Working remotely comes with many benefits, such as being closer to your family and creating a better work-life balance. When you’re managing a distributed team, you want to ensure they have all they need to do their job successfully.
There are a few work-from-home essentials your employees may or may not be aware of. For example, some of your team members may think that their home internet is strong enough to handle their workload, but that is not true.
Your team should have the highest speed internet possible to be as efficient as they need to be. To learn more about the best tools for distributed teams, continue reading below!
1. Heavy Duty Power Strip
You’d be surprised how quickly your work-from-home setup changes and grows as you continue to work remotely. As you continue to work, you may need to add another monitor, printer, or a charger of some sort.
Those additional work from home essentials needs something to plug into so they can work. Unfortunately, your two-socket outlet in the wall is not going to cut it. Purchasing a heavy-duty power strip will also protect you from a power surge.
2. High-Speed Internet
Most people assume that their current home internet is enough to power through their work days, but that is far from the truth. When you’re in the office, you’re connected to a large network that has the capabilities to handle the speed needed to do your job properly. Your internet is only good enough to handle your small devices and streaming services when you’re at home.
You have to have the right bandwidth to handle video conference calls and large files when you’re working. In order to send large files of data efficiently, you must have the right internet speed.
The last thing you want is your important work call to drop or your large file not to download as it should. It is worth it to reach out to your internet provider to see if they have any higher-speed internet options. Having the right high-speed internet is critical if you want to be as efficient as possible.
3. Adjustable Desk
At the centre of most efficient work from home, setups are desks. It may be tempting to purchase a standard desk from your local office supply store, but that won’t benefit you much. Sitting behind an average desk for too long without taking a moment to stand can significantly affect your health.
An adjustable desk allows you to sit or stand when working. When you stand, you lower your risk of heart disease and significantly reduce back pain caused by sitting for long periods.
4. Ergonomic Chair
Your chair is just as important as your desk, and most chairs don’t provide you the support you need to be as comfortable as you need to be during your long work hours. Ergonomic chairs are specifically designed to keep you comfortable, and in the proper sitting position so you don’t hurt your back.
These chairs do look a bit different than your standard office chair, and this is because ergonomic chairs specifically target areas of weakness and pain. Everyone has their own points of weakness, so make sure you buy the correct ergonomic chair.
For example, if you already suffer back pain, you will want to ensure the chair has enough lumbar support. Those types of chairs have a specific shape that supports the natural curvature of your lower back.
5. Laptop Stand
If you work remote with a laptop, you may want to purchase a laptop stand in addition to a separate set of a keyboard. Working while hunched over your laptop for a long time can cause posture problems that will leave you with intense shoulder and neck pain. Laptop stands also allow your computer to have an adequate amount of airflow.
6. Paper Shredder
When working in the office, you usually have bins designated to shred sensitive information. Working remotely takes away those bins, but you must still protect the company’s and your client’s personally identifiable information.
Simply throwing away paper with important information is very dangerous. That vital information can get into the hands of the wrong people, which can put your job at risk. To avoid that, you will want to get a paper shredder that can destroy all of that important information beyond the point of repair.
7. Additional Monitor
If you spend a good part of your work day looking at a computer screen, you may want to think about purchasing an additional monitor. Having an additional monitor can increase your productivity and save you time during your work day.
When you work with multiple screens and programs, it can easily become confusing and overwhelming to switch between each of them while working. Having an additional screen next to your laptop allows you to better organize your programs and tabs easily.
Comfortably Work Remote
Working remotely comes with many perks and benefits, such as being able to comfortably do your job while at home with your family. When managing a distributed team, you want to ensure they have all they need to do their job successfully.
This includes having the right office equipment in addition to high-speed internet. The last thing your team needs is not to be able to connect to the internet to do their job efficiently. If you want more information on engaging and managing your distributed team properly, contact us now! Our website has tons of relatable information.