5 Things we know about working from home with other people in the house
Our group is fully virtual and we’ve all got a lot of experience working from home with significant others, pets, and kids. So, we thought we’d share a few things we’ve learned over the years in case they’ll be helpful to any of you doing this for the first time.
If you are, thank you for practicing social distancing and an even bigger thank you to those who are keeping everything going while we are keeping out of the way.
1. Space is important
Dedicated space, or spaces if you’re lucky, are integral to successfully working from home. If you are a person who can work from their bed or someone else’s, good for you. That doesn’t work for everyone. Even if it’s a corner, dedicate a space you can “go to” that the rest of the people and animals living with you understand is your Work Space.
2. Respect is important
While you are in your designated Work Space, your work habits cannot be questioned. You can stare into space, watch YouTube, check social, use Slack to send memes…all of the things you do at work, and none of those living with you can judge. Not even that asshole, the cat. He will, though.
3. Communication with your roommates/spouse/kids should be treated as professionally as possible.
When you are in your Work Space, no one should interrupt you to ask where the peanut butter is, or their pants, or your mother-in-law. They will interrupt you, but they will have to learn not to do so. We don’t all have a door to close, but indication that work is happening should, ideally, mean that communication be treated as if you were at the office. If you wouldn’t call mid-afternoon to ask what snacks are in the kitchen, don’t interrupt the person in their Work Space—even if they are staring into space.
4. Create Neutral Spaces
The kitchen is no place for a conference call unless you have two kitchens, but then, your house is probably big enough for an actual home office, so quit reading this. People, animals, and kids (who are somewhere in-between in their habits) have to eat. When they are stuck at home, they will probably eat more. Rumpling Taki bags and background noise makes work and work calls difficult. Find someplace else. If you are in a neutral space, people will talk to you and will not understand your “process” regarding TPS reports and that it involves YouTube and deep research on the platypus and other Monotremes.
5. Crazy things will happen
In addition to a fantastic laugh, the viral interview interruption on the BBC in 2017 illustrated an immutable fact: Crazy shit will go down while you are at work from home. Dogs will bark and dream, siblings will engage in 1917 level battles over the limited resources of remote control and snack foods, and your work will be interrupted. The good news is, you’re not alone in this, and if you use video conferencing, you’ll get to see how your co-workers deal with all of the same things.
Hope this helps. Please stay healthy and keep others safe.