What is happening around us these days is truly unprecedented.
The Coronavirus emergency has undoubtedly required an unprecedented adaptation by all of us in every aspect of our daily life.

Closed schools, maximum hours of service for bars, stop at sports, these are just some of the measures taken by the regions to try to slow down the contagion.

The consequence is that, even in the workplace, the measures to be taken are serious and binding.

With the health emergency we therefore speak of Smart Working, agile work or flexible work.
The concept is simple: companies can work their collaborators remotely and the benefits are significant.

Giving people back the flexibility, the autonomy in the choice of timetables and the tools to use, has proved to be an extremely winning choice.

Several companies are already experimenting with this new way of collaborating.
In Italy, Smart Working was introduced to the Legge del 22 maggio 2017 (n.81 art. 18-24)

The rule provides that the work performance can take place partly inside company premises and partly outside.
There are no space and time constraints, but the limits of the maximum daily and weekly working hours, deriving from the law and collective bargaining, remain.
You can work from anywhere (inside and outside the company), you don’t stamp a ticket, you don’t take breaks at predefined times.
The company and the employee flexibly redefine the working methods, with the only obligation to achieve agreed objectives and results.

The UniCredit banking group was one of the first companies to experiment with agile working, back in 2008.
Today, over 7,000 bank employees can work one day a week from their homes.
With the outbreak of the health emergency in recent months, the company has imposed two mandatory Smart Working weeks for all employees. At the moment he still has to define whether to activate an extension of the home business or to resume activities on site.

Abroad, Microsoft is the most significant example.
Last year, the Japanese multinational carried out tests on its employees at its Tokyo headquarters.
He adopted the short workweek, with four days in the office and three days off for all company employees. Productivity has risen by as much as 40%, as well as an exponential increase in employee satisfaction.
More serene, more motivated and more productive employees and at the same time a reduction in company costs of some resources (energy consumption reduced by 23%).

Many companies have also tried to improve the workspaces.

Speaking of innovative offices, Google is the quintessential example. The spaces are designed to stimulate creativity and lateral thinking, to find new solutions to problems not yet addressed. In Googleplex the offices become places of life and are surrounded by billiard tables, bowling hall, gyms, swimming pools, massage center, beach volleyball courts and of course relaxation rooms with the famous colored bean bags.
In the Business Insider ranking, Google ranks among the top 50 best companies to work for in the United States.

In Italy, on the other hand, there is Talent Garden which, with its headquarters in Milan Calabiana, inaugurates a new era in the coworking and event spaces sector.
For all guests it is possible to access countless relaxation areas, the terrace with swimming pool, the Tag Cafe and the kitchen, participate in events and courses organized in the cowo.
FabLab, an innovative company operating in the 3D printing sector, is also based here.

If you already work from home, you have surely run into some common problems. Don’t worry, we’re ready to give you some great tips to improve your productivity!

Overcoming the distraction

The home environment is full of possible distractions, especially if it is frequented by other people.
To improve your concentration, try listening to music on headphones. Spotify is full of thematic playlists to choose from.
If that doesn’t work, you can try the tomato technique!
Loved by nerdy developers, it’s a technique that alternates 25-minute work sessions with a 5-minute break. After 4 full sessions you can enjoy a longer break of 15/30 minutes.
If you want to experience its effectiveness, there are apps, both for iOS and Android, that will help you keep time.

The right location

You will find that it takes very little to have an efficient work environment.
Our advice is to avoid working from the sofa, on the bed or staying in your pajamas all day! Mind, body and appearance need to understand that you are working.
Choose a well-lit room with a table and comfortable chair. So equip yourself with a notebook and a good internet connection.
If you have trouble working with small touchpads and displays, you can easily connect an external monitor, mouse and keyboard to any device.

The instruments

Working remotely means having reduced contact with colleagues, super visors or customers.
Fortunately, this can be easily solved through some tools within everyone’s reach.

• Dropbox or WeTransfer: allow you to share large files. You can also send attachments via email, but it is advisable to use these platforms if they are larger than 2/3 mega.
• Google Drive: is a free suite accessible to any Gmail account that allows you to create documents of various kinds (eg word, excel, ppt), then collaborating on the modification or revision together with other users.
• Trello: allows you to create To Do Lists divided by message boards, themes and obviously with the delivery date.
• Active Collab: for us it was a real revolution. It is a task manager available both in the cloud and in self-hosted mode. It is an excellent tool for assigning tasks, defining workflows and commitments for each team member, interacting through an internal messaging system, exchanging files. There is also time tracking, useful for monitoring the time taken to carry out any task. We really recommend you to try it!
• Team Viewer: is a remote control software. It may allow you to remotely access your desktop computer for a short time in case you have forgotten something!
• Skype or Meet.google: these are platforms for initiating conversations or video calls remotely between 2 or more people.