Incorporating Your Family Into Your Work Day
While many Americans are stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you have an opportunity to strengthen the bonds between the members of your household.
While the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation® has suspended National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day until some time in late 2020 due to the virus, you can still show your children what you do if you’re working remotely. Or, you can help encourage your employees to participate and keep the day fun and educational.
Make sure you stay organized and productive, though. We have a few tips for working from home to ensure you keep up with your job.
Benefits of Working From Home
Working from home offers a unique chance to show your family what you do without much work. You still need to ensure your day is productive, but it’s a good way to connect with your children.
Reconnecting with Family & Pets
Staying at home boosts morale. You or your employees don’t need to bother with the commute or being away from the house all day.
This extra time at home gives people a chance to spend more time with their kids, spouses, and pets. For the time being, you no longer have a commute. When you’re done for the day, you’re done. You now have the opportunity to play or talk with your children, take your dog for more walks, or reconnect with your spouse or significant other.
It can be hard to find the right balance of work and home life. Now that many of us are home stuck, we can improve our relationships or better catch up with each other.
All of this contributes to happier employees and a more positive outlook on their work. Happy employees work harder and are more motivated while performing their duties. So, this means your business benefits from this as well.
Introducing Families
Working remotely also means you have an easier time introducing your family to your co-workers. No need to wait for a company event or schedule a lunch or dinner, you can do it over a video chat.
You might have mentioned your family to your co-workers and vice versa. This creates a closer connection between your work and family and helps in socializing your children.
Communication Skills for Your Kids
If you don’t work with ultra-sensitive topics, you can have your kids join you on conference calls.
It’s important for your children to develop competent communication skills. Including them on your video conference calls gives them an insight into how adults communicate.
This is an important part of growth for your child. Improving their communication skills builds confidence and competence. It means they’ll be better equipped to convey their thoughts and feelings as they mature.
Additionally, they’ll learn cooperation skills. As you work with your co-workers, you will all demonstrate how to effectively
Make sure you let your co-workers know. You don’t want to have your kid present if you’ll be discussing classified or private information. Not only could this be illegal but you need to be careful on not spreading information your company doesn’t want released. Also, your co-workers might not appreciate having a child present without prior knowledge.
Showing Off Your Job
With Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Days postponed, you have a unique opportunity to show your child what you do at work without much organizing.
While you should still work with your supervisor, you won’t have to work out the logistics of bringing your kid with you to your office. You won’t need to worry about safety, organizing activities, or maintaining constant supervision. You just need to ensure you’re clear to show your child the ins-and-outs of your job.
Show them your daily duties. At least, what you can do remotely. If you have clearance, include them in your conference calls and show them what you do to help your co-workers. Including your child in your day helps them understand and grow into more competent adults.
You can make a day of it too!
Let your kid help you “around the office” by organizing papers, having lunch together, and talking about work. Get matching name tags so they feel like they’re really “on-the-job.”
Preparing for the Future
With the immediate future uncertain, it can be hard to prepare for the actual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. But, you and your work may be able to sort something out once things return to normal.
Many schools may remain closed for the rest of the year. This makes coordination easier should your work place decide to host an event. It may not need to be a full day. You could schedule out a lunch tour of your work to get the kids out of the house and make some effort towards continuing their education.
While the world had to change so much, we need to remember how important the development of our children is. Many American workers can take this opportunity to reconnect with pets and loved ones. And, your work force may be happier while they work since they’ll get to spend more time with their family. Take Your Kid to Work Day may have been postponed, but you can still help them to grow while your work from home. You can foster a growth in communication and interpersonal skills.
You need to watch after visitors and ensure they don’t enter off-limit areas. Have a member of your administration, or other upper level staff member, stay with guests. This is an easy method of keeping private areas secure.
You should ensure your training programs address every aspect of an employee’s duties. This doesn’t mean they need to know how to do everything. If they handle customer records, they need to understand how to maintain discretion. If they deal with finances, they need to know when and how to file their documents.
Remedy this by acknowledging recurring complaints and other reasons for the lack of motivation.
Digital files are a bit trickier with the constant improvement of technology.
Eliminate Visual Obstacles: It might sound abstract to try to identify what constitutes a desk obstacle, but this is part of the process. Begin by throwing out trash: napkins, old paperwork, and sticky notes you no longer need. Then find clutter, those items that are distracting and taking up valuable desk real estate. Keeping office supplies in a box in a drawer underneath your desk is often a much more efficient use of space.
Retire 2019’s Tchotchkes: Last year’s mementos may still have a place in your heart, but that doesn’t mean these should still be a part of your workspace. It’s also easy to max out on the number of pop figures that “decorate” your space. The new year is a good time to phase out desk accessories that have gathered dust. Do a little purging and throw some away. Take treasured items home to bring out another season, when they are ready for their revival.
Compulsory Calendar Purchase: Schedule your life effectively with a new calendar. Whether you’re into wall calendars, bullet journals, or weekly calendar tear off pads, make sure you have a current calendar to welcome the new year. Get inspired every new month as you see images of your favorite things, from puppies and miniature pink pigs, to nature scenes, beach escapes and motivational quotes.
Give Your Coffee a New Home: You know that lipstick stained mug that you got two birthdays ago? It’s time to take that home (or throw it out). Take your morning ritual of fresh hot coffee or tea to new heights by bringing in a different daily use mug. Feeling the texture of a different cup handle in your hand, you will start feel like a new 2020 you.
Swip-Swap Your Pictures: Do you have old photos on your desk? Once the swip-swap is done, make your space not look so dated and representative of memories that have gone stale. While that picture of your dog is cute, your 8-year old canine is no longer a pup. That vacation to New York was 2 years ago. You’ve had another kid since that family picture was taken. Do you remember the names of those old golfing buddies? Take the time to print updated photos that represent where you are now in your life. For the classic photo that you still love, you can refresh the look by swapping out that old frame for a new one.
