8 Remote Work Mistakes You’re Probably Making
Please stop doing these things while working remotely
Throughout my 5+ years working remotely, the biggest mistakes I’ve seen are communication-related.
Communication is paramount when it comes to working remotely.
In this article, you’ll see 8 different mistakes I’ve made myself and those I see made, even today.
Also, I’ll include tips and recommendations on software you can use to help in these situations.
1) You’re using a low-quality microphone
In a study at the University of Southern California, people rated a physicist’s talk as 19.3% better when they listened to it in high (vs low) audio quality. They also thought he was smarter and liked him more.
This doesn’t mean go buy Joe Rogan’s microphone setup. But, you’ll get better results if you use the best microphone available to you.
You probably have at least 3 mics available to you. Your phone, laptop, and your earphones.
Use a website like Online Voice Recorder to test the quality of each one. Try to primary use the microphone with the highest quality in your calls.
2) There are distractions in your audio
Low-quality audio is one thing, but having distractions in your audio is an entirely separate, probably worse, mistake.
Barking dogs, honking cars, and the microwave you couldn’t stop at 1 second.
Although understandable, these distractions make you look unprofessional. They induce mental stress which causes people to lose focus on your message. Even worse, people become annoyed if you’re not even speaking and there’s noise occurring.
The thing is, these distractions are easily avoidable with software.
Krisp is AI-based noise cancellation software that removes unwanted noise from both sides of a call.
3) You don’t mention your time zone
“How’s this afternoon for a meeting?”
Sentences like that don’t work in a remote work environment, especially if team members are in multiple locations.
“How’s somewhere between 10:00 AM — 11:15 AM EST?”
That’s more specific. When mentioning a time to meet, it’s always better to be more explicit.
Use a tool like Every Time Zone to help you determine the time zone. Even better, use Calendly to help your colleague select a time that works best for them.
4) You don’t send recap emails after meetings
After staring at yourself for 25 minutes on the Zoom call it’s hard to remember everything.
Many managers choose not to record meetings. In that case, you can send a very short recap email.
This is beneficial for three reasons:
- Helps you remember everything that was said in the meeting including action items.
- Allows your manager to make sure that you understood everything.
- Creates a written record of the meeting summary in your inbox.
Here’s a quick example:
Email Subject: Date of meeting + quick two-word summaryHey John,Here’s what we discussed at our meeting:A few responsive design issues with the blog's header, and also how to improving the technical documentation of the snippet editor.Here are the action items I got from these:1. Fix blog header's responsiveness in 3 sizes for phone, tablet, and desktop.
2. Create pull request for technical documentation snippet editor improving all 3 sections.Anything else I can add?Thank you,
Derick
You’ll thank yourself 3 months down the road when you’re trying to remember who said what in that one meeting.
5) You’re not providing enough context
John: “I was working on that one ticket last week. I was busy.”
Sally: “Which ticket?”
John: “The one John assigned me related to the blog’s footer.”
Sally: “I can’t find it. What’s the ticket number?”
John: “#49053”
John: “Typo. #49052”
This whole situation could have been avoided in the Slack chat room.
Don’t assume that your co-workers are always up-to-date on what you’re doing. They’re busy working on their stuff. Make it easy by providing links whenever you reference something.
It’s helpful for you and for your co-workers too.
6) Your video is low-quality
Do you know the drastic change that happens when you change the YouTube video’s quality from 360p to 1080p?
That’s the same effect that happens when you use higher-quality video in your meetings.
This can’t always be controlled, but I bet that your phone’s back camera is most likely higher-quality than your laptop’s webcam.
If possible, try joining the meetings using your phone, or setting it up as a webcam on your laptop.
7) You have distractions in your video
If you’re taking a call in a coffee shop, don’t sit with your back against the glass so you can see the traffic passing through.
Movement is very distracting in video.
Try to sit in a location where there’s not a lot of distractions in the background. Alternatively, you can use a Zoom or Google Meet background to help in these situations.
A background combined with Krisp and you have a very professional remote work setup.
8) You’re not asking questions
I had this problem when I first started working remotely. But, asking questions helps your colleagues understand where you’re currently at.
It’s a win-win situation. If your colleague can help you then that’s great. If not, well then you can continue from where you were.
Conclusion
These are 8 remote work mistakes that I’ve made myself. I’ve also seen others make them as well. They’re easily remedied with software or some improvement in communication.
I hope this article helped you. Do you have any additional tips? Write a comment below!
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