Leveling Up For The Future Of Work: Remote Work Tips & Top Hacks for Slack

In March of 2020, our entire team transitioned to working from home due to the pandemic. This not only allowed everyone to stay safe, but it also pushed us to finally test whether our business could survive going completely remote. Since then, we have developed some new routines and are hoping we can keep at least some of them as we prepare to return to the office soon. For example, we would like to allow staff members to have the option to work from home more fluidly, especially on days when family duties call, like a sick child or waiting for a repairperson. Who wants to sit in traffic for hours on end when that time could be better spent on more productive parts of our work day? The future of work is all about increased flexibility—whether for your full- or part-time employment. 

Over the past year of working remotely, I’ve developed some quick tips to ease the way: 

1. Embrace the perks! Use the time in the morning when you’d normally have to commute to do a workout, take your dog for a walk or spend a little extra time prepping meals.  
2. Take advantage of the flexibility of being able to work anywhere (even on a beach).  
3. Incorporate emojis into your communication with co-workers. ABC News reported, 61% of people said it has been easier to connect with their colleagues since moving to remote work—and emojis are playing a role in that. In fact, 69% said using emojis has made them feel more connected to their co-workers.  
4. Create a designated area so you can keep your workspace separate from your personal space to promote a healthier work/life balance.   
5. Take little breaks during the day, whether that’s getting a change of scenery, going on a walk or even doing chores around the house. I like to put my Slack on Do Not Disturb and enjoy a midday break with my kids.  

Those are just some of my quick tips, but to explore this a little more deeply, when I think about what work will look like in the future, there are many things that I appreciate about remote work that I want to continue to do with my team, even as we slowly transition back to the office. Let’s explore!

We have been using many different tech-tools to keep our team connected, and Slack, specifically, has been invaluable in several ways. For our show LevelUp, we needed to quickly transition from filming live episodes at the iconic NASDAQ studios in Times Square, New York to going LIVE at-home in Southern California where I’m based. Using Slack, I’m able to communicate with producers, show interns, writers and our remote creative team more efficiently and effectively to produce our daily LevelUp LIVE shows. Rather than sending multiple emails and waiting for a response, we can quickly upload footage and design assets, check on a guest appearance, and garner the team’s feedback in real time through organized Slack channels.  

We have a #general and #random channel where team members share trending news and tips they find helpful to bridge any gap caused by working remotely. This is where we go when we just need a moment to catch up on those more casual, but equally important, watercooler chats.   

Another one of my favorite things that my team has adopted through remote work that I want to continue is wishing everyone a “good morning” or “happy Friday” with emojis and GIFs. We sometimes even send each other links to music we like or articles we find interesting. We may not all be in the same physical space, but Slack makes us feel more connected. Due to COVID, it's been a while since I traveled to NYC but I think it’s really interesting that the MTA New York City transit uses Slack. From train operators to dispatchers to station cleaners, they use Slack’s mobile app to communicate updates, bridge workplace silos and improve team collaboration. Another company that has used Slack to stay connected during this transition to remote work is Canva. Canva provides graphic design tools to over 40 million people each month, and they use Slack to communicate with their global team, which spans Australia, the Philippines, China and the US. 

Lastly, my favorite tip that has made working remotely easier and more powerful is using Slack Connect. We’ve used Slack to collaborate with teammates inside our company, but through Slack Connect you can now easily communicate with others both inside and outside of your company. Do you have a partnership or company that you engage with every day on email? Could you transition that to Slack and gain the ease and convenience of organized messaging? Slack Connect makes it easier and faster to communicate. You can bounce ideas off one another and share last-minute updates—all in real time. This is especially helpful if you’re working with another person or team outside of your zip code, because with Slack, it’s as if you’re in the same building, a.k.a. our digital headquarters.   

Share your tips that have made it easier to transition to this new way of working in the comments below:  

Q: How has the transition to remote work impacted your work life balance? 

Q: How has your business transitioned this past year? Did you transition to remote work? 

Q: What tools and patterns have you found to help you transition successfully and #ReinventWork? 

Q: How will you navigate post-pandemic? Do you want to continue to WFH? Adopt a hybrid model for your team? Or would you prefer to go back into the office again full time?