Work-from-Home Tips v1

Updated: 03/26/20

As more and more people start to work from home due to COVID-19, a set of work-from-home best practices and tips is in order. I have been working from home for over a quarter century now. There are things I do to ensure the experience is beneficial for me and my colleagues. It is important not to give your teammates and managers a bad experience while you work from home, whether permanently or temporarily. In reality, it has been found that not everyone works from home appropriately. Hopefully these tips will improve the experience.

When I worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, I was a charter member of the Work from Home Working Group. We worked with those who worked from home to get them the tooling they required and to solve problems. But we also worked with people on-site to help them understand work from home better. This was crucial for some of our managers. Out of sight should not mean out of mind.

Attitude Tips

Attitude is by far the most important thing when working from home.

Take time to talk to your family about your needs while working from home. Those needs will change over time. Sometimes immediately. Keep your family involved.
Invest in a dedicated area of your home for work. This could be anything and anywhere, but it needs to be dedicated as your office, not a multiuse space. I have used spare bedrooms as well as purpose-built spaces for my office. The kitchen or dining room table does not work very well. I prefer a door to my areas.
Get ready for your shift as if you were going into the office. This sets the mindset for you and your family that you are actually working.
You are working. This is not a time to do other things. Act like you are in the office.
When you end your shift, find some way to mentally shift from work to home. Some people leave and come back, others lock their office door, and still others go and pick up their family members. When you are working, you work. When you are at home, you are not working. It is a mental shift.
Work your hours, but remember to take breaks and meals.

Communication Tips

The second most important set of tips is about communication.

The burden of communication is on those who are remote, even if everyone is remote.
If you want to get noticed, you need to ensure you get noticed. I used to have a manager who would walk out of their office, look around, and pick the first person they saw for some special project. When you are remote, that is difficult to overcome, but you will need to do so.
Use or add a company-approved instant messenger application. It it one way to know when others are available and to have those quick chats and keep the team social dynamics working.
Be prepared to be on the phone for extended times. Some conversations start, lag, and continue. It depends on what you are doing. Keep the conversation going, as dead air is not good.
Keep in touch with your community outside the company. If you are in a technical field, these forms of communication are particularly valuable.
Use a headset as much as possible. It will help keep you healthy and free up your hands for other things.
Ensure you know when your phone is muted and when it is not muted. Do the same for your camera.

Comfort Tips

When you are comfortable, others will be as well. You are working from home, which means you control your environment, not others. Therefore you can make your environment very comfortable.

Unless you are on camera constantly, dress comfortably, but be aware that you will still be on video from time to time.
Invest in an ergonomic assessment. Ensure that your monitor, desk, chair, and the like are ergonomically safe. Places that sell ergonomic desks and chairs often offer assessment and setup services as well. Your employer should also have literature so that you can do your own assessment.
Invest in an ergonomic chair. You will be spending a lot of time in this chair. High-quality ergonomic chairs that last for years (I had one that lasted for twenty-five years) are well worth the price. Save your back!
Invest in a sit-stand desk. I find standing very useful. Be aware of ceiling height. You do not want to have a fan hitting your monitors.
Invest in proper lighting. Task lights are wonderfully useful, but for video and similar things, a bright overhead light works best. This should be overhead, not behind you. I use a task light when I stand, as the overhead lights are too close to everything. Again, ceiling height matters.
Invest in a ceiling fan. Keep that air moving. You want to be comfortable and neither cold nor hot. As you work from home, your definition of both of those will change.
Invest in an ergonomic keyboard setup. Whether that means using appropriate wrist rests, split keyboards, or some other keyboard approach is up to you, but you need to use your keyboard in a comfortable fashion. I use split keyboards with bucky ball wrist rests myself.
Take breaks. Get away from your office. Take a break and get outside. Even if it is only for fifteen minutes, it is worth getting a breath of fresh air. Be aware that if you are on the phone or video, outside has lots of noises you cannot control. Breaks are allowed and should be taken.
Move around. Walk around your office or home. This helps in many ways.
Look out your windows. A good window with a view of nature, your neighborhood, or another outdoor area is very useful on rainy days to keep your spirits up and remind you that you are not alone.

Hardware Tips

Having good hardware for communication, organization, and usability is invaluable when working from home.

Invest in a very good wireless headset. I use a Jabra 9470 that connects to my laptop, cell phone, and desk phone.
Invest in an office-style phone. A phone that can use your wireless headset of choice is appropriate. I use a Polycom IP550 VOIP phone that is controlled via a switchhook cable to the Jabra.
Invest in a method of showing that you are on the phone. If you have family around, you need to ensure that they know when you shouldn’t be interrupted. Glowing lights, signs, and similar items are very useful.
Invest in a good microphone. You may not always be able to use your headset due to battery issues, so invest in a good microphone for your computer. I use an Apogee device. The best microphone I have used was a simple wand microphone.
Invest in a good computer video camera. You want a computer video camera you can control, not one that is built in. Logitech has some excellent devices.
If you have more than one device, invest in keyboard-video-mouse switches or at least USB switches. I share my keyboard with four other computers while also sharing several USB devices between laptops. USB3 over Cat6 devices are very useful for runs of over twenty feet. I have several of those runs.

Safety and Security Tips

Safety and security is very important when working from home. There are things you normally do on your personal equipment you would not do on your business equipment or when in the office. Some of those things could be issues with your company.

Cover your cameras. I use the hoods that came with my Logitech and the laptop and iPad covers that have abounded at conferences over the years.
Pay attention to your microphone and camera lights. They usually will turn on and off when in use. However, they don’t always. When you use USB switches between laptops, for example, the lights may not light up.
For my personal laptop, I added software that tells me when the camera or microphone is in use.
Use a password manager. Do not write down your passwords. Your company may only allow certain versions of these. Adhere to your company security policies for work systems.
Keep work and personal systems separate. Work systems are for work only. Personal systems are for personal use only. Never mix the two.
Ensure that your personal network has an active firewall. Keep it maintained.
For WiFi access to your “network,” be sure you do not allow systems to see each other when using the access point. I also ensure a registered MAC address is required to connect.
Use strong Wi-Fi and router passphrases of at least 32 characters that meet maximum complexity requirements. Strong passwords are a must. Do not use default passwords from your ISP!
Invest in a review of your firewall rules and network to ensure you have a sufficiently locked-down home network.
Use a full VPN for your work.
When connecting to a virtual desktop owned by your company, use an EUC device separate from your personal machine if possible. This will ensure that no leakage occurs between personal and business.
When browsing the internet, you may want to use a virtual machine for some aspects of browsing, particularly COVID-19 maps, as they are now considered malicious.
Ensure that you have an emergency medical kit within your work-from-home space. You never know when accidents will happen; having this at hand will be useful.
Ensure that you have a fire extinguisher handy. It can be either the traditional style or a spray-can style, but make sure it can handle electrical fires.
Know your evacuation route from your workspace. You may wish to have this documented for your entire family. For some houses, it is obvious. For apartments, it may not be so obvious.
Be sure to lock your computers when you get up from your desk. This is a requirement at work; it translates to home as well. There is no “I am home” in security.
Your workspace should have locks on the doors and windows. I went so far as to ensure that my alarm company monitors those windows and doors as well.
Follow your company security and safety policies!

Conclusion

It is important to have the proper attitude when working from home— and not just from yourself but from your family as well. Anyone can work from home. However, everyone is different. Some will find the lack of personal interaction tough, and others will revel in the quiet this opportunity grants. Find your optimal method for working from home. These tips will help keep you comfortable, safe, and attached to your community and work. Working from home requires a mind shift, and that will take effort to be successful.

Good luck!