10 Lean Tips for Working from Home: from a 30 year veteran, Victor Caune
The big challenge with working at home is to clearly differentiate in your mind and physically your home life and your work life. Not only for yourself but with the other members of your family.
- Find a dedicated space where you will not be disturbed or distracted – nothing worse than having kids or dogs interrupting you and your calls. The kitchen table is not satisfactory. A spare bedroom, garage, rumpus room, large garden shed could all be options.
- Deck out this space as your office, with appropriate desk, chair , printer, notice boards, white boards, visual calendar.
- Set up a lean /visual office and in effect run a daily tool-box meeting with pertinent visual KPI’s and colour coding on a large whiteboard. In fact, you can purchase large Laminex sheetings from Bunnings that is a lot cheaper than whiteboards.
- A great opportunity to set up and practice 5s – everything has a place and is in place – no searching.
- Develop a set routine – leaders standard work. My advice is start early, have set breaks like morning tea, lunch and go to another area like an outside deck for fresh air and avoid cabin fever!
- I have always worked on the business first thing Monday morning – rather than jumping into the work. This way you will get the essential things done rather than postponing them to the never.
- Set times like 9am to 11am for quiet concentrated work and receive no phone calls and resist responding to emails.
- I always finish at 5pm and take the dogs for a work. Then after tea I make sure I finish closing off all the emails and other stuff – so that you have a fresh start in the morning.
- Talk with your accountant as to what you can claim for your home office expenses.
- Build in some standard leisure time during the week – reward yourself and your partner.
Once you settle in and establish your routine you will be surprised as to how effective working from home can be.
Best of luck!
Victor
Victor Caune
National Facilitator Australia and New Zealand
National Facilitator – Leaders Excellence Forum
Best Practice Network
M +61 413 718 986
E [email protected]
www.bestpracticenetwork.com.au
