It takes Character to make the most of working from home. Let’s explore what qualities you need to dial up to succeed.

For a long time, working from home was a special occasion. Then, there was a pandemic and working from home became known as “work”. There was no other way to earn money unless you were a keyworker.

Now, we are so accustomed to the option of remote work that it has become a critical factor in whether someone applies for a role or not. It is not that we all want to work from home, but we do want the choice to do this when it is convenient for us.

We have also learnt that working from home comes with its challenges. As today is a celebration of working from home, we wanted to explore the Character required to be successful in this endeavour.

Be disciplined

To be sure that working from home is effective, you must be much more disciplined. There are many more distractions to drag you away from your priorities. When a tedious job comes in, it is possible that even the washing up and vacuuming feels appealing, never mind some Netflix binge-watching.

Be detached

Keeping your life and work separate requires a new level of detachment from your problems in your working day. When you get in a car or on a train and travel home, put on your joggers and a sweatshirt and make your dinner, you leave the world of work behind. When you work in the same room as you eat breakfast or close to the bed you slept in, detaching from what seems urgent is challenging.

Switch off notifications, close the room door where you work, and get changed if needed. Whatever you do, draw a line under your workday and give yourself permission to relax.

Be collaborative

Teamwork makes the dream work – or so we are told. When working remotely, it is more challenging to collaborate with your colleagues and much easier to fall into solo decision-making and production.

Keeping the team's power alive will take more effort than when you were in an office together. Set up an online meeting cadence to encourage stable connections and organise occasional away days to facilitate face time with others.

Be assertive

Getting recognised for what you bring to the table is easier in a central workplace. People see that you are working hard and can discern your commitment. Working from home isolates us from view and can leave people wondering what we do all day. The answer is to be assertive and tell them what you have been doing and why it is brilliant.

Be expressive

The water cooler/ coffee queue conversations are far more critical to company creativity and harmony than we give credit for. Some notable initiatives are designed in the interplay of silliness between colleagues on a break. Remember, few great ideas emerge out of formal meetings.

To make the most of these moments of free expression, jump on a call with a colleague and share a coffee over Zoom. Don’t let these informal moments slip because they are often at the heart of success for any company.

What qualities will you dial up today?

Character Qualities can help us perform better, whatever the task or context. When working from home, we need to be conscious of this need to be disciplined, detached, collaborative, assertive, and expressive. Equally, if we decide to go into the office tomorrow – 49 others might apply to this context.

If you want to learn more about Character Qualities, call us and ask about the Entelechy experience.

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