7 Answers To The Most Frequently Asked Questions About Home Office

The Covid-19 pandemic is expected to fundamentally change the way many organizations operate for the foreseeable future. As governments and businesses around the world tell those with symptoms to self-quarantine and everyone else to practice social distancing, remote work is our new reality.

In this post, I'll respond to some of the most common questions or comments I've received about working from home. I've also added some quotes from my colleague Angie, our Marketing Admin, about her experience as a relatively new employee.

Let’s know about the most frequently asked questions about home office

How do you feel about going to work at The Home Office each day?

Loved most of my time there. Working from home is becoming more popular and can benefit both the employer and the employee. Work from home is a flexible working arrangement that allows you to work outside of the traditional office setting. It is also referred to as remote work or working from home. It is no longer necessary to be physically present in the office to be productive, thanks to new technologies. Working remotely can even boost productivity and employee morale.

What is an affordable desk for home office working?

The ability to work from home is a real privilege. However, while precariously balancing a laptop on the arm of your sofa or sitting at the kitchen table is fine for a day or two, if you find yourself working from home more regularly, then you need a desk. There are two reasons to get yourself set up with a desk at home. The first is that they’re key to helping you maintain the correct posture and comfortable ergonomic position in relation to your device, be it laptop or desktop PC. This is especially true if you also invest in an office chair. The second reason is that a desk creates a dedicated space to work in a contained area that you know is for work, and work only. This is recognized as a key tool when maintaining a healthy work-life mentality in the home.

Will it be expensive to make my office COVID-secure?

Employers can spend as little as they want or as much as they want, depending on their specific needs and budget. Many COVID-conscious measures, such as wayfinding, desk-booking apps, and behavioral changes, can be implemented at a low business cost. A more comprehensive redesign of your space, on the other hand, demonstrates a level of investment in your employees' safety and daily working experience, which boosts productivity and encourages engagement that may have dwindled during remote working.

Is home office is a freelance, contract, or full-time position?

This question is more on the technical, bureaucratic side but it’s important to distinguish this early on. It might have been in the job announcement but in case it wasn’t, make sure to bring it up. Let’s see what the differences between these are:

• You’re in charge of your own hours and taxes. Anybody you work with is a client and you’re expected to bill them according to your own payment schedule. 
• You’ll, naturally, have a bit more leeway in what you can and cannot do. You’re freely allowed to pursue other opportunities but you won’t receive any benefits or perks from the company you work for.
• The line between contractors and freelancers is often a bit blurred and from the outside, it may not look that different. Contractors tend to work on fixed projects for a certain period of time and are usually paid by the hour.
• Once the contract is up, the company may hire them again or move on. Like freelance, workers are allowed to work for more than one place at a time.

How do you organize and maintain a schedule?

Employers want to know if you can work responsibly with limited supervision. Try to think of a time that you had to work independently and how you handled it. Be sure to mention how you kept yourself organized and on schedule. It also may be a good time to think of a moment when you were up against a tight deadline and had to frantically organize something.

How do you prioritize your work?

Another question along the organizational lines, but employers want to know that you can handle multiple tasks, again, without much supervision. Talk about moments in your past life when you had a lot of work on your plate and were able to find a way out of the mess.

Are you allowed to do tasks not related to work during the day?

Generally speaking, yes. It may seem like you're stealing time from the company by doing your laundry or dishes between projects, but that can actually be productive time as well. I sometimes say that I do my best work when I'm not working ;-). What I mean by that is that those breaks away from work give your brain a chance to synthesize ideas and information that you were processing while typing or reading at your computer.

If you’re looking for a remote position, you have to be ready to nail all of those questions that come up during a remote job interview. Even though you may not have experience working remotely, you can think about other times where you’ve had to do similar work or think about how you’ll be the ideal worker.