How to be productive at home despite distractions

https://www.docusign.de/blog/produktiv-im-homeoffice-mit-kind-hund-und-kegel?&utm\_medium=social&utm\_source=linkedin&sf136788031=1 

“This year we have especially changed our perspective on employees. At that time it was specialists in marketing, sales, engineering, etc. who we hired, today, viewed more holistically, it is parents, children, spouses and partners. "Joan Burke, Docusign Chief People Officer Our HR expert, Joan Burke, sums it up: In the" New Normal "we are much more than just employees, managers or HR experts. Work and private life are becoming increasingly blurred in the home office .  

Be it the storming ringing of the postman in front of the door, the cheeky Chihuahua stealing the show during the presentation of the important quarterly figures or the unexpected polonaise of the children into the study during an important zoom session- It is precisely these moments that sooner or later cheer up everyday work, are anything but “unprofessional” and make us more human. Getting used to the home office situation and working productively within your own four walls is one thing. To share space and time with your partner or roommate every day is a different one. And what to do with all of the children's energies that rightly need a valve? Parents are asked to provide adequate attention and help with schoolwork and appropriate meals. The recently adopted decision that schools will be closed in January has therefore presented working parents in particular with old and new challenges. 

Is a productive home office with simultaneous childcare and, in a broader sense, care and cooperation of any kind even possible? The answer is very clear: yes! Organizations should support employees in this mission like never before. We have therefore put together these three tips for you on how you can help your employees master these challenges.

1. Flexible working hours

Trust your employees and do without micromanaging. It is extremely difficult for all remote workers and especially for parents to start at set times and take breaks in certain slots. If the baby is hungry, it needs the milk immediately and if the 9-year-old hurt himself while playing football, he must be treated by his mother immediately - it doesn't matter when the lunch break was agreed, because the priorities have to be set. A study by working familiesshowed that 65% of the parents surveyed stated that their future work arrangements should be extremely or very flexible. Flexibility is essential these days, with 61% of parents surveyed saying that family life has become more or much more stressful during the lockdown. So if you want to make your employees' daily work more pleasant, allow flexible working hours. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the work is done in the morning, at noon or in the evening (after the kids are in bed) - the main thing is that it gets done. 

1. tolerance 

Create a corporate culture in which your employees are seen not just as workers, but as parents, daughters / sons and (spouses) partners. A corporate culture based on tolerance, support and understanding. Children who storm the “meeting room” during important zoom calls and sit on the manager's lap should be taken with humor and not labeled as unprofessional. We are all in the same boat and have to juggle our everyday life and work every day - sometimes there can be small faux pas. Just laugh about it together and continue working.

Tip: Organize virtual happy hours with your team in which children are welcome and the human side is emphasized by your colleagues. How about a costume contest at Carnival or a baking round during Christmas?

1. Technologies

Offer your employees the best technology so that their work at home can be as pleasant and efficient as possible. According to Gartner , hyper-automation will play a major role for many companies this year, because today's digital world requires efficiency and speed that can only be made possible by connected digitized processes. If you want your employees to be able to cope with the challenges of the home office and the lockdown, then the digitization of your company processes should not be long in coming! Find out more in our blog: Tech trends for the working world of tomorrow .

 Countless studies show that the right technologies boost productivity: 

• A study by Apperian showed that 23% of employees surveyed claim that mobile apps increase productivity

• Further studies show that 94% of companies that conduct video conferencing claim that productivity increases here too. Additional bonus : Travel time and costs are eliminated! Good for the environment and also the private life of some employees.

There's nothing worse than technology that doesn't work. A website that simply does not load or a system that is not working can drain your last nerves and when the children or roommates walk loudly through the apartment productivity is in the can! Give your employees a working day without technical surprises! Docusign can help. With these tools your employees can work faster, more mobile, cheaper and more environmentally friendly:  

• Docusign eSignature: Obtain signatures in just a few minutes with the world's leading No. 1 solution for electronic signatures - legally valid and independent of time and location

• Docusign Click : Capture standard terms and conditions with one click 

• Docusign SMS Notifications : Extend emails with real-time SMS notifications sent directly to a signer's mobile device.  

Find out how the Docusign Agreement Cloud can help your business too. Talk to one of our experts today.