There was once a time, not too long ago, when being able to work from home just seemed like a nice, optional extra included in your package of workplace benefits. Now, though, it often looks essential – especially in areas where the second wave of COVID-19 cases has intensified.
Fortunately for marketers, a vast range of their work can certainly be undertaken remotely. If you work in marketing, here’s how you can continue smashing your targets from home.
Make sure you have the hardware for the job
According to data from the research firm Canalys, PC shipments globally saw year-on-year growth of 12.7% in the third quarter of 2020 – the market’s strongest growth in a decade. This has occurred as more firms have realised that remote working will remain a major thing for the foreseeable future.
Still, you shouldn’t just use any gear. Make sure your chosen keyboard and mouse are ergonomically designed and your screen is big enough for you to easily see it at eye level as you sit down.
Install the right software tools
This is another situation where the obvious tools aren’t necessarily the most useful ones. When it comes to project management, for example, Jira works great for developers but horribly for marketers. Trello, on the other hand, can accommodate marketers’ working practices much better.
When your marketing team finds the most fitting communication tool, make sure every member settles on it, as you want collaborative efforts to flow just as easily as they do in the usual office.
Don’t just contact co-workers when you “need” to
When working at home, you could be tempted to only interact with another member of your team – and, even then, simply message them rather than, say, converse with them over video chat – when you need something or the time has come for you to submit your latest assignment.
However, marketing thrives on constant, frictionless collaboration, like brainstorming new ideas and bouncing them off other people – hence why your team could benefit from, say, regular Slack chats.
Be careful how you organise your work hours
One conundrum that arises when working from home is whether you should simply stick to your usual 9-5 hours or inject more flexibility into your schedule, since you no longer have to worry about your office physically closing shortly after the 5pm cut-off point.
Your boss might insist on you organising your schedule strictly one way or another – but, whatever you do, a time-tracking app could help you to monitor how many productivity hours you genuinely clock up.
Minimise security risks particular to working from home
When a manager isn’t literally looking over your shoulder from time to time, you could understandably sometimes compromise your work activities’ security without realising it.
Avoid sending sensitive data over email or text, as neither could be sufficiently secure to protect that data from prying eyes, and don’t store it on any of your personal devices. Meanwhile, we could exhaustively rebuild your company’s website to ensure that stringent security is built deeply into it.
