Work-from-home. It may sound like a luxury, but for those of you who were thrown into the new work-remote culture suddenly, you can attest that the transition is difficult. From trying to access information to keeping your work life separate from your home life, connecting with co-workers via video and chat to getting used to new tech tools, working from home isn’t nearly as simple as it sounds!
But we have the tech tips and tricks to help you make the most of this time when your home becomes your office.
- Make sure your internet is fast enough: If you only purchased internet speed that could handle light browsing, you may need to upgrade. Especially if you’re going to be having regular video conference calls, running multiple apps and accessing a database, you need to have fast, reliable internet. Call your internet provider to see what your options are for faster internet – many internet providers are offering deals right now!
- Have the right equipment for video calls: Now that you will be spending so much time in video meetings, you’ll want to make sure you have high-quality video equipment. This may include a webcam, headphones or a headset. Having the right equipment in place will reduce the amount of time you spend trying to troubleshoot bad quality audio or imagery, as well as eliminate distractions, like dogs barking and kiddos yelling. You don’t need to spend a lot on video and audio equipment but making sure that you have some modern technology to make your picture and audio clearer will mitigate a lot of video conference frustrations!
- Claim a room for an office: One key to ultimate work-from-home efficiency, as well as good work/life balance, is to set up a specific room in your home as an office. This helps separate your work life from your home life, even though your office is now in your home. Set it up similar to how your office at your workplace was set up and try to limit your time in there to strictly work time. When your work day is done, shut the door until the next morning.
- Mute your notifications: Turning the sound off when you’re video conferencing eliminates distractions for both you and your coworkers. And if you’ll be sharing your screen, we recommend that you turn off all notifications so that your colleagues can’t see the pop-ups. Throughout the day, you may also want to turn off notifications for a set amount of time to mitigate distractions, especially if you’re working on a big project that requires your concentration.
- Utilize cloud technology: If you’re not already doing this, we highly recommend you start. Cloud technology helps you by storing all of your information in one easily accessible place. You can retrieve the data you need any time, from anywhere. ResultsPlus is available online, and if your team is now embracing a “work anywhere” culture and your best access is via the internet, we encourage you to explore this option. All ResultsPlus installed customers can easily migrate from the installed version to the cloud. While this may seem like a dramatic shift, the system works the same so there is no learning curve. The migration to the cloud from your end is simple and cost-effective. The cloud service provides you with all functionality (Platinum), support (phone and email), IT services (updates, enhancements and daily back-ups) and unlimited free records.
- Take advantage of virtual classes: When you’re not working in the office, it’s important to know the ins and outs of your software technology. Many software providers (including ResultsPlus!) offer webinars, presentations and virtual classes to help you get to know your technology better so that you can use it to its full potential.
- Update your database: A clean database works much more effectively than a dirty one. Use this time to go through your ResultsPlus CRM and do a data clean-up. Eliminate old contacts, addresses, phone numbers, etc., get rid of duplicate records, unused reports and other data. Your fundraising will be much more successful when you have the most up-to-date donor information.
Have some tips and tricks of your own that have made working from home easier? Let us know in the comments below!