Like many of us, our Sydney Sales assistant Montana Engmann has spent most of this year working from home. Read on to find out what she has learnt along the way and how her work habits have changed.
Working as a sales assistant for Network 10 Sydney has meant for most of this year I have been working from home. I only started this job late last year, so most of my employment at Network 10 has been in my now new and improved living room office, where my cat (Prince Harry) has taken on the role of office manager.
Being so fresh and new to the company, the thought of working from home was quite daunting. Five months down the track, how I think about work and my productivity has changed.
Dare to be different
One of my favourite phrases is “dare to be different” and that is exactly how I am looking at 2020. This year has forced me to think outside of the box with my agencies, teammates, manager, and myself. Embracing this change has meant that I must be creative and think of new ways to be productive in my new work environment.
This year I have built my confidence by adding a bit of my own personality when I communicate with my clients – daring to have engaging subject lines or being creative when being proactive with clients, placing a rose emoji here and there to stick to the theme of our Bachelor Nation shows, and making sure that when I’m speaking with my agencies I’m embracing Network 10’s tone as the fun, younger network.
Make the most of online resources
Having access to online training from media influencers like LinkedIn Learning, NGEN and the MFA’s television course – and hearing from senior executives about the state of the market – has taught me some great lessons.
I’ve learnt about the need to proactively treat every challenge as an opportunity and the need to be reactive in terms of responding to the new market trends driven by COVID-19. I’ve also learnt to remind myself each day what is important for today and the importance of having a positive (sponge like) mindset.
One of my favourite sessions was the media survival guide webinar by NGEN. One speaker who really stood out was 10’s Melbourne group sales manager Jin Subasinghe. She spoke about her time in the media industry and the different roles she has had. One her best slides used SpongeBob SquarePants as a metaphor for how we should act right now: “absorb everything and the more you do, the more you will learn”.
Another online resource that has been super useful is LinkedIn Learning, which offers a series of short courses. One that I did, “Having A Positive Mindset at Work”, explores why being positive at work not only helps your development and productivity but also has great health benefits. It has great tips about developing positive relationships with colleagues and managers, fostering positive habits, and creating a positive work environment.
Since COVID-19 arrived, LinkedIn Learning has also added courses such as “Time Management: Working from Home”. It offers advice such as remember to set goals that you want to achieve each day and tips on how to switch off and how to stop work and home from bleeding into each other.
Build your networks, virtually
Most of us thought that working from home would reduce our opportunity to talk to mentors and ask advice, but it has been quite the opposite. A lot of the people I encounter have adopted the “we’re all in this together” attitude and are going out of their way to help their colleagues. Every day, I see posts on LinkedIn and other business platforms offering advice. In the personal contact-less world we’re in now, communication has never played a more important role.
Moving forward, I am excited to see how my eventual return to an office will go and how I can take what I’ve learnt working from home to the office.