have a well-defined tribe; their tribe consists of similarly minded freelancers who they communicate within various forums like Facebook groups, linked-in groups, and get-togethers.
  2. You are your own boss: In an office hierarchy where there is always at least one person you are reporting to, your responsibilities are shared, and you get focused on the work you are doing at the moment. For freelancers, you are your own boss. You need to manage, grade, and learn from your own work.
  3. Choose your own work: In an office environment most of the time, you are a specialized worker, and you can do certain work with more efficiency. Freelancer’s specialization is broader, and they sometimes afford to choose the work they like to do.

To work efficiently from home:

  • Create a workspace.
  • Know your goals.
  • Maintain a regular schedule.
  • Set clear boundaries.
  • Take regular breaks.

How to use Managed Project for efficiency-

Actors:

• Stakeholder: the person who creates the work description
• Worker(s): The person who works on the project
• Helper(s): Person who helps either the stakeholder or the worker

Steps:

  1.  Define your work:
    a. Make it small (if it takes more than a couple of days, then divide it into parts).
    b. Be specific to what is necessary to do the work and approximately how much time it will take to finish it.
  2. Define expected time to completion:
    a. Give an approximate time to understand and accept the task.
    b. Provide a deadline and approximate completion time by negotiating with the worker.
  3. Acceptance of the work:
    a. The worker is expected to accept the job after he/she has reasonably understood what is asked for and have the confidence to finish the work by the agreed time.
    b. Provide support to the worker but keep the time to about one-third to one-fourth of the total time.
  4. Finishing the work:
    a. The stakeholder reviews the work after the worker finishes the job.
    b. Any missing specifications, additional requests or additional time granted for completing the job should be discussed.
  5. Review the worker and the stakeholder:
    a. The work and the stakeholder both provide a review to each other.
    b. The lessons learned need to be recorded and used for future projects.