Working From Home For Dummies

Your essential guide to working from home and staying connected

In today's networked global economy, working from home is no longer a novelty. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies and organizations everywhere are embracing the game-changing benefits of allowing employees to work outside the office, and the results are profound: managers benefit by saving money and resources and by having access to talent outside their zip codes, while employees enjoy greater job opportunities, productivity, independence, and satisfaction--in part from the time saved not commuting. According to one source, 85% of businesses say that productivity increased along with greater flexibility--and 90% of employees say that flexibility boosted their morale.

Working From Home For Dummies, gathers the expertise of multiple industry experts, featuring best of the best content from Virtual Teams For Dummies, Managing For Dummies, 3E, Company Culture For Dummies, Zoom For Dummies, Microsoft Teams For Dummies, Slack For Dummies, Mindfulness For Dummies, 3E, and Stretching For Dummies, as well as new material from award-winning author Tara Powers on setting expectations and boundaries, and more.

• Set up your workspace

• Stay connected to your team

• Run productive online meetings

• Get in the right headspace

This book is the full guide on how to successfully work with virtual teams, whether you are a team member or a manager.

Autorentext

A 20-year talent development professional, Tara Powers is an international best-selling author, award-winning leadership expert, and sought-after keynote speaker. She has worked with more than 200 companies and 15,000 leaders worldwide, building and launching talent initiatives that deliver high touch and high impact for her clients.

Klappentext

• Create a space for a healthy worklife balance
• Stay connected with Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams

• Maintain productivity and stay healthy and sane Working from home is the new normal Working from home was already on the rise, but when COVID-19 hijacked our reality, it became a way of life for many. Whether you're doing it one or two days a week or full-time, you'll appreciate the guidance in this book. Here are tried-and-true tips for enhancing your productivity, creating a workspace that's pleasant and efficient, dealing with distractions, making the most of virtual meetings, maintaining the trust of your manager and teammates, and a whole lot more. Inside...

• Make online meetings more productive
• Get in the right headspace
• Set necessary boundaries and expectations
• Maintain effective connection with team members
• Learn to stay focused

Zusammenfassung
Your essential guide to working from home and staying connected

In today's networked global economy, working from home is no longer a novelty. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies and organizations everywhere are embracing the game-changing benefits of allowing employees to work outside the office, and the results are profound: managers benefit by saving money and resources and by having access to talent outside their zip codes, while employees enjoy greater job opportunities, productivity, independence, and satisfactionin part from the time saved not commuting. According to one source, 85% of businesses say that productivity increased along with greater flexibilityand 90% of employees say that flexibility boosted their morale.

Working From Home For Dummies, gathers the expertise of multiple industry experts, featuring best of the best content from Virtual Teams For Dummies, Managing For Dummies, 3E, Company Culture For Dummies, Zoom For Dummies, Microsoft Teams For Dummies, Slack For Dummies, Mindfulness For Dummies, 3E, and Stretching For Dummies, as well as new material from award-winning author Tara Powers on setting expectations and boundaries, and more.

• Set up your workspace
• Stay connected to your team
• Run productive online meetings
• Get in the right headspace
  This book is the full guide on how to successfully work with virtual teams, whether you are a team member or a manager.

Inhalt

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Working From Home 5

Chapter 1: Setting Up Your Workspace 7

Choosing the Right Spot in Your Home 8

Picking the best room 8

Creating an effective layout 10

Getting All the Equipment You Need 11

Desk and chair 12

Computer and monitor 13

Printer and scanner 14

Internet access 15

Phone service 15

Noise-cancelling headset and camera 15

Storage 16

Organizing Your Work Life (And Keeping It That Way) 16

Time 16

Workspace 17

Paperwork 17

Computers and other devices 18

Books and other reference materials 19

Adding Some Personal Touches 19

Chapter 2: Ensuring Success with Important Work-at-Home Skills and Behaviors 21

Setting Goals and Priorities 22

Starting with goals 23

Deciding on priorities 24

Managing Your Time Well 24

Creating and sticking to a schedule 25

Making to-do lists 27

Conquering procrastination 28

Establishing Routines 29

Being Your Own IT Department 30

Increasing Your Healthy Productivity 31

Watching Out for Distractions 32

Overcoming Isolation 33

Staying Positive and Motivated 34

Putting positivity into practice 35

Understanding personal motivation 37

Being a team player and knowing you matter 38

Making Sure You Still Have a Personal Life 39

Establishing expectations 39

Setting boundaries 39

Chapter 3: Following Virtual Team Meeting Etiquette 41

Checking Your Background 42

Looking Camera Ready 43

Minimizing Noise and Using the Mute Button 44

Speaking Clearly and Making Eye Contact 45

Remembering a Few Important Do's and Don'ts 46

Engaging in virtual meeting best practices 46

Steering clear of common mistakes 48

Practicing Patience 49

Part 2: Staying in Touch with Slack 51

Chapter 4: Getting Started with Slack 53

Reviewing Slack's Different Versions 53

Free plan 54

Standard plan 54

Plus plan 55

Enterprise Grid 55

Changing Your Slack Plan 56

Upgrading 56

Downgrading 56

Beginning Your Slack Journey with the Workspace 57

Creating a new Slack workspace 58

Signing in to an existing Slack workspace 59

Accessing your new workspace via a web browser 61

Using the Slack desktop app 62

Using the Slack mobile app 63

Introducing the Slack user interface 63

Summarizing Slack's Different Roles and Permissions 66

Administrative roles 66

Non-administrative roles 68

Managing member roles 69

Enterprise Grid roles and permissions 72

Starting Your New Workspace off on the Right Foot 73

Expanding your existing workspace 73

Configuring your member profile and key account settings 76

Chapter 5: Targeting Your Communication with Slack Channels 79

Introducing Slack Channels 80

Exploring the Different Types of Slack Channels 81

Public channels 82

Private channels 83

Multi-workspace channels 83

Shared channels 85

Creating Public and Private Channels 86

Creating your first public channel 87

Building an intelligent channel structure 89

Viewing basic channel information 91

Adding Members to Existing Channels 93

Manual additions 93

Default workplace channels 94 Exploring E...