Tips for Working Remotely

So most of us have been working from home for awhile now, and some of us have been working from home a lot longer. But it's never a bad idea to review some of the top tips for working remotely. These come from direct observations of my team, and from observations (positive and negative) from our clients when they have had remote workers.

1) Over communicate. If a co-worker sends you an email with something that needs to be done, reply and let them know you are on it. Or send a message through whatever collaboration tool you use. I know it can seem frustrating to have to communicate that much, but it really does set people's minds at ease - not so much that you're actually working, but that the piece of the job you are responsible for is in motion. In the office, it's easy to pop in and ask for a status update. Or maybe you'd mention your progress when walking by them in the hall. Sometimes remote work is crickets, and that can be unnerving if you have a deadline that depends on someone else. So a quick note or status update can really set your co-worker's minds at ease.

2) Set up a workspace at home, and treat it as if you "commuted" to work. Resist the urge to take care of household chores throughout the day - you wouldn't be able to get those done if you were at work, would you? Now, if you take a quick break for a snack and want to throw a load of laundry in, that's not a huge deal, and of course do whatever you want on your break time. But those household chores can suck you in quickly and take you away from your work.

3) On the flip side, don't let your work time bleed into your personal time. It's easy to start work sooner, and work later, when you're already there at home. And of course, for critical issues, you might have to take after hours calls. But don't make a habit of over-extending your day! If you reduce your personal time too much, your work will eventually suffer anyway, even if putting in longer hours.

4) Make use of collaboration tools. We use Slack. I love the icons that can let everyone know if you are at lunch, and it will automatically update to "in a meeting" if you integrate it with Outlook or Google. It works well - I know why I won't get a quick reply from someone if I message, call or email them, but then note they are in a meeting. At work you can physically see they are in a meeting, or if they aren't at their desk. Remotely, those icons, or similar status indicators, are really the only way to let people know.

5) Be more cognizant of meetings or calls you are expected to show up for. When remote, it can come off like you slept in, or maybe aren't working, or something else, if you don't show up for a meeting. At work you'd probably have a co-worker snag you if they saw you sitting there working, meeting forgotten, as they were walking by. But remotely, if you forget a meeting, there's no one to remind you. I honestly use my Outlook calendar and a paper desk calendar to make sure I don't miss anything. It's so easy to click "dismiss" on that meeting reminder out of habit, get back to grinding, and before you know it, you missed the start of the meeting. The paper calendar physically reminds me of my meetings and I don't tend to miss them with the double reminder.

6) You might want to schedule more frequent "mini-reviews" with your boss if you are in a fairly autonomous position with few team meetings.. It's easy to just crank through your work, but in the office, we tend to speak with our bosses more frequently in passing and get a feeling if we are on the right track or not, or if they're frustrated with our performance or something. Remotely, you may not know, especially if you have a boss who might be a bit of an "avoider." If you can schedule a quick. weekly or bi-weekly call to cover your progress and your boss' expectations, it can keep everything on track.