Bill & Phil Gadgets

BILL & PHIL’S GADGET OF THE MONTH By: Bill Ramsey

Neal & Harwell

By: Phil Hampton

Founder and CEO, LogicForce Consulting

BACK TO THE OFFICE

We knew the WFH phenomenon was just a phase that would certainly moderate somewhat as pandemic fears waned. We are now seeing that transition take place. But as many of us head back to our offices on a more regular basis, we should use this time to re-assess how our work office is set up in light of some lessons we learned while working from home.

As we worked from home over many of the past 12-18 months, we discovered something very significant: we work much better when we are comfortable. Now, it is highly unlikely that our colleagues back at the office are going to approve of us coming to the office in our pajamas or gym shorts, but comfort is not just about slouching around the house in non-work clothes. On the other hand, is it really necessary to wear a suit (or other courtroom acceptable clothing) when you do not have a court appearance or an important client meeting? We think it is better to wear clothing that is comfortable, yet appropriate.

Similarly, ergonomics is a big factor in workplace comfort. If your home office is more ergonomically friendly than your work office, why not update the workplace to a higher standard? Office chairs can be one of the biggest hindrances to productivity when they are uncomfortable and do not promote good sitting posture. A chair with lumbar support, among other ergonomically-friendly features, is a huge benefit for office workers. We also like the option of standing at times rather than sitting all day at our desk, so we love having an adjustable-height desk that can be positioned either way. Make your office a comfortable and hospitable place to work.

A large monitor (or even multiple monitors) is essential for just about any office worker, but especially for those in the legal profession. Equally important to the size of the monitor is the placement of the monitor. For the most ergonomically friendly placement we recommend a monitor stand, such as the Kensington WellView Monitor Stand. This stand has an interchangeable fan, heater and air purifier that keeps our office environment just perfect.

Now that we are working in the office, there are any number of desk accessories that we have become accustomed to at home that would work well in the office also. We work on our smart phones almost as frequently as we do on our laptop throughout the day, so a cell phone stand (and/or charger) for our smartphone is essential. Since we are gadget hoarders, we require so many charging ports that we quickly run out of electrical outlet space. We love the new smart power strips that have both regular outlets as well as USB ports for our many charging cables. Keeping our coffee warm at the office is made easier with a USB-connected mug warmer. Finally, we love having a second screen devoted to such things as video conferences, playing music, showing upcoming appointments, etc. There are a number of options for this auxiliary screen, including an iPad, Amazon Echo Show, Facebook Portal, and Lenovo Thinksmart View. We have all of them.

Having a clean, spacious workspace not only helps with office ergonomics, but also promotes positivity in our minds which translates to both increased productivity and greater personal satisfaction with our jobs. Bill has long been a fan of Marie Kondo and her advice for de-cluttering. Whether you subscribe to all of Ms. Kondo’s regimen or not, a thorough de-cluttering of your workspace can be a huge productivity booster. During our move back to the office, we are using this time to re-assess how much we need to keep out on our desk or even in our files. If it doesn’t “bring us joy” and it’s not essential for our clients or for us to do our job, we’re trashing it. Good-bye, Office 2010 User Manual.

One facet of WFW that most certainly will carry over to the office is the use of Zoom, or some other video-conferencing app. We have been preaching video conferencing as a much more efficient and cheaper alternative to in-person meetings for some time. The legal world has now fully embraced video conferencing. So, it behooves us to optimize our office workspace to ensure we can have the best video conferencing experience possible from our work office. While most PCs and laptops now have built-in webcams as standard equipment, we highly recommend getting a high-quality external HD webcam to connect to your workstation to enhance both the audio and video quality of your video calls. Nothing says “low budget” more than a grainy video image while videoconferencing with a colleague or client. You might also consider investing in either headphones or earbuds, particularly in an office environment where others might be distracted by your video conference dialogue. Finally, depending on the brightness of the light source in your office, you might even consider investing in an inexpensive video conference light source (such as the Ring light or Lume Cube) to properly light yourself as you participate in a video call.

It certainly is good to be back in the office on a regular basis again. We feel that we have learned to work smarter over the past year. We don’t want to slip back to a lower office standard as we now transition back to the work office.