Remote Work: 5 Ways to Do it Well
These are unprecedented and challenging times. There are a lot of disruptions to the routines of daily life with the arrival of COVID-19. One that changes the daily lives of many Americans will be the closing of offices and the expectation that people work from home; indefinitely. In most times, the opportunity to work from home once in a while is a treat, but for those without practice, doing it for weeks at a time can be challenging and daunting. It can put strain on workers, families, and teams.
At AQN, we have a lot of experience working remotely and at home. We are a small, geographically dispersed firm. All of our team members work from home from time to time, and many do it the majority of the time. We have a lot of experience working in dispersed environments and still managing to coordinate with clients and each other, and to maintain high focus and morale.
But even we caught up as a team to discuss expectations, norms, and best practices when we made the decision to close our office this week and move to a full work from home model. Based on that discussion, we have put together our top 5 recommendations for effectively navigating the transition to working from home based on our long experience in this work style.
1. Maintain your personal work routine
Habits are the bedrock of success. Maintain these habits by keeping your personal routine as consistent as possible with your regular workday. That means taking time to get dressed, eat breakfast, maybe exercising before your workday as you would a normal workday. One of our team members even shared that putting on shoes in the house helps him get into work mode!
2. Adjust how you use meetings and catch ups
Now that face-to-face interaction is not an option, you should proactively adjust the way you interact both in a work and non-work capacity.
For working teams, adding a daily standup to discuss what people are working on for the day - and to just hear the team talk - may help. Keep the calendar up to date so teams know when you'll be available to quickly catch up. Develop a rhythm with your working team so you can quickly touch base on work, whether it be via phone, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom.
Outside of your core team, consider setting up water-cooler time to have general chit-chat. Proactively share an article to discuss with a colleague. In our experience, scheduling a biweekly catch up with people outside of the working team has proven a great way to supplement face-to-face interaction.
3. Make the most of technology at hand
Using technology in an effective way can make working remotely much more seamless. Consider some techniques to increase meeting participation with virtual meetings, such as the Five-Minute Rule (i.e. never go for more than 5 minutes without presenting a problem/discussion point to the team). When scheduling meetings, always provide a dial-in code for those with patchy internet. Test your technology ahead of time so you can hit the ground running with the meeting. Start the meeting with an icebreaker.
Be flexible with communication channels but encourage more personable options both internally and externally. Add in a video option with the team meeting - it's nice to see a familiar face! Pick up the phone for a quick chat rather than a 15-minute slack conversation.
4. Look after yourself
Remember to eat! Stay hydrated. Go outside at least once if you can - daylight is great. Take walks and breaks to help your sanity, productivity, and happiness. Take movement snacks during the day to keep the body fresh and spirits high. Leave for the day once you're done with work and enjoy distinct leisure time. Think about keeping up with the team by hosting a video happy hour (I’ll admit that we haven’t tried this one yet).
5. Iterate
Use the first few days and weeks to iterate rapidly and improve the way you work remotely. Reflect on what worked and didn't work well each day. Build in those habits that will best set you up for success now. Talk with your teammates and share feedback on how this is going and how to work more effectively together. As in any business, testing and learning and fast cycle times are critical to success.
There is a case for optimism when faced with the challenges of everyone working remotely from each other. You may find new opportunities for focused Deep Work. You may have more time on your hands without the commute. You may find this a fantastic time to learn and grow both professionally and personally. Finally, you may build skills that make you a more effective remote worker when on the road or when working far away from team members in the future.
Just remember, keep calm and carry on, and wash your hands a lot, for 20 seconds each time.