Tips for Working from Home

One of the perks of being a Sprinklrite – our endearing name for employees – is our work-life balance policy that supports flexible work hours and a flexible vacation policy. Due to this policy, we have a number of global employees who worked from home on a daily basis before the coronavirus outbreak. 

As an increasing number of companies are encouraging employees to work from home while the coronavirus continues to spread, we thought it would be helpful for our seasoned remote workers on our channel partnership team to provide advice to the rest of us who are trying to adjust to this new way of working.

Advice from Catalin Barbuceanu, Product & Channel Partnerships Manager, based in London:

• Set up a dedicated “office” if possible: use a proper desk with an ergonomic chair. Don’t work from a couch / bed / dining table. The posture will help you get in the right mindset and increase your productivity.
• Having an external monitor always helps. If you don’t have a spare one, you can use your TV instead.
• If you have to speak with someone, try having a quick call if the person is available. It’s the closest you can get to in-person nagging and it’s faster than typing. Get used to replacing every human interaction you’ve had in the office with a call / slack message or email. 
• Block any distractions that’d take your mind off work (house chores, TV, memes and cat videos on youtube). 
• Try maintaining normal hours for a good work-life balance.
• Keep a to-do / done list to assess your progress. 

Advice from David Factor, Manager, Social Channel Partnerships, based in Washington, D.C: 

• Before starting work, try to grab a coffee or food outside the house before sitting down to tackle your email. It helps you feel refreshed and ready to go. 
• If you have a stand up desk, start the morning standing.
• Don’t bring the laptop to the couch. 

Advice from Thanh Tran, Senior Channel Partnerships Manager based in Santa Monica, California:  

• Never turn on the TV – it’s tempting – but it’s a productivity killer. 
• Use headphones/airpods on calls to not get distracted by outside noise (especially if you are not home alone). 
• I’ve found a physical checklist to be helpful in making sure day-to-day tasks get done.
• Stay hydrated.
• Don’t Forget to get up and walk around! 

Almost 4 million people work from home at least half of the time, according to FlexJobs research. Working remotely may seem like a dream, but as these tips show, it can challenge the ability to stay focused and effectively communicate with coworkers. According to Sprinklr’s Chief Culture & Talent Officer Diane Adams, it can take 3x as many virtual meetings to build the same trust you can from one in-person meeting. Therefore, you may need to increase brief calls and video-conferences. 

Do you have any of your own tips? We’d love to hear them! Share your tips on our X, formerly Twitter here: @Sprinklr