Business News

Wed Mar 18

Making space to work from home

Written by WaltersPR

The idea of working from home has taken on a new meaning for many at present and SheShedz has experienced a surge in demand for its sheds and cabins as a result.

“We have experienced a 57 percent increase in enquiries over the past month,” says Gemma Brewerton, co-owner of SheShedz. “Customers are saying that they are looking at options with a more long-term view of working from home in the coming months. They are looking for something that they can use for an office base, with the option of changing it to a teenage space if they don’t need it for an office in the future.

“In our current situation, a lot of people will be setting up temporary work stations or working from the kitchen or dining table. We are predicting that they will soon get very tired of clearing away their work or getting it messed up by other members of the household. The idea of having a separate place to go where they can concentrate is very appealing.”

Gemma says that people are looking for something that’s quick to build, isn’t a huge outlay of funds, and doesn’t require a council permit in most states*. With SheShedz they see multiple uses the sheds can transition into at a later date if the need to work from home changes.

SheShedz make it easy to buy and set up your own shed. Sheds come with a video, instruction booklet and customer support via phone or email.

At a standard, competitive price of $6200, SheShedz compare favourably with other similar products.

Maintenance and after-sales support is easier with SheShedz as they are able to provide spare parts and advice if needed.

SheShedz suit a very wide range of uses from a home office to a storage space to a space of your own to enjoy being creative. The specialised wooden cabins are made to a high quality and to withstand Australian conditions, and can easily be lined for sleep outs, cabins or to create an extra room at the holiday home.

Gemma says that the SheShedz team know that the demands of working from home can be challenging, especially when you’re also combining that with a busy family life. “Creating space at home so everyone can work and enjoy some time on their own is important and our sheds and cabins work really well for that,” says Gemma.

For more information about SheShedz go to www.sheshedz.com.au

Wed Mar 18

How to effectively work from home

Written by Fifty Acres

Here are our top 5 tips for working remotely:

Use a communications tool

This one’s important to ensure lines of communication stay open and the team feels connected. It saves having to pick up the phone for things that can be resolved relatively quickly and ensures your email doesn’t get overloaded too. Our favourites for team chats are Skype, Skype for Business, Slack and the chat function within Basecamp.

Have video virtual meetings

At Fifty Acres, we all like to coordinate our cup of tea (or hot beverage of choice) and gather for our team meetings like we would if we were in an office. We use Skype video group chat and Zoom for our meetings. There’s also GoToMeeting. We love the screenshare options on these platforms so we can all make sure we’re seeing the same slideshow or document that we’re working on.

Set some boundaries
The thing is, when you’re working from home there can be an elusive line that is very easy to cross, even when you don’t mean to or want to. Work at home can morph into longer hours and forgetting to take breaks when you’re used to everyone in the office going for lunch at a certain time. Set definite break times and when it’s time to stop work, try to close your laptop and go do something for you!
Use an effective project management system

We use Basecamp at Fifty Acres which allows us to minimise email traffic but also keep across all our client projects, timelines, budget, hours tracking and ensure documents are easily found and saved in the one place. Other platforms we’ve heard good things about include Trello, Monday and Asana. Check out how people are using Milanote here.

Get out of your PJs

As tempting as it may be, working in your PJs can have a serious effect on your mindset. Getting dressed each day as if you’re going into the office (perhaps minus the heels – unless you really want to) will help you get into a work frame of mind and you’ll find yourself more productive and in less of a slump on the couch mid-morning.

fiftyacres.com.au