Tier 4 working from home tips: USP Maritime

The new year has seen those of us in tier 4 locations in the UK most likely working from home.

Although a number of the USP Maritime team are still on site due to the lack of Dry Dock facilities at their own homes, I personally find myself doing video calls at a hastily constructed desk, in a soon to be decorated room of our new house, and have young children trying to adapt to being once again in lockdown in the background. The USP Maritime team and our clients have also adapted significantly the ways we operate, communicate and collaborate to support the various projects we are engaged upon as a company.

However, business only functions if the personal is in harmony and here are a few tips my team, clients and suppliers have shared with me over the last twelve months to ensure harmony between the two:

• Try and avoid getting up and working straight away – an easy habit to fall into when working from home.
• Dress for work, and then change for home life. A former boss of mine recommended this. He changes into his work clothes at home whilst working then puts his ‘leisure’ clothes on when he’s finished.
• Get out and walk. I find phone calls more productive when I’m walking, much to the frustration of my wife.
• Put planned short breaks in the diary and make them real breaks. Leave your phone/laptop at your workstation and step away for a short refresher.
• Plan your day on outputs rather than hours. Prioritising and completing tasks is much more rewarding and beneficial.
• If you are struggling with the silence and loneliness at home, try the radio (or a podcast) on in the background. I like listening to podcasts/recordings of Melvyn Bragg’s BBC Radio 4 documentary series In Our Time.
• Try to vary where you work in the home, and your view in particular to help stave off boredom. (Personally, I have not been able to implement this one, due to my no feral children).
• Create a fixed end to the working day and try and include a faux commute. One of our design engineers walks their dog at 17:00 at the end of the workday, mimicking a commute which allows them to transition back into spouse / parent when they get back through the door.
• Being available 24 hours 7 days, a week is unproductive, and will impact your well-being and performance. In our industry there are certainly abnormal hours but these need to be mitigated with proper down time.

USP Maritime provides commercially driven solutions throughout an asset’s life cycle, from concept design through to new build, ship repair and decommissioning, for a broad range of marine assets, including Defence, Super Yacht, Offshore and Commercial vessels, equipment and structures.

As Commercial Director, my focus is on supporting my teams to deliver marine engineering projects for our clients. USP works with Shipyards, Design Consultancies, Owners, Operators and Engineering Companies. USP Maritime enables companies and projects to reach and exceed their key deliverables through communication, collaboration and consultation.

USP is able to provide design, production and fabrication support either as a complete outsourced turn key package or through the provision of SQEP professionals to boost our clients workforce. USP also provides a number of clients with technical and commercial consultancy support on a regular basis.

For further information on how I can help with your business or project please contact me on +44(0)7286 199444 or james@uspmaritime.org