Employees guide to
How to work from home like a boss
Tips and tricks based on 6 years of experience working remotely
Scalac has been working remotely since the very beginning. So, we’ve got over 6 years of experience when it comes to remote work. To nail the challenge of working remotely you need to know that the most important things to learn are being transparent, learning how to stay focused, knowing how to get and share information and last but not least how to stay healthy and maintain a work-life balance. We gathered some tips on how to make your home office experience an effective and simply enjoyable one. See what we’ve come up with together with our 120 remote employees:
How to be transparent when working remotely?
- Work transparency is very important. Always attend important meetings and online calls. Be on time on the other side of the screen.
- Inform your teammates when you are leaving for any reason, when you change your day plan and when you are finishing your workday.
- Be ready to hop on a quick online call during your working day.
- Respect the time of your teammates.
- When possible, try to use open channels instead of private ones.
- If needed, create channels to discuss different issues such as business cases, recruitment, event organization, etc.
- Sometimes, written communication isn’t enough. In some cases, try to use other possibilities such as online calls: Hangouts / Zoom / Skype. Prepare a summary of any of the post-meeting arrangements.
How to stay focused at your home office?
- Choose your work playlist — radio / SoundCloud / youtube (just google ‘focus music’).
- Prepare a separate place to work — ideally a separate room.
- Remember that kids’ time and working time should not overlap.
- Prepare a daily plan (get up early, get dressed, breaks for coffee, lunch, etc). Is it hard to start?
- Try to find a routine to get yourself moving.
- Mute some channels if necessary.
- Try keeping track of your work time. You can use https://toggl.com/.
- Work in big enough chunks of time (1, 2 a day preferably).
- Reply to emails in strict time boxes.
- Use a calendar. Put not only meetings on it but also timetables for key tasks. Integrating Slack with Google Calendar enables us to see the current status of our colleagues.
- Work in your “natural” time slots — when you’re focused. Put your preferences in a Slack profile as an early bird, flex, night owl.
- Try the Pomodoro technique.
- Remember that Slack communicator allows us to pin any important messages to every channel, so we can have it in one place without having to search for summaries in the jungle of other news.
How to get and share information with your remote teammates?
- Don’t check Slack constantly.
- Before you post any questions or information, try to find the right channel. Then mention any people who could have the information.
- Use the Slack “remindTo” feature. Using @here and @channel might lead to people muting/ignoring those channels, better to use mentioning.
- When possible, try to use open channels instead of private ones. If you want to ask somebody directly, use a private channel.
- If needed, create channels to discuss different issues such as business cases, recruitment, event organisation, etc.
- Remember that asynchronous methods are the key. On Slack, you will not get an immediate answer. For immediate communication, other channels are better — try calls, discussing things instead. It’s faster and speeds up the conversation so to improve understanding. Don’t be afraid to bother your colleagues or clients: clear communication is more important. You should be proactive. Having no questions is strange. Ask questions.
- Avoid assumptions — communicate instead. Don’t take things for granted when working with different cultures.
How to stay healthy and maintain a work-life balance when you’re working from home?
- Buy an adjustable desk (manual/automatic) and a good seat
- Don’t remain at work once you finish work for the day. This can be too exhausting. A clear distinction can help: disabling notifications and changing your place.
- Remember to rest and refresh your mind during weekends, holidays and after hours.
- Delete Slack when you are having any vacation time.
- Use proper notifications such as “vacationing” or “snooze”.
- Single-man projects? It happens and it can be frustrating when working remotely. Try to use thematic/lifestyle Slack channels to share your thoughts, discuss ideas, look for advice.
Transparency, focus, communication, and health
To sum up, as a remote worker you should actually put on pants every day. You’ll also find it just as hard as office workers to focus and remain productive while watching your favorite show. So once again be transparent, find your perfect way to focus, communicate as much as you need or more if you have any doubts and finally — don’t forget about staying healthy. You can’t be a good employee, and what’s more important — feel fulfilled at work if you’re not taking care of yourself first.
Written by Monika Hinc based on internal workshops on “How to Work Remotely”.
If you want to watch more about Remote Working, check out also:
If you want to read more about Remote Working, check out also:
- Working remotely — Simple guide for those who want to start, but are afraid
- How to manage remote employees
