There’s a world of difference between a 100% remote business and a business where remote work is the exception. If you work remotely and are in that 2nd group, here are 7 tips to help you succeed in that situation.

Look for a 100% remote environment, or at least a remote friendly place

Might seem obvious, but isn’t. You have many reasons to work where you’re working. So think about this, be honest with yourself, and verify if it is really worth it. 100% remote and remote friendly workplaces are way better from a remote work environment point of view (of course). You aren’t an outlier there. You don’t start with 2 strikes against you. …

For most things, whether a startup is remote or not doesn’t make much difference in what you need. The tools you need depends on what you are actually building, not how your business is organized. But there are 3 needs that are crucial for remote startups. They all revolve around communication.

As the business and the team grows and mature, like all things the tools you used will evolve. Some will be added, some will be abandoned, that’s expected. As such, it is better to start with a minimal setup and adjust as needed. …

No problems are specific to remote work. Every time someone claims “this is a problem with remote work”, it is wrong. All the problems you have in a remote work environment, you actually have them in an office environment too. ALL of them!

There are two main reasons why people think some problems are specific to remote work environment :

1- They confuse symptoms for problems;

2- They are blind to the fact that the problem is present in the office environment too.

Confusing symptoms for problems

Confusing symptoms for problems happens frequently, in every sphere of activities. If you see something wrong, that’s a symptom. To find the root cause, the underlying issue, the real problem, you need to spend time, investigate, think about it. As a general rule, a single problem can manifest through multiple different symptoms, simultaneously or not. Symptoms for the same problem and also be different, varying based on environment conditions, people involved, culture, etc. …

The purpose of a job interview is two fold :

1. Employer figures out if he wants you
2. You figure out if you want to work with them

Many people forget about that 2nd point, but it is equally important. Now, to figure out if you want to work with them, you can ask questions. But you can also learn a lot from the interview process itself and how its conducted. You just have to pay attention to what is (not) said.

How are they conducting the interview process?

Openness about the interview process often match openness within the company as well. If they don’t share anything about what’s coming up, even if you ask them, I’d safely assume that asking questions once you’re employed will end up with the same non-answers. If they are happy to share, that’s a good sign. If they explain it all without you having to ask anything, it shows that they care about you and you’ll likely get the same openness and explanation about the business once you’re in. …

Learning comes from all activities, and interacting with children actually teach you many great lessons applicable to leadership. Or is it the other way around? That’s a debate for another day. Whether you have kids or not, those lessons are relevant for anyone in a leadership position or looking for it.

When you say you’ll do something, do it.

Best way to gain trust, respect and credibility is to do what you’ve told you’ll do. Even if it’s a small thing, or you think it doesn’t matter, or they will likely not care, or they will likely forgot… Do it anyway! …

Everything starts for good reasons. When you start a new project, getting a cadence, a sense of progress, a way to see the journey done so far and what lies ahead provide benefits. But has you progress, it is time to revisit this cadence.

Choosing a sprint length at the start of each sprint is a waste of energy. Experiment with a couple of lengths, make a decision, and stick with it until there is a significant reason to change. — Mike Cohn

Sprint duration gets fixed because it’s supposed to help. But do you always need that help? I say no. You should outgrow the need for fixed duration sprint. Like a crutch help you at first, but once you feel better you feel fine to walk alone. …

You want to become a better software engineer. You learn new tech stack, you do hackathon, you’ve read Code Complete twice and follow Kent Beck on Twitter. That’s all good. But focusing only on the technical side is a mistake.

It is important to do cross-domain learning as well. Arts, fiction, biology, physics, woodworking, etc. By learning from other domains, you looks at similar problems or concepts from a different point of view. This lead to more insight into your own craft. And THAT is what will make you a better software engineer. Better then your peers.

While I encourage others to keep this broad and diversified, I have found some books to be particularly relevant to software engineers. …