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FAQs: Work from Home Best Practices [Needs Input]

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(Well being)

How do I protect my mental energy when working from home for an extended period?

  • Set boundaries: Limit news and social media, by muting or disabling notifications.
  • Follow your normal routine: Keep your usual habits, or create better ones. Connect with team members and take breaks as usual.
  • Focus on things that elevate your mood: Have a dance party, learn something new, read a book, play a game, complete something you’ve been putting off, whatever works for you!
  • Connect friends and family: Commit to reaching out to someone close to you each day by phone or video chat.
  • Celebrate small wins: Express thanks throughout the day, acknowledge yourself for things you did well, and cheer on team members as they accomplish small wins too!

How do I avoid feeling isolated when everyone is working from home?

You’re wise to ask this question. While prolonged isolation can impact morale and productivity, there are ways to keep your spirts up.

Managers and teams should try to bond in light-hearted ways to keep a sense of normalcy and camaraderie. There are a lot of great idea; here are some fun ones:

  • Dial in pizza parties, happy hours where team members share a cocktail.
  • Celebrate birthdays.
  • Encourage fitness with online dance classes or “five-minute plank” challenge where you add a minute each day for a week.
  • Give public praise for goals reached and projects completed.
  • Make time for casual conversations and “water cooler” chat
  • Establish a daily routine that keeps you feeling good: exercise, expose yourself to morning light, and keeping a sound sleep schedule, etc.
  • If you have children or teens, make time to connect: play games, cook, read books, watch movies together, have dance parties, cook, and more.

What are the benefits of good ergonomics when working from home?

When you practice good ergonomics, you’ll enjoy many benefits, including:

  • increased productivity
  • reduced muscle fatigue and strain
  • fewer, less severe musculoskeletal disorders severity and related risks, such as head or neck aches, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.
  • savings of time, expense, and hassle of correcting musculoskeletal issues
  • improved breathing patterns, better health, healthier body posture
  • sense of well being

How can I ensure a healthy ergonomics when working from home?

Congratulations on being proactive about your health when working! You will save a lot of strain, time, and expense by following these steps:

  1. Read OSHA’s “Good Working Positions”: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/positions.html.
  2. Print out this workstation Checklist and complete it: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/checklist_evaluation.html.
  3. (When time allows) Explore the “Computer Workstations eTool” that's linked in Step 2.

Tip: Place a full length mirror next to your workstation to get set up and check your posture throughout the day.

(Issues & Support)

Before the required work from home period, I made a request to IT but haven’t heard anything, when can I expect them?

If you made a request for a computer, password update, etc., and have not yet received it, email {IT with your manager in CC} to ask for an update. In the subject line, type “{Awaiting work computer that’s been ordered}.”

Please be patient, as there is a backlog of IT requests at this time your IT team members are working diligently to respond to requests in a fair and efficient manner.

My keyboard keys are sticking and I can’t get any work done, what should I do?

It’s likely that your keyboard has debris that’s inhibiting movement (most debris is found in the letters and numbers). Try cleaning the keyboard to resolve this issue:

  1. Disconnect and turn off your keyboard.
  2. Turn your keyboard upside down and shake out loose debris.
  3. (Protect your eyes.) Keeping the keyboard upside down, try to dislodge more particles with
    • a can of compressed air and its thin nozzle to blow it out, or
    • a vacuum cleaner set to medium, using thin nozzle attachment.
  4. Scrape away remaining stubborn objects with something small, like a q-tip, or a cloth-covered toothpick, mini screwdriver, or butter knife, and alternatively, a reasonably clean and completely dry toothbrush.
  5. (If your keyboard has a UV coating or the like) Wipe it down with warm water only.
    (If your computer DOES NOT have a UV coating or the like) Wipe down your keyboard with isopropyl alcohol.
  6. Test the keys. If they’re fixed, you’re all done!
  7. If keys are still sticky, you may order a new keyboard online, expense it. (Send a note to IT with the make, model, and serial number so they can add the keyboard to inventory, and include this information in your expense report).
  8. {(Optional) If you have an external keyboard, you could attempt to remove the sticking keys, to clean under them. ONLY attempt this if you are confident you can successfully complete the task. To proceed, refer to the keyboard’s online documentation for guidance. If you cannot find such a guide, expense a new keyboard per the above instructions.}

(Productivity)

What do I need to do if I work from home?

When working from home:

  • Keep your regular office hours and break schedule to ensure availability to team members and customers. Keep your manager appraised of your whereabouts as you normally would.
  • Ensure that your internet service is working as expected. Contact your cable provider if you have any issues.
  • If you need peripherals (monitor, keyboard, etc.) to work from home, follow our expense policy and let IT know what you purchased so they can keep track of the inventory.
  • For meetings, use our company video conference tools.
  • For conference calls, seek to minimize distractions or background noise before the call. If you experience connectivity issues, dial in from a phone as the internet might be slow (when time allows, consider contacting your service provider to determine if there is a remedy.)

How can I stay productive during our extended work from home time?

Here are some WFH best practices to help keep you productive:

  • Set up a schedule: Start work, take breaks, and end your workday as usual. Move physically often to keep your mind fresh and your circulatory system healthy.
  • Set up your work environment to minimize distractions: Set up a dedicated workspace. If you live with others, set boundaries as soon as you can: Work away from social areas like the dining or living room, consider adding physical boundaries such as a room divider, curtain, or a note, and communicate your time and space boundaries so that they work for everyone in your household.)
  • Acquire needed peripherals: If you need a mouse, keyboard, headset, or monitor, order a product similar to those we typically order, expense it{, and send a note to IT with the make, model, and serial number of the products)}.
  • Add links to your content-sharing tool in your meeting invites: Be sure to include a link to download the desktop applications, for attendees who might not have the tool. (To minimize background noise, mute yourself when not speaking).
  • Provide chat capability: Download our chat-related software tools, get familiar with them, and enjoy conversations in real time—and join relevant groups and channels to stay synced with your teammates!
  • Ask the bot for help: If you get stuck, ask the IT bot for help. It can file IT tickets for you, which is pretty nice.
  • Socialize: Make an effort to stay engaged with your team members. Check in with them, take walks during your 1:1s, schedule virtual lunches and social hours, create or join social channels, enjoy light-hearted chats around “water cooler, etc.

Will we need to use VPN when working from home?

Yes, to keep your online work secure, you’ll need to log into our {VPN name system} using your {xyz login credentials}. If you haven’t already installed it, download it from {link}.

How can I start using the free version of Microsoft Teams?

To start using the free, but limited, business version of Microsoft Teams, do the following.
Important: Many features require you to have Microsoft Office 365 login credentials which might not be available. If you would like to request full access, talk to your manager about what’s possible.

  1. Go to https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software.
  2. Click For Business and follow the online prompts to get set up.
  3. Invite team members to collaborate. {Inform them that feature access is limited.}

How do I collaborate or share content with team members, online?

Use our cloud storage tools to invite and collaborate with your colleagues:

  • SharePoint {here}
  • Box {here}
  • Google Drive {here}

How do I use Sharepoint to collaborate with teammates?

Log into SharePoint and try the following:

  1. Open a document: Click Open and open the document that you want to share.
  2. Share a document: Click Share. A window display the following sharing options:
    • Enter names/emails (of those that you want to send the doc to directly) into the text box and Send.
    • Click Copy Link and paste the document’s link into an email or IM.
    • Click Outlook and paste the document’s link into the Outlook Library.
  3. Edit a document concurrently with others: Go to Office for the web and open the document that you want to edit. Anyone else editing the document displays at the top of the page in Office Online.
  4. Sync documents (files) to your computer:
    • Go to a document library on the SharePoint site that you want to sync files from and select Sync.
    • Sign into your account using your work credentials.
    • Complete the set-up. The files start syncing to your computer!
    • (To find your files) Go to OneDrive {organization name} in your computer’s File Explorer or Mac Finder.
  5. Use Office 365 SharePoint on mobile.
    • Download the Microsoft SharePoint app (by Microsoft Corporation) to your mobile device via your preferred app store. Devices include:
      • Android phones and tablets
      • iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch
      • Windows phones
    • Launch the app and sign in.

Share and collaborate in Box

In Box, you can share content or invite others to collaborate via a link or invitation.

You will need: The email addresses that your collaborators used to create their Box account.

  1. Log into Box.
  2. Hover over a folder and click Share next to the folder. The Share “Access Stats” window displays.
  3. Fill in the form to Invite People or Share Link. If you want to collaborate with anyone, adjust their permissions accordingly.

Note: ”Collaborators” can view and edit docs indefinitely, while other invitees will have read-only privileges. Also, if multiple collaborators edit at the same time, Box “locks” each user’s document and uses version control to track the changes in the different documents.

Update a Box file, so no one else can edit at the same time

To edit a file and disable anyone else from editing it at the same time:

  1. Lock the file: Hover over a file, expand its drop-down menu, and click Lock File. A pop-up window displays.
  2. Disable other editors: Select your preferences: Check boxes to prevent downloading the file while locked, set expirations as needed, and click Continue to lock the file.
  3. Save the file: When you’re done editing, save the file in the program you used to edit it—be sure to use the same file name.
  4. Upload the updated file back into Box:
    • Unlock the file: Hover over the locked file, expand the drop-down menu, and click Unlock File.
    • Upload the file: Expand the drop-down menu next to the folder and select Upload New Version. A pop-up window displays. Click Select file, get the file from your computer, and click Upload.

A version icon displays next to the file name to show many previous versions of the file are saved. Clicking the icon allows you to view and download previous versions, or make an older version the most current one.

Updated 9 months ago