A Roadmap to Working Remotely.
With COVID-19 impacting all of our daily routines and many companies moving to remote-only work options, maintaining corporate culture and keeping your team engaged is critical, especially in such an uncertain time.
Evolved Experience Solutions, Inc. is proud to be a fully virtual team and has been since its inception. By implementing a few simple practices, you can easily stay connected and engaged as a team, despite the distance. These tactics will make being a virtual unit comfortable, effective and enjoyable for you and your teams amidst the rapidly changing social conditions.
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Getting your mind and routine right for the remote work schedule is crucial. Planning out a few important things will help you thrive.
Designate a “Work Zone”: When you are in your home or a remote space, carve out a specific location for your work. If it’s an office, a section of the living room, even the garage, make a physical space your “work zone” and avoid the temptation of plopping on the couch to do work or responding to emails from bed. Not prioritizing this early on can lead you down a path of slovenly destitution.
Structure your day: Keep to your regular routine as much as you can. Make a list of the things you need to get through. Get up, get ready, do your morning workout and plan to be set up by your computer at a certain time. Not sure where to start, click here.
Shower & Get Dressed: You laugh, but this is a real thing. For many, if you don’t make getting prepared and polished to go to work a priority, it can be harder to feel focused and execute at a high standard. If you work out, try doing so first thing in the morning, you’re less likely to feel good about sitting down to work post-workout without a shower.
Make a Schedule: Build out your day like you would at the office with meetings, to-do lists and time for breaks. Breaks and lunch are critical, it’s too easy to blow by these, but that isn’t good. Schedule those out and stick to them, avoid taking “breaks” on a whim, the self-discipline will pay off will keep you focused and productive when you are working rather than treating it like an “off-day” where you float between chores, email, television.
Get a Breath of Fresh Air: If your home is your remote location, make it a point to walk outside at some point during the day. Walk the dogs, walk around the block, drink your coffee or eat your lunch on the porch, but be sure to get outside.
Connect with Colleagues: Set up time to share a meal or coffee and catch up via video chat. You would do this at the office, it becomes even more critical to do this when virtual. Grab some time to connect and chill, you may cover some work things, but this also builds culture and community and fights feelings of isolation. Set up FaceTime with work buddies to do yoga, spin, boot camps from home or have workout challenges using your smart devices. It’s fun working out together even when far away and holds you accountable (see above).
Eliminate distractions: Oh, there are SO many things that can suck your time if you let them when you work remote. If it’s a coffee shop or your home, structure your space to avoid getting sidetracked. If your family/dogs think that when you are home you are there to entertain them, set boundaries (physical or metaphorical) to keep your space, and when taking a work call, shut the door to avoid the notorious interrupting child/pet noise in the background. Avoid the temptation to do laundry, dishes, yard work in between work projects. It may make you feel like you’re dominating the day, but usually something ends up not getting done well.
Stay professional: Working remote is not an excuse to get lazy, sloppy or unprofessional (in appearance, communication or presence). Working remotely is only successful when staff embraces the same standards they would if they were in a physical office.
Plan Your Setting: Avoid working when you’re moving around your space, outdoors, etc. If there is a lot of background noise where you are, stay on mute, use noise cancelling microphones, or move to a quieter place. Neighbors’ dogs, cars driving by, lawn care services and construction are just a few of the things that can derail a professional call quickly, especially if you aren’t expecting them, so plan ahead and be in a place where those sounds won’t reach you.
Check Your Background: Literally, what is behind you when you flick on the video for your video chat conference call. Temporary remote spaces can be unusual, but make sure it still reflects a professional standard. Sit with your back to a blank wall if needed, but be sure there is nothing that would offend or cause others to zoom in for a closer look at your surroundings.
CONNECT & COLLABORATE EFFECTIVELY
Working remote, in many ways, can be incredibly similar to work in an office if you fully use the technology and tools available to connect and build meaningful interactions with your team.
Keep Consistent Meetings “In Person”: Several platforms offer free and reliable video conferencing services (Zoom & Google Hangouts are two we like best). You can have many people join and communicate and it’s great to bring everyone together. It is remarkably easy to connect this way and bridges the gap and perceived distance when you can see people’s reactions and expressions. Screen sharing to illustrate points or track notes in a brainstorm is more effective than copying down what you put on the whiteboard as well.
Work Smarter, Not Harder: Often people who work remote feel they have to work harder to prove they are doing the work than if they are in the office. Work hours designated, work as you would at the office during that time and be able to step away from your work space when the day is over. Not making a clear border on your day can lead to a very long and draining remote experience.
Be Responsive on Email: Respond to all emails within 24-48 business hours. Delays can have a bigger impact when remote as others may be waiting on you, but don’t feel you have to check neurotically 24/7.
Communicate through different channels: Email is great, but it can feel restrictive and overly formal if that is the only way you connect. We have group text chains that are for our whole company and other subgroups. We send photos, memes, ideas and bounce things around. The flexibility and informal nature feels like office chatter. You probably already do some of this already with people 4 offices down (I mean really, walk all the way there?!), so just putting more intentionality behind it is great.
Use Social Media to be Professionally Social: This has long been controversial/taboo to engage with staff on social, but when remote, sending videos, memes or other light-hearted content is a great way to build a social connection. Commenting on stories and posts keeps you up to speed and makes it feel like you haven’t missed a beat. Depending on the age of your staff, this can be a very effective, informal way to build culture. Now, that said, reminding staff to only post things they’d be comfortable with coworkers seeing/knowing becomes a very important element.
What NOT to do:
Avoid sending emails in a rushed manner. This isn’t just for those working remotely, but since so much communication is mediated, this happens more often. Tone and diction can be your worst enemy. If the email is important and time-sensitive, write it, walk away, and then re-read. Have someone else proof if you’d like.
Don’t deliver bad or troubling news via text or email. Pick up the phone or better yet, get on a video chat, and talk directly. Just because you are apart doesn’t mean you aren’t connected. Face to face dialogue, even through video, makes a world of difference.
Forget to send messages or skip meetings. Even though it isn’t in person, the calendar requests matter as much, if not more. Don’t blow off meetings, requests or other information. When virtual, doing this can be even more destructive to business goals than if you did so in office.
REMEMBER TRIPS WHEN YOU WORK REMOTELY
When leading and being part of a remote team, there are five key principles that make or break the success of the virtual environment. Establish expectations early and often, and if you are a manager, hold yourself to them. It can feel challenging not to see your people every day and often leaders either overcompensate by being available 24/7 or over-engage and lack trust. If you hired good people, let them be great from a remote location, just like they would be in your office.
T-R-I-P-S
TRUST - Trust your peers are doing what is needed, prioritizing their day and are maintaining the level of professionalism expected, and do the same for them. Always deliver on-time.
RESPECT - Appreciate people’s time, effort and be trustworthy so they do the same for you. Deliver your work at a high standard, meet deadlines and understand when others will be available to collaborate. Avoid the urge to text and call at all hours of the day/night if it isn’t an emergency or preset. Minimize off-hours requests which can drag down team morale.
INTENTIONAL & CLEAR - Be thoughtful about engaging with others frequently and authentically. Vague communication can be largely problematic when working over distance. Be specific and proactive in articulating expectations, timelines and deliverables. Example: “Shoot me those notes soon, thanks” vs, “Please email the group the action items and next steps from the meeting by 3 pm today” makes a big difference.
PROFESSIONALISM - Be accountable, communicate effectively and present yourself as you would if you were working in-person. Never lower your standards or quality because you are remote.
SOCIAL - Working apart does not mean working alone. The feeling of isolation can quickly squelch the benefits of a virtual team. Engage each other often, formally and informally, and build camaraderie in various ways. Focusing entirely on work rarely accomplishes this so focus on building relationships beyond. A “question of the day” or “timed activity” on a group chat or to start meetings can have a major impact on spurring conversation. (“Favorite movie you’ve seen this year” “Biggest pet peeve” etc. bring up topics that may not have come up when you shared an office). Thoughtful and caring communication goes a very long way when teams are apart.