How To Keep Your Professional Image While Working From Home

Social distancing in the battle against COVID-19, whether you believe it exists or not, has brought to fruition some individual’s dreams of working from home. That said, it has also brought to light some of the challenges of working from home, i.e. having the proper software and access to technology, adequate internet speeds, time management, and not the least of which how to get dressed for work in the morning. It is easy to fall into the work in your pajamas phase for days on end, but that is not always a good idea when dealing with video calls or interacting with coworkers through a video chat format such a Zoom. So as always, 18|8 Fine Men’s Salon is here to give you feedback on how to make the best professional impression when working from home.

Understanding What Others See

Professionalism doesn’t stop at your home’s front door when working from home. Using video platforms like Zoom, Skype, or Microsoft 360 brings coworkers directly into your home extending that need for professionalism into your private space. One way to ensure that your personal life and professional life don’t collide like the Titanic with an iceberg is to have a clear understanding of what surroundings are being displayed to and heard by those with which you are video chatting, i.e. piles of dirty laundry in the background, dogs barking, pin-up calendars on the wall, etc. scream unprofessionalism.

Prepare Your Work Space

Preparing an area of the home as your office or video conference area and maintaining it as you would if you were at the office will avoid embarrassing moments as well as provide a professional appearance during those working hours and conferences. A few things to keep in mind while setting up your professional work area are:

• Keep it Clean – Office managers and employers tend to take a dim look at dirty or unorganized workspaces in the office. When working at home try and maintain your workspace with the same amount of organization or more than you would at the office. Supervisors and co-workers do notice these things while attending video conference calls. The more organized your home workspace looks the more confidence employers will have that you are actually working from home and not slacking off.
• Be Aware of Wall Décor – Remember that people are seeing your surroundings on video calls, making it equally important to have your wall or work area décor be office-friendly. The area that you choose to establish as your video conferencing location should be considered an extension of the company and office you work for, especially if these calls are dealing with clients or prospective clients.
• Represent yourself and your Company in the Best Light Possible – The phrase “Best Light Possible” has two meanings for the purpose of this article.
  • The first is to ensure you have proper lighting for your video calls so that you and any visual aids that may be used for meetings are easily seen by viewers.
  • The second is how you present yourself. You wouldn’t attend an important meeting wearing holy jeans and three days old five o’clock shadow without having brushed your hair. Likewise, it is equally as important to maintain your appearance when working from home and presenting yourself on video calls.

Maintaining a Professional Personal Image

Getting up every morning and spending the time to groom yourself properly not only provides the professional image you wish to present to be successful, but it also makes you feel more professional and positive about yourself. You can still work in your pajama bottoms and slippers, (as long as they won’t be seen on camera), but anything that might be visible to others in video calls should be properly groomed as if you were going into the office. Some examples are:

• Clean Kempt Hair – The last thing you want is for your boss to think you jumped out of bed just in time to attend that important meeting. You want them to think that you took the time to prepare for the meeting and one way to do that is by keeping your hair cut and styled so that you don’t look like you have bed head.
• Take Time to Shave – Working from home is often a time when men think it’s okay to go days on end without shaving or keeping their beard trimmed. However, for the most part, slacking on the shaving routine could be seen as being lazy and slacking at work.
• Brush your Teeth – It may seem silly to have to say this since it’s not like anyone will be smelling your breath, at least not until someone invents Smellivision. But, there is still the opportunity for those embarrassing moments when people are focused more on the spinach or black pepper stuck between your teeth than what is actually coming out of your mouth when video conferencing.
• Put on a Clean Shirt – Although this may seem like a given, it is easy to fall into weekend habits and forget that you spilled mustard on that shirt you wore yesterday when attempting to get just one more wear out of it. You wouldn’t wear the same shirt to work two days in a row, so don’t it when working from home.

Maintaining a professional appearance when working from home and using video conferencing formats is more important than ever. It shows that you are representing the company you work for in a responsible and thought out manner, provides an image of actually working from home rather than partially working from home, and instill confidence and trust for supervisors that allowing you to work from home is a prudent decision. So, use that drive time that is no longer needed in the morning to create the professional image that your bosses are looking for. Let 18|8 Fine Men’s Salon help you out with some of these grooming tasks by coming in for one of their outstanding services. With COVID-19 making it hard to feel in control. One thing you can control is your appearance. Your hair, both facial and on your head reflects your image. It is your brand. It will make you feel better and get you the looks you want. You deserve it!!

18|8 Fine Men’s Salons of Morristown has instituted extra safety measures to help keep you safe as well as installing an air purification system to kill airborne germs and viruses. Listed below are some quotes from real customers about how they felt safe while getting great service from us. We are dedicated to keeping you safe and keeping you handsome.