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Four Skills To Master While Working From Home

Four Skills To Master While Working From Home

As most of us have already been working from home since the start of the pandemic, there surely must be a number of skills that we have mastered. These are skills are we might not have use for in an office set-up, where any concern can be remedied with just one call to IT. Now, even if we are supposed to be more comfortable as we are working from home, we will have to be more adept in troubleshooting and making sure things work without drastically affecting our productivity.

You have to realize that working from home may have its perks, but one of the responsibilities you need to shoulder is knowing how to deal with matters that will affect your productivity. In case you are still a bit lost on how to deal with the most common concerns when working from home, here are some reminders.

What to do when your second monitor is acting up
Second monitors are very important in increasing your productivity. If your laptop allows for a second monitor to be attached to it, then grab the opportunity to see more of your work and in turn, make you more productive. But then, what are you going to do when your laptop cannot detect your second monitor? What are you going to do when you’ve already attached your second monitor but you can’t see anything?

Confirm that you’re using the right cable to connect your PC and the second monitor. If the cable is damaged or malfunctioning, Windows won’t detect the second monitor. If you change the cable and the new cable works with your display setup, it means the old one is faulty.
(Via: https://helpdeskgeek.com/help-desk/what-to-do-when-your-second-monitor-is-not-detected/)

Webcam problems?
Another important implement to your work from home set-up is a webcam. After all, since you’re not reporting to your office like everybody else, how can you hold team meetings than by using video conferencing programs that obviously need webcams? Whether you have a built-in webcam on your laptop or you have to attach an external webcam, you might encounter some difficulties from your laptop not detecting your external webcam to your webcam not providing clear video.

A non-working webcam may be due to malfunctioning hardware, missing or outdated drivers, issues with your privacy settings, or problems with your antivirus software.
(Via: https://www.lifewire.com/fix-it-when-webcam-is-not-working-4588517)

Fluctuating internet speeds?
Of course, perhaps the most common problem among work from home employees is the unreliability of their internet. Having reliable internet with stable speeds is particularly important at work because you wouldn’t want file transfers to be compromised or you getting kicked out of virtual meetings because your Wi-Fi connection is not reliable. If it is not an issue with your internet service provider, it may most likely be your modem placement. So, you have to make sure your modem is placed strategically without anything that will hamper the strength of your Wi-Fi signal.

You want to put as few physical barriers between your router and your devices as possible. Things like walls, floors/ceilings, doors, and large furniture can weaken your Wi-Fi signals, especially at longer distances. Signals, like those from microwaves, Bluetooth speakers, baby monitors, and cordless phones can also cause slow Wi-Fi signals.
(Via: https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/why-is-my-internet-so-slow)

Web conferencing tools mastery
As mentioned above, you may consider web conferencing as a necessary evil with working from home, as you will still need to attend team or client meetings. Whether it’s choppy audio, unclear video, or you being seen by your colleagues with whiskers because you accidentally licked on some filter, you need to know how to work around these glitches.

Video lag, glitchy audio and poor image resolution are all the result of a bad Wi-Fi connection. If you don’t have a strong internet connection, you might be forced to exit the conference call entirely.
(Via: https://www.business.com/articles/conference-call-issues-and-solutions/)

If you need help with your laptop, from missing files to crashed hard drives, we are here at your service.