Pro Tips For Remote Working

From an inspired remote worker, Jen Odess, VP Culture Works @ Wipro

Who doesn’t want to feel inspired while working? I know I do.

Finding that inspiration has been my trick for the past 5 years since I made the plunge into working remotely from home full-time!

A study shown by Switzerland-based IWG says that 70% of global professionals work remotely 1-day a week, while 53% work remotely for at least half of the week…And according to Silicon Republic, remote working will rival fixed office locations by 2025.

I’ve been on this amazing remote working journey for the past 5 years spanning multiple states, houses, and addition of humans in my home (ie, children and the frequent house guests), all while still progressing a career I’m very proud of. And keep in mind I was never excited or a fan of the telecommuting concept to begin with. I had always been one to crave connecting with colleagues in-person, and this “new way of working” just freaked me out.

So I wanted to share how to find your inspiration with these 3 pro tips; and enable an accelerated career from a virtual office rather than a corporate office.

Pro Tip 1: Environment

Make your dedicated work space inspirational. Think about the company you want to keep, the views you want to see, and the views you want people to see of you (ie, your backdrop when on video conference calls). Make sure it feels like you and represents what you are trying to project as a worker. If when you wake up in the morning you don’t feel compelled to go work in that space, then it’s not inspiring enough.

JO’s Inspiration

Everyone’s version of inspiring is going to be different, but for me it’s a space that is bright, airy, and pleasing to my hobbyist design eye. It should be private but accessible, have a 2nd monitor giving me dual screen, a place for my badass poodle with a mohawk to hang with me during the work day, and last but not least, have my Peloton bike in close proximity for that last minute break in the calendar to squeeze in a ride! Can you spot my officemate?

Pro Tip 2: Portable

Whether room to room or coffee shop to coffee shop, be prepared to unplug just your laptop and effectively move around like a digital nomad.

JO’s Inspiration

I seriously migrate around the house almost every day… And because I work 100% in the cloud, all I need is my laptop and occasionally I’ll take my trusted notebook because despite being paperless I’m a sucker for classic notes in a notebook.

I have also been known to take my work on the road. One summer I rented a house in Portland, Oregon (where I was raised) and worked from the west coast for a month. I brought the kids with me and put them in summer camp and my husband flew in and out of Portland for work that month.

Pro Tip 3: Virtual Water Cooler

Without in-person interactions it can be feared or felt, at times, lonely. But you have the power to not let that happen. Be steadfast on using video conferencing (VCON) for all meetings to get face-to-face interactions — I’ll even grab a virtual happy hour periodically to catch up with a colleague just for fun. Using chat functions like Google Chat, Slack or Microsoft Teams to get a real-time responsive dialogue with colleagues (1:1 or groups), giving instant “water cooler” like conversation, can also be very gratifying.

JO’s Inspiration

I spend 90% of my work day in our company’s virtual chat rooms (rather then old-school emails). I utilize VCON’s daily and focus on connecting and engaging with my colleagues on every call. My goal is always to build a rapport despite the mileage or lack of shared office space, as shown in this screenshot from a work meeting we had on halloween.

Moral of the story is, I can’t imagine my work life ANY other way!

Don’t be afraid of the workplace of the future, embrace it. It’s fun, different, flexible, and incredibly inspiring!

Stay tuned because I plan to highlight more successful professionals and their remote working pro tips very soon. Until then, happy working.

Additional good reads if you’re interested in reading further about the workplace of the future: 21 Statistics About Remote Work Trends In 2018, State Of Remote Work 2018, The Workplace Revolution, 17 Stats About Remote Work In 2018.