COVID-19 happened, and now we have more call center agents working from home now than ever before. It’s been a double-edged sword so far.
- On the one hand, data suggests that this can help call center agents boost productivity, achieve better work-life balance, and reduce stress by up to 80%.
- On the other hand, dealing with personal crises on the home front and the risk of over-tasking themselves can put remote workers at risk of burnout.
If you’re new to working from home, this guide has been created to help you get going more effectively when working remotely.
1. Create a Dedicated Workspace or Home Office
You need a dedicated spot for work.
Having a dedicated room is the best. But if you’re short on space, you can set up your workstation in a corner of the house or even at the kitchen table, although this is less than ideal.
You don’t want to set up your workstation before the TV, though. You’ll be better off where there are fewer temptations and distractions. Consider investing in a suitable desk and chair, a computer, and everything else you’ll need to work comfortably.
2. Create a Work Schedule and Stick to It!
Working from home gives you so much flexibility.
But it’s easy to get carried away by this. Don’t! Set aside time for work. Preferably, set aside long hours to account for normal and unplanned interruptions. Remember that constant interruptions will affect your productivity.
So, rather than approach your work from home with that anytime approach, set regular work hours and personal time try as much as you can to stick to the plan.
3. Plan Your Workflow.
It’s a great thing to have scheduled work hours.
But it’s also essential to plan your workday before you start work every day. You want to tackle your tasks based on their order of priorities. It’s always advisable to do the most challenging stuff first and then tackle the simpler ones later. Better still, you can try to plan the day before you sleep. This might even enhance your sleep quality with the stress of planning the next workday taken off your shoulder and out of your mind.
4. Dress Up Like You’re at Work.
This sounds funny, but it works!
You have to stay motivated for work, so it’s important to create triggers that get you to start working and keep working. Dressing casually as you would in your bedroom won’t cut it. But people who have found significant success at working from home point to being dressed officially for work as more helpful than just donning a T-shirt and sweatpants.
5. Set Boundaries and Minimize Distractions.
You can’t completely avoid distractions when working from home.
But you can reduce it to the barest minimum to maximize productivity. Kids, partners, family members, pets, roomies, and others might want to interrupt your work as a call center agent working from home.
You have to set boundaries to ensure you can focus on your work.
This is why having a dedicated room for your home office is the best. In this instance, you can simply consider hanging a sign on the door that lets them know when you’re working or not so you can be left alone to focus on work.
Remote work is a new reality.
For call center agents who are new to this, it will take some time to get used to it. Fortunately, the tips above will go a long way to help you settle down into this with little to no negative impact on the productivity/efficiency of your output as a customer experience professional and your wellbeing on the other hand.
