Working from home? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has some tips for you

While offices have started resuming amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, people are still likely to continue work from home structure. With increased virtual meetings and conferences, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared his views at the recent WSJ CEO Council on how one should work from home.

According to Nadella, the most important thing while working from home is bringing discipline and time management everyday. He said if a person only attends meetings all day, it is likely to drain the person out. “You need to plan more and better when working from home,” said Nadella while addressing the online council.

Nadella pointed out that people who do not have a definitive work timing, will first have to come up with a timing and stick to it everyday. Under the planned timeline, he asked workers to make sure to focus on minor details including lunch/dinner timings. He also mentioned that people should make sure that they do not schedule a meeting during their time for dinner. If strict timelines are ensured, there would be less burn out.

According to Nadella, video conferencing is crucial in order to maintain social connections. However, they should be kept short and planned before-hand. He said that there is no point having a virtual meeting and then deciding what it is about. They should be planned prior with a set agenda, so everyone is aware what to discuss. Further, he asserted that sticking to the timeline for meeting can be useful.

Apart from this, Nadella stressed that back-to-back meetings are not productive in the long run. Meetings will have to be fixed so that there is enough time for a person to relax in between before transitioning to another.

With notifications turned on, there can be a lot of distractions. Therefore, Nadella urged people to spend less time with their mobile phones and avoid fatigue that can be caused by it.