There’s no getting away from the fact that working from home in the restaurant industry takes some getting used to.

If you’ve rarely or never done it before, remote work can feel unproductive, lonely and stressful.

The good news? You can work from home effectively in the hospitality industry. Like you, we’ve been doing it for several weeks now, and we’d like to share what we’ve learned.

People struggle with video conferencing – but that’s fine

From people irreversibly changing themselves into potatoes during Microsoft Team meetings to kids randomly making appearances in the background, video conferencing is somewhat unpredictable.

But, you know what? That’s absolutely fine. Video conferencing is always going to be unpredictable – and that’s half the fun of it.

Unstable connections, attendees with poor audio or video and interruptions from pets are just some of the elements that make this a unique, fun way to communicate with your colleagues.

Stay organised with the right tools

There are some brilliant, free tools for staying organised while working from home – particularly when you’re part of a wider team.

Apps like Asana and Trello enable teams to organise and collaborate on projects, no matter where they are, whether it’s a new menu design or big refurbishment.

Similarly, a platform like Google Calendar will enable you to plan your meetings and tasks day-by-day in order to successfully master the time you have available.

Short, regular meetings work best

Restaurant teams live or die by their meetings, but when you’re all in separate locations, these get togethers change considerably.

Video conferencing challenges to one side (see above), you may find that short, regular meetings work best. In fact, we’d recommend them.

This ensures you all work towards swift resolutions and plans but has the added benefit of keeping up human interaction – a great way to alleviate feelings of isolation or loneliness.

Who knows – you may even find that this new style of meeting makes its way into the restaurant environment, too.

Exercise becomes even more important

Whether you’re an avid gym goer or undertake very little exercise, as soon as you start working from home, you’ll realise that getting out and remaining active is vitally important.

Long stretches at your home desk can be gruelling, unless you get some exercise in.

It might just be a walk around the block with your dog or a 5K run around the park, but whatever it is, make it a regular event. It’ll refresh your body and your mind.

You need to find a way to disconnect

Switching off while working from home is pretty difficult, thanks to the ever-present nature of the internet and instant messaging services.

However, disconnecting is a vital part of working from home. Even if you have to lock your smartphone, laptop and tablet in another room during the evening, the pay-off is worth it.

Sharing gets you all through

The internet is full of great advice and fun stuff that keeps us all educated and smiling.

When working from home, make sure you share content that makes you smile, laugh or which provides inspiration. It’ll keep your team going as much as it does you, and replaces the in-person ‘water cooler chat’ perfectly.

Final thought

Working at home might only be a temporary thing for you, or it might be a longer term strategy that’ll be undertaken more regularly. Whatever the reason, we hope our learnings above will help you.

Working from home should be fun, productive and enable you to do some of your best work, whatever that might be. Enjoy it; once you get over the initial challenges that come with working from home, it’ll become your favourite second office.

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H&L POS – working with you to help you grow your business
H&L POS has been delivering POS solutions with extensive back of house and staff management systems to the hospitality industry for more than 30 years. As hospitality people at heart, H&L understand the critical requirements for each food and beverage operation. We have staff in every state of Australia providing direction and advice as you grow and as technology changes.
Call us at 1800 778 340, email [email protected] or fill in the form below to discuss your venue’s needs.