Employees can end up working remotely for a number of reasons. Whether it’s a temporary solution to part-time maternity leave or necessity while the office is refurbished; there might come a time where you need to make the transition back into office life. Once you’ve immersed yourself into the home office way of working, it can be difficult to make the switch back. See below a guide on how to transition from a home office:
Getting Into New Routines
Your home routine may be a little different to what would be expected of you when you come back into work. For starters, there’s the dress code. At home, you can easily get away with slipping from your bed to your home office in your pyjamas. In a working environment, you need to ensure you’re adhering to the dress code in place, even if it is a casual wear. Have a separate work wardrobe filled with smarter pieces to keep your home life and work life apart.
In addition, your commute time may just surprise you. If you’ve never commuted to work before, or if it’s been a while since you have, the commuter time could be a lot longer than you anticipate. You’ll likely need to get up much earlier to make sure you get into work on time, so factor in how long your new routine will take you before your first day back.
At the beginning, you may feel exhausted after your first full working week – but it will get easier. Once your body clock gets used to your new routine, you will start to feel more refreshed when getting up in the morning.
Get Involved Socially
You may be out of touch with who’s new and who’s left, so make a point of going out socially with the team to get you back in the loop. It may be that your office has been moved to a new premises in the time you’ve been away, so you’ll need to also get used to the commercial property management as well as the new buildings and people.
The adjustment from home to the office may have left you feeling anti-social because you’re used to working solo. However, having a good relationship with your team is important – and will benefit you more in the workplace.
Limit Potential Distractions
After working at home for so long, you won’t be savvy to all the distractions that can take place in the office. Between phone calls, mouse clicks and chatty colleagues; it might be difficult to adjust your way of working. One way to combat this is to buy some noise cancelling headphones if your office permits it – just to ease you more into the swing of things.
Collaborate With Your Team
It can be frustrating jumping into collaborative work when you’ve spent so long working by yourself with very little teamwork. To start, you should make a conscious effort to connect with and learn about other members in your team. What is there style of working? Do they work best alone? Are they a leader or a follower? Share your opinions and ideas and start to become more active in meetings. You could also consult with your team leader about the office environment, including what is generally said and done, such as the unwritten rules of the office culture.
The Psychological Shift
In some ways, you could see the transition back into work as a psychological shift. It could be that you’ve become so engrossed in your way of working in a bubble that it’s more of a culture shock stepping back into the office environment than you imagined. To help you with the move, you should focus on opportunities on the horizon, and take into account the support you will receive compared to working remotely.
Final Thoughts
One of the biggest things you need to consider is the cost and overall stress of moving from your home office and into a more commercial space. In all likelihood, you will need a commercial property team in your corner to guide you through the process. Especially if you are attempting to buy the space rather than just rent it.
And remember, losing the comfort of your home office may be a struggle at first. But, once you are out in your own office, with space and people bustling about, you will easily get back into the swing of the 9 to 5 life again. It just takes a little bit of a settling in period!
