Are you new to working from home? In these uncertain times, millions of workers are now needing to adapt to different ways of working which might not always come naturally.  

Many professionals are worried about the changes in their day-to-day professional lives that continuous working from home will entail. Do you wonder how you will be able to get answers to quick questions you might have, how you can still get your voice heard in important meetings and make your mark collaborating with your team?  

Fear not. Using the right technology will equip you with some neat tricks and hacks that will enable to you to work from home and still thrive in your role. Using tech for business is especially important to master as the current crisis may act as a ‘tipping point’ in the economy to favour working from home. Here’s how we suggest you can use tech for business to your greatest advantage. 

1. Get the most from Microsoft Teams.  

Microsoft Teams is a must-have for efficient online collaboration. In fact, it’s a powerful tool to master when both working from home and at the office.  

Use it for quick check-ins using Chat, calling contacts individually or as a group and sharing files at the click of a button. Using mentions is a particularly good trick to highlight important tasks to your team personally. Write ‘@’ before their name and this will send them a push notification as well as come up in their activity feed.  

Another useful trick is to filter your feed by a certain keyword. For example, if you’re collaborating on a specific module within SAP, such as ABAP, type in ‘ABAP’ into the search bar and this will show you all the posts related to this module. 

2. Use home tech to your advantage.

Work from home usually means working on a laptop. Although a laptop often conveniently packs everything you might need to do your role, using a small screen can take its toll especially when working on architecture plans for large scale SAP projects with many intricate details.  

The answer to this might be in your living room. You can turn your TV screen into a second monitor, perfect for analysing or referring to large images. All you need to do is order an HDMI cable and you’re all set to work more efficiently. 

Are you distracted by unnecessary noise such as construction work outside? You can simply shut it out by using noise cancelling headphones. Studies show that playing soft background music can help increase productivity and concentration as well as create a positive environment for you to work in.  

3. Jump into conference calls on Zoom. 

Want to keep making your mark in team meetings? Utilise Zoom to continue doing so. With Zoom, even meetings and conferences turn into digital experiences unbound by location or the number of people joining. Use video conferencing to make the collaborative process feel genuine and engaging.  

Video conferencing can easily be even more efficient than meeting in person. Remember, everyone participating is on a laptop which makes sharing files quick and easy. If you’re presenting the next stage in your SAP implementation process, you can quickly share your screen to effectively communicate your ideas.  

4. Store files on the cloud only.  

The cloud is quickly becoming the norm for storing files in most businesses nowadays. Ensure you make using the cloud as quick and convenient for yourself as possible. 

If your organisation is using Microsoft SharePoint or any other online document management platform, ensure you link it to your desktop so you can conveniently share and access your files on your computer without needing to go onto a browser.   

If you’re working on large files, they might take time to sync to the cloud. Make sure there are no problems with your WiFi connection and even if it’s running well, double check your files have finished syncing before you shut down for the day. Otherwise, your team might not be able to access your work.  

5. Invest in comfort.  

One of the best investments you can make when working from home is in your own comfort. Good picks would be an inexpensive office chair to help your back and a mousepad that supports your wrist. Your monitor should be at eye-level to maintain correct posture so getting a booster might be worth the money. 

It’s crucial to keep active when working from home. If you feel you’re sitting down too much, get creative and stack up some books on a shelf and place your laptop on top so you can stand and get some exercise while working. Most importantly, maintain the right balance between work and physical activity so you don’t burn out.  

Visit RED’s blog for more detailed career advice and SAP industry insight.