Remote working offers a broad range of benefits such as work-life balance and reduced commuter costs, flexible working hours, and having more management independence among other advantages. But remote working is an art that you need to master for you to be successful. This is because it has unique challenges such as distractions and interruptions, social isolation, lack of interactions with the rest of the staff, and other obstacles that can lower your output.
This article offers you four quick and easy ways to become successful while working as a remote staff. These guidelines include:
1. Familiarize yourself with tech tools
For you to work better as a remote worker, you need to get comfortable with digital collaboration tools that will enable you to stay in connection with your colleagues. Many teams use kanban software to access the live interface where everyone could visualize the entire process flow. Regarding communication and productivity tools that deal with video conferencing, file sharing and time tracking could be very useful. Some of these tools include file-sharing apps such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box. While at it, you need to leverage smart tools that will help you convert files from pdf to csv or word to PDF, to preserve the visual elements of your files when you share them. It is also neccasary to have them signed so use a service like UsefulPDF to achieve that. You also need to know how to work with video conferencing apps like Zoom, Skype for Business, BlueJeans, and WebEx for easy communication with team members and clients. Additionally, you need to leverage project management tools such as Basecamp or Trello, and for time tracking mentioned above – a user-friendly timer app. All these tools help you to track the progress of your work so that it is more efficient. These tools help teams optimize and manage their tasks and create workplace transparency.
2. Get a smart office setup
Although remote working means you don’t have the same formal atmosphere around you compared to how it would have been if you worked at the company’s office, it does not mean that you should stay in your pajamas while working. An adequate suggestion would be to make the air more serious, so you get in the mood and motivate yourself more while working. That’s why an office setting is necessary. If you want to avoid health conditions such as eye strain and carpal tunnel syndrome that emanate from working in a poor environment, you need to make substantial changes to your home office. You can start by getting yourself an ergonomic office desk and chair. This furniture will help reduce the stress that might be placed on your body hence offering your support and improved comfort. You can also check for a temperature controller to maintain the preferred temperature in your office. To avoid straining your eyes, you need to get a computer support stand that will elevate your laptop monitor to a position right above the level of your eye and an arm’s length away. You can supplement this by adding some natural light to your home office. This way, you do not have to reduce the contrast on your laptop screen. In instances when you cannot get natural lighting, you can adopt LED lighting instead. These two hacks will ensure that you work for a long duration without developing any health complications thereby enhancing your productivity.
3. Have a schedule for everything
Remote working requires that you have a schedule like the one you would have on a regular office job, except you are the only one holding yourself accountable. But, this does not mean that you need to work all day! It is paramount that you take regular breaks to refresh yourself emotionally, mentally, and physically but, such non-work activities have to be factored into your schedule. Set office hours and try your best to stick at them. When developing this plan, you need to take into account other commitments that you have in your life such as blocking out school drop-off in the morning and pick up later in the day if you have children. A good idea to take care of your body and mind is to exercise if possible. Suppose you volunteer or play sports in your spare time, you should schedule a time for these activities before or after your work is done. Ensure that you share this calendar with your colleagues so that they know what times you will be out of reach. Your family also ought to know about the schedule so that they do not interfere with you during office hours. If your family or friends call or intrude on you in any way, politely you can explain that even if you are at home you are still working. Since distractions are unavoidable in this situation, then you have to create boundaries between these two aspects of your life.
You can also align your colleagues to recurring events and schedules in your calendar. Neal Taparia, who runs gaming and jigsaw puzzle platform im-a-puzzle explains, “We ask our team to take a 5-10 minute break at the end of each hour. Everything from meetings to one-on-ones are scheduled around this, allowing our team to seamlessly take breaks throughout the day.”
4. Communicate regularly with your work team
Even though you do not get to meet your boss and the rest of the team in real life, you should always make an extra effort to talk and communicate as much as possible with them. In a report of remote project management, nearly 46% of remote employees state that lack of communication is the biggest problem in managing a remote team.
You should attempt to make conversations with your boss and co-workers either by text, phone, or email, whichever method works best for you. In this way, you will share your progress regarding your projects with the rest of the team. Staying updated with each other is important and a very useful method would be to have weekly virtual meetings. Or you can opt for Teleconferences to have productive meetings, build trust and increase efficiency. There should be additional attempts to help build up trust between you and the rest of the team. Both parties should trust one another so the cooperation is more successful and productive.
For this, non-work-related activities such as ice-breaker games and trivia questions game among remote teams work best. These activities help employees get familiar and friendly with each other.
5. Get support from your community
Remote working has surely helped companies boost workplace diversity, by providing a fair chance to everyone without considering their gender, ethnic background. But it can get lonely if all you do is work and take care of your household responsibilities. The good thing is that there are groups that you can join either virtually or in-person like a local coworking space. Such support systems will help you feel connected to other people because there is room for networking and taking part in local community businesses that will help advance your career. Importantly, the support that you get from this group will enable you to overcome hurdles that at times require you to pay consultants to solve them which will make you successful at your job. If you are just starting as a remote worker or looking for remote job opportunities, joining a group will inspire you to stay committed to your work and remain productive as you embrace flexibility.
Conclusion
If you just joined the remote working bandwagon, your life will look a little different in the beginning but it will get better in time when you adopt these tips. Remote working is a golden chance for you to learn discipline and professionalism which will make you a successful person. The catch is to stay focused and perform some certain guides which will make your adaptation to the new way of working much easier and smoother.
