Create a Home Office That Works for Families
When coronavirus emerged in the United States this spring, parents and children thought the remote work and learning protocols would be a temporary thing.
Now, as businesses struggle to catch up in a challenging economy and schools continue to look to student safety as the virus continues to be active, more families are taking their short-term home office solutions and creating spaces that children and adults can share on a more long term basis.
For working parents, juggling the challenges of a remote workspace while providing their kids with an enriching stay-at-home learning experience can impact work quality and family dynamics.
The solution? A home office for families that provides all the tools that encourage both productivity and learning while supporting individual needs and work/study habits.
The Blended Office — A Home Office for Families That Work and Learn Together
Even if you only have a small space to allocate to remote work tasks or virtual learning activities, as long as you have the proper equipment in place, you should be able to create a workable area that can help support productivity.
In this article, we explore the perfect blend of equipment for both work-at-home parents and their children who are participating in remote learning programs, whether at the grade-school or university level.
- Computer and Desk Space
While younger kids are less reliant on this equipment, all employees and most students from 7th grade on spend most of their productive time working at a desk. This really can be any reliable, stable surface from a sturdy folding table or dining table to a high-end cubicle-type desk with drawers and filing space.
And a computer — Mac or PC, laptop, desktop, or even tablet — is necessary for all learning applications, as even younger children may receive instruction via videos, webinars, Zoom classes, or email.
For remote workers, a robust, late-model computer is essential, with the proper software to allow smooth collaboration with other remote and in-house colleagues, clients, and partners.
- Multifunction Printer (MFP)
Working — or learning — from home doesn’t mean that everything is completely digital. There is still a high need for printing, copying, faxing, and more that makes having a multifunction printer (MFP) a critical addition to any work/learning space.
MFPs provide versatility and quality in a small footprint that is perfect for home office spaces. Having just one MFP takes the place of several pieces of equipment, saving time and energy.
Today’s MFPs are intuitive and easy to use so your children can master making photocopies, printing reports, and scanning images to send digitally.
- Stereo Headphones
While stereo headphones might be a surprising addition to the perfect blended office, surveys show that the market share for stereo headphones grew a surprising 65.4% in response to a newly founded work-from-home workforce.
Remote working parents will appreciate the clear sound, noise cancellation, and headset abilities of mic-equipped headsets to interact with business associates and clients.
Stereo headphones are perfect for the home-schooling child, as kids can use the headphones to listen to online instruction with less ambient distraction, simply use the noise-canceling feature to drown out distractions while studying, or use the headset abilities to participate in group discussions or online classroom activities.
Virginia Business Systems Has the Right MFP for Your Perfect Home Office
At Virginia Business Systems (VBS), we partner with leaders in the print and imaging industry to bring our customers the widest range of equipment choices.
Our selection of MFPs comes from the biggest — and best — names in the business: Konica Minolta, Xerox, HP, and Lexmark. We carry all types of MFPs, from basic to models fully equipped with the latest print environment management software and security.
Whether you want a printer and copier for simple tasks or require the additional functionality of a scanner, fax machine, and print management capabilities, our team of professionals can help you select the right model for your home office.
Creating a functional and versatile home office space for your family is simple when you have the proper equipment. Contact VBS today and let our printer experts help you configure the right MFP to elevate your remote work or learning experience.