• Swindon & Wiltshire Experts
• Wednesday February 17 2021

Expert opinion: Facing up to the mental health impact of working from home

Claire Brewerton of the Virtual Business Centre takes a sometimes light-hearted look at looking after the mental health of you and your team while working from home.

The biggest learning for me over the last year has been the mental health impacts of not being with my team physically – and for them too. This coupled with working while your family situation at home may have changed too. Some of your team may live alone, some may be home-schooling, some may not be able to take very young children to their childcare provider at very short notice.”

Here are a few things we have done and learned as a team to help us all get through this together – and still serve our clients in a professional, efficient and secure manner. I hope some will make you chuckle:

1. Everyone feels better and brighter if they are dressed for work – even if working from home. Encourage this.
2. We have all gone from “we are fine and will get through this” to “doing the best we can” – do remember that and note anyone really struggling.
3. We use technology like Microsoft Teams to keep in touch even if it’s just to say hello and send a silly cat picture. It’s okay to be silly.
4. We all seem to enjoy pictures of cats.
5. Working from home is HARD, particularly if you have never done it before.
6. The middle aisle of Aldi is the highlight of the week!
7. We have found it has been nonstop operationally and, to be honest, that’s both wonderful and draining as it’s hard work to enable staff to work successfully from home.
8. When you are working from home no one makes you a cup of coffee or brings in homemade cake to share. It’s DIY all the way.
9. Everyone wants to get back into the office for a bit of normality.
10. We are all grateful for the technology – without it we would not have a business.

Claire Brewerton runs the Virtual Business Centre, which provides a professional remote telephone answering and reception service to forward-thinking companies. Claire has a staff of 25 who have worked from home remotely often during the last year – as well as operating a rota system for staff working from home when not in lockdown