Remote Work:
The Ultimate Guide for Managers & Employees
Congratulations! You’re working remote. Here’s everything you need to know to be productive, manage your team, stay sane, & even look good while doing it.
These are trying times, and everyone seems to be filled with some level of anxiety. Being quarantined definitely includes its share of challenges, but the transition to remote work should not be one of them. More and more workers are going remote because these 24 tools, including Slack and Zoom, make telecommuting possible.
And even if you don’t have a choice in going remote, you’ll see the benefits pretty quickly. For starters, you’ll save a lot of time. Between countless meetings, distractions, and interruptions, people can waste a lot of time at work. In fact, only around 60% of the time you spend in the office is productive, according to Atlassian. Plus, according to these surveys from FlexJobs and Stanford Business School, you’ll be more productive. And finally, you’ll get happier, with less stress and a better work-life balance.
How to Work Remotely
Accentuate the Positive
We chatted with our colleague Brian, the VP of engineering at Ceros. Remote working (and managing a remote team) is something he’s been doing for more than a decade, so he knows a thing or two about how to do it right. Here are some helpful tips on how to do your best work from anywhere.
Stick to your regular schedule
Create a space
Don’t sleep on the ergonomics
Have a connection back-up plan
See and be seen
Be prepared
Be considerate. Extra considerate
Don’t be spontaneous
Respect “the groove”
Extend the same courtesy that you do in person
Trust the team
Brian
Stick to your regular schedule
Create a space
Don’t sleep on the ergonomics
Have a connection back-up plan
See and be seen
Be prepared
Be considerate. Extra considerate
Don’t be spontaneous
Respect “the groove”
Extend the same courtesy that you do in person
Trust the team
Stick to your regular schedule
Create a space
Don’t sleep on the ergonomics
Have a connection back-up plan
See and be seen
Be prepared
Be considerate. Extra considerate
Don’t be spontaneous
Respect “the groove”
Extend the same courtesy that you do in person
Trust the team
There’s no question that remote working can be isolating, confusing, and challenging (in a myriad of ways). Loneliness is primary among them. The trick to getting the most out of your remote time is making sure that you rarely feel isolated or siloed. Right now, almost everyone is working remotely, so in a sense, you’re never really alone. Still, staying connected can be hard. Here’s how to stay connected as a remote worker, including as an employee and as a person, during your work hours.
Stay Connected
Set up regular remote meetings
Use a remote working office platform
Communicate about
more than your remote work
It’s a common misconception that remote
workers don’t attend meetings—they do, often
more frequently than in-office workers. That’s because getting regular, consistent feedback is an important part of productive remote working. If you’re the manager of a remote worker, or a remote worker yourself, consider implementing some of these strategies for staying in touch:
Even if it’s just over Slack, make sure that everyone is on the same page that they know which daily tasks to prioritize.
A daily check-in
When you’re part of a hybrid or remote team, it can be important
to hear about what other people are working on—even if it’s outside of the scope of your focus. Try to encourage using Zoom or Google Hangouts. Video can be a bit awkward at first, but it’s more personal than a conference call—and can help bond a team together, setting the groundwork for collaboration (even at a distance).
A weekly team meeting
Friends and so-called “work wives” can have a huge impact on productivity. According to research done by Gallup, women with a work buddy report feeling 63% more engaged with their work than those without one. If you’re a part of a hybrid team, try to find someone that you can regularly check-in with who can help keep you motivated when working alone is getting to be too much.
Find a remote working buddy
Set up regular remote meetings
Communication is clearly the key to successful remote working. But sometimes too much communication—or the wrong kind of it—can actually put a damper on productivity. Micromanaging can have a damaging impact on output. That’s why office platforms like Trello, Asana, or Todoist, where team workflow can be monitored and important documents can be shared, are so important. They can help keep a micromanager’s worst tendencies at bay—giving a transparent way for everyone to monitor each other’s progress, as well as their own.
Use a remote working office platform
Slack is good for more than just workflow. When you’re out of the office, keep in touch with your coworkers about more than just your daily tasks. If you can, try to stay up-to-date with people’s birthdays and what’s going on in their lives. Don’t be afraid to touch base with other people about things that aren’t specifically about work—relationship building is part of your job, too! Communicating with your coworkers in lighthearted ways can help keep the out-of-office malaise from setting in, and keep your work on track.
Communicate about
more than your remote work
Set up regular remote meetings
Use a remote working office platform
Communicate about
more than your remote work
Give Your Zoom Self a Glow Up
You may be wearing pajama bottoms, but that doesn’t mean you (and your surroundings) shouldn’t look good on a computer screen for all those remote meetings. We talked to Adrienne Breaux, the House Tour editor of Apartment Therapy, about how to create the best video version of you.
In general, do what you usually do. Get up at the same time, shower, have breakfast, and get ready like you normally would. This will help you stay in a work mindset throughout your day. You’ll notice that you have some extra time each day from the commute you’re not making. Use this time wisely: Get in some exercise, yoga, or meditation, or just read. Do something productive you’ve been putting off, so when it’s time to work, you’ll be ready to go.
Stick to your regular schedule
Think about how you look on other people’s screens
Get lit
Art direct your video self
Curate your backdrop
Show your style, not your hobbies
Adrienne
The first mistake people make is simply not considering how they appear on screen in the first place. I’ve seen people on conference calls just lying on their bellies on the floor, or slouched down on the couch, or in bed. Even at the most casual company, that’s borderline unprofessional.
My favorite tip for accomplishing this? Take a quick screenshot. You can even print it out to get a look at the composition with fresh eyes.
Sometimes you just need a change of perspective. We do it a lot in interior design; instead of just looking at a room in person, take a photo and examine the image. You’d be surprised at what you can see… like spotting a bunch of wires tangled in the background, a distracting mess of books, or that your cat’s litter box is in the frame.
Think about how you look on other people’s screens
Think about how you look on other people’s screens
Get lit
Art direct your video self
Curate your backdrop
Show your style, not your hobbies
Adrienne
Lighting is very important, especially if you’re giving a presentation. Avoid backlighting and make sure the lighting you have is balanced on both sides of your face (so there’s not a shadow on one side). Natural light is best when possible, but if you don’t have a window nearby, use artificial lighting so you don’t leave viewers in the dark!
Get lit
Adrienne
Consider the rectangle you’ll be inside on the screen. What do you want to put in it? You’re a designer, so use this to show you understand composition and the power of negative space. I like to make sure my head is in the middle of the frame and that the camera is pointed at me straight-on. If you’re a designer looking to impress clients, all these little things prove you know what looks good.
Art direct your video self
Adrienne
Take down all the clutter, sketches, and especially any notes that may have proprietary information about clients. Get rid of the giant iced coffee cup or the stacks of papers and files. Make sure you don’t have any provocative art or book titles in view (unless that’s your brand). Simplify your backdrop so that viewers can focus on you and what you’re saying… not the dirty dishes in your kitchen sink.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to only take your calls in an empty room. I work at a design site, so I don’t want to just have a plain white wall behind me as a background. I want to show off my personality and that I’m a creative, design-minded person, so I’m not afraid to take a call in front of a composition with some art and plants in the background.
Bottom line: Declutter what’s not necessary, add a bit of your personality in the frame, and make sure you’re well lit!
Curate your backdrop
Adrienne
I think the key is that you want to show your personality as a designer, but stay away from showcasing your hobbies. Everything gives an impression. Think of every meeting as an interview with a potential client. So, if your designing style is very minimal and austere, your backdrop should be very clear. If you’re one of those illustrators who have, like, a very distinctive illustrative style, you can hang some of your work like a portfolio, but it needs to be neat. It should always look like you’re interviewing for a job, because if you work remotely, you kind of are.
Show your style, not your hobbies
Think about how you look on other people’s screens
Get lit
Art direct your video self
Curate your backdrop
Show your style, not your hobbies
Request demo now
Request demo now
Chat with us
Want to create interactive experiences like this?
Brian
Having a private, dedicated place to work is ideal. If you live with roommates, you have a lot of distractions. An extra room for a home office is definitely a luxury, but wherever you are try to carve out a quiet place away from distractions. You may want to come up with a schedule with the other people in the house, so that everyone knows when someone is working and shouldn’t be disturbed.
Create a space
Brian
Ergonomics are important. You’ll want a comfortable chair and desk, if possible. If you don’t have that, do your best to make sure your back isn’t aching at the end of the day. Get up and do some deep back stretches when you need to.
Don’t sleep on the ergonomics
Brian
A lot of people are going to be working from home over the next few weeks, so networks are likely to get overwhelmed. If your Internet is slow or flaky, go ahead and contact your provider and see about upgrading your service or equipment. For me, I have WiFi tethering on my cell phone plan, so when our internet goes down, I can switch to that. I recommend this to anyone whose job is 100% dependent on having connectivity, which these days, is most of us.
Have a connection back-up plan
Brian
Whenever you have meetings, use video conferencing if you can, downgrading to voice only if you are having connectivity problems. It’s important to stay connected with people on a human level and seeing their faces makes that much easier. Facial expressions and body language are a key part of communication.
See and be seen
Brian
You should also schedule all meetings, and avoid having one without putting it on the calendar first. This is extra important when some people are remote and others are in the office. Be sure to join your meetings a few minutes early to ensure your tech is working. While video is important for connecting with humans, the quality of your audio is important for sharing ideas. Use a good, quality headset with an excellent microphone that can block out background noise. The earbuds are not good enough!
Be prepared
Brian
How you communicate is especially crucial when working remotely. Be deliberate with your communication; choose your words and your tone with care. When using a text communication tool like Slack, intent is often misinterpreted, but this can even happen over video conference. Assume positive intent from people you’re communicating with, and ask clarifying questions if you’re feeling offended or misunderstood.
Be considerate. Extra considerate
Brian
Whether you’re in the office or working from home, take extra care to document everything. Impromptu conversations and word-of-mouth don’t work when your team is working remote. If you are in the office and have a random conversation, remember to document and share decisions with your remote peers. They are not mind readers! I also encourage you to avoid direct messages whenever possible—use the appropriate team channels instead.
Don’t be spontaneous
Brian
Also, use the right tools for communication. It’s impossible to know the headspace of your remote peers. In the office, when you see someone has their headphones on and is in a groove, you might avoid interrupting them unless the situation is urgent. Think the same way when you’re remote.”
Respect “the groove”
Brian
Use the same courtesy that you’d use if you were in person. This may sound counter to the last point, but you’ll also want to be proactive and over-communicate. Remember, people can’t see you working and won’t have as much visibility on your work. Share your progress updates. Share what you are working on. Share when you need to step away from the computer for some reason. If you’re stepping away for a spell that’s longer than usual, let people know, and make sure you’re not blocking them. Share your wins and your struggles. Your team may be struggling with the same things and you can work through it together.
Extend the same courtesy that
you do in person
Brian
Managers need to trust their teams and monitor their results. You’ve hired each person for a reason, and you should be able to count on them to continue their great work while remote. Check in regularly with each person with a scheduled 1-on-1 and check in with the whole team. Find out what sucks for your team and help to make it suck less. You may also find that some of the things you do in the remote-first world will be helpful when you’re all back in the office together.
Trust the team
Accentuate the positive
How to work remotely
Stay Connected
Give Your Zoom Self a Glow Up
Click to jump to:
Remote Work:
The Ultimate Guide for Managers & Employees
Congratulations! You’re working remote. Here’s everything you need to know to be productive, manage your team, stay sane, & even look good while doing it.
These are trying times, and everyone seems to be filled with some level of anxiety. Being quarantined definitely includes its share of challenges, but the transition to remote work should not be one of them. More and more workers are going remote because these 24 tools, including Slack and Zoom, make telecommuting possible.
And even if you don’t have a choice in going remote, you’ll see the benefits pretty quickly. For starters, you’ll save a lot of time. Between countless meetings, distractions, and interruptions, people can waste a lot of time at work. In fact, only around 60% of the time you spend in the office is productive, according to Atlassian. Plus, according to these surveys from FlexJobs and Stanford Business School, you’ll be more productive. And finally, you’ll get happier, with less stress and a better work-life balance.
Accentuate the Positive
We chatted with our colleague Brian, the VP of engineering at Ceros. Remote working (and managing a remote team) is something he’s been doing for more than a decade, so he knows a thing or two about how to do it right. Here are some helpful tips on how to do your best work from anywhere.
How to Work Remotely
Stick to your regular schedule
Create a space
Don’t sleep on the ergonomics
Have a connection back-up plan
See and be seen
Be prepared
Be considerate. Extra considerate
Don’t be spontaneous
Respect “the groove”
Extend the same courtesy
Trust the team
Brian
In general, do what you usually do.
Get up at the same time, shower, have breakfast, and get ready like you normally would. This will help you stay
in a work mindset throughout your day. You’ll notice that you have some extra time each day from the commute you’re not making. Use this time wisely: Get in some exercise, yoga, or meditation, or just read. Do something productive you’ve been putting off, so when it’s time to work, you’ll be ready to go.
Stick to your regular schedule
Brian
Having a private, dedicated place to work is ideal. If you live with roommates, you have a lot of distractions. An extra room for a home office is definitely a luxury, but wherever you are try to carve out a quiet place away from distractions. You may want to come up with a schedule with the other people in the house, so that everyone knows when someone is working and shouldn’t be disturbed.
Create a space
Brian
Ergonomics are important. You’ll
want a comfortable chair and desk,
if possible. If you don’t have that, do your best to make sure your back isn’t aching at the end of the day. Get up and do some deep back stretches when you need to.
Don’t sleep on the ergonomics
Brian
A lot of people are going to be working from home over the next few weeks, so networks are likely to get overwhelmed. If your Internet is slow or flaky, go ahead and contact your provider and see about upgrading your service or equipment. For me, I have WiFi tethering on my cell phone plan, so when our internet goes down, I can switch to that. I recommend this to anyone whose job is 100% dependent on having connectivity, which these days, is most of us.
Have a connection back-up plan
Brian
Whenever you have meetings, use video conferencing if you can, downgrading to voice only if you are having connectivity problems. It’s important to stay connected with people on a human level and seeing their faces makes that much easier. Facial expressions and body language are a key part of communication.
See and be seen
Brian
You should also schedule all meetings, and avoid having one without putting it on the calendar first. This is extra important when some people are remote and others are in the office. Be sure to join your meetings a few minutes early to ensure your tech is working. While video is important for connecting with humans, the quality of your audio is important for sharing ideas. Use a good, quality headset with an excellent microphone that can block out background noise. The earbuds are not good enough!
Be prepared
Brian
Be considerate.
Extra considerate.
How you communicate is especially crucial when working remotely. Be deliberate with your communication; choose your words and your tone with care. When using a text communication tool like Slack, intent is often misinterpreted, but this can even happen over video conference. Assume positive intent from people you’re communicating with, and ask clarifying questions if you’re feeling offended or misunderstood.
Brian
Don’t be spontaneous
Whether you’re in the office or working from home, take extra care to document everything. Impromptu conversations and word-of-mouth don’t work when your team is working remote. If you are in the office and have a random conversation, remember to document and share decisions with your remote peers. They are not mind readers! I also encourage you to avoid direct messages whenever possible—use the appropriate team channels instead.
Brian
Respect “the groove”
Also, use the right tools for communication. It’s impossible to know the headspace of your remote peers. In the office, when you see someone has their headphones on and is in a groove, you might avoid interrupting them unless the situation is urgent. Think the same way when you’re remote.”
Brian
Extend the same courtesy
that you do in person
Use the same courtesy that you’d use if you were in person. This may sound counter to the last point, but you’ll also want to be proactive and over-communicate. Remember, people can’t see you working and won’t have as much visibility on your work. Share your progress updates. Share what you are working on. Share when you need to step away from the computer for some reason. If you’re stepping away for a spell that’s longer than usual, let people know, and make sure you’re not blocking them. Share your wins and your struggles. Your team may be struggling with the same things and you can work through it together.
Brian
Trust the team
Managers need to trust their teams and monitor their results. You’ve hired each person for a reason, and you should be able to count on them to continue their great work while remote. Check in regularly with each person with a scheduled 1-on-1 and check in with the whole team. Find out what sucks for your team and help to make it suck less. You may also find that some of the things you do in the remote-first world will be helpful when you’re all back in the office together.
There’s no question that remote working can be isolating, confusing, and challenging (in a myriad of ways). Loneliness is primary among them. The trick to getting the most out of your remote time is making sure that you rarely feel isolated or siloed. Right now, almost everyone is working remotely, so in a sense, you’re never really alone. Still, staying connected can be hard. Here’s how to stay connected as a remote worker, including as an employee and as a person, during your work hours.
Stay Connected
It’s a common misconception that remote
workers don’t attend meetings—they do, often
more frequently than in-office workers. That’s because getting regular, consistent feedback is an important part of productive remote working. If you’re the manager of a remote worker, or a remote worker yourself, consider implementing some of these strategies for staying in touch:
A daily check-in
Even if it’s just over Slack, make sure that everyone is on the same page that they know which daily tasks to prioritize.
A weekly team meeting
When you’re part of a hybrid or remote team, it can be important to hear about what other people are working on—even if it’s outside of the scope of your focus. Try to encourage using Zoom or Google Hangouts. Video can be a bit awkward at first, but it’s more personal than a conference call—and can help bond a team together, setting the groundwork for collaboration (even at a distance).
Find a remote buddy
Friends and so-called “work wives” can have a huge impact on productivity. According to research done by Gallup, women with a work buddy report feeling 63% more engaged with their work than those without one. If you’re a part of a hybrid team, try to find someone that you can regularly check-in with who can help keep you motivated when working alone is getting to be too much.
Set up regular remote meetings
Communication is clearly the key to successful remote working. But sometimes too much communication—or the wrong kind of it—can actually put a damper on productivity. Micromanaging can have a damaging impact on output. That’s why office platforms like Trello, Asana, or Todoist, where team workflow can be monitored and important documents can be shared, are so important. They can help keep a micromanager’s worst tendencies at bay—giving a transparent way for everyone to monitor each other’s progress, as well as their own.
Use a remote working office platform
Slack is good for more than just workflow. When you’re out of the office, keep in touch with your coworkers about more than just your daily tasks. If you can, try to stay up-to-date with people’s birthdays and what’s going on in their lives. Don’t be afraid to touch base with other people about things that aren’t specifically about work—relationship building is part of your job, too! Communicating with your coworkers in lighthearted ways can help keep the out-of-office malaise from setting in, and keep your work on track.
Communicate about more than your remote work
Think about how you look on screen
Get lit
Art direct your video self
Curate your backdrop
Show your style, not your hobbies
Adrienne
Think about how you look on other people’s screens
The first mistake people make is simply not considering how they appear on screen in the first place. I’ve seen people on conference calls just lying on their bellies on the floor, or slouched down on the couch, or in bed. Even at the most casual company, that’s borderline unprofessional.
My favorite tip for accomplishing this? Take a quick screenshot. You can even print it out to get a look at the composition with fresh eyes.
Sometimes you just need a change of perspective. We do it a lot in interior design; instead of just looking at a room in person, take a photo and examine the image. You’d be surprised at what you can see… like spotting a bunch of wires tangled in the background, a distracting mess of books, or that your cat’s litter box is in the frame.
Adrienne
Get lit
Lighting is very important, especially if you’re giving a presentation. Avoid backlighting and make sure the lighting you have is balanced on both sides of your face (so there’s not a shadow on one side). Natural light is best when possible, but if you don’t have a window nearby, use artificial lighting so you don’t leave viewers in the dark!
Adrienne
Art direct your video self
Lighting is very important, especially if you’re giving a presentation. Avoid backlighting and make sure the lighting you have is balanced on both sides of your face (so there’s not a shadow on one side). Natural light is best when possible, but if you don’t have a window nearby, use artificial lighting so you don’t leave viewers in the dark!
Adrienne
Curate your backdrop
Take down all the clutter, sketches, and especially any notes that may have proprietary information about clients. Get rid of the giant iced coffee cup or the stacks of papers and files. Make sure you don’t have any provocative art or book titles in view (unless that’s your brand). Simplify your backdrop so that viewers can focus on you and what you’re saying… not the dirty dishes in your kitchen sink.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to only take your calls in an empty room. I work at a design site, so I don’t want to just have a plain white wall behind me as a background. I want to show off my personality and that I’m a creative, design-minded person, so I’m not afraid to take a call in front of a composition with some art and plants in the background.
Bottom line: Declutter what’s not necessary, add a bit of your personality in the frame, and make sure you’re well lit!
Adrienne
Show your style,
not your hobbies
I think the key is that you want to show your personality as a designer, but stay away from showcasing your hobbies. Everything gives an impression. Think of every meeting as an interview with a potential client. So, if your designing style is very minimal and austere, your backdrop should be very clear. If you’re one of those illustrators who have, like, a very distinctive illustrative style, you can hang some of your work like a portfolio, but it needs to be neat. It should always look like you’re interviewing for a job, because if you work remotely, you kind of are.
You may be wearing pajama bottoms, but that doesn’t mean you (and your surroundings) shouldn’t look good on a computer screen for all those remote meetings. We talked to Adrienne Breaux, the House Tour editor of Apartment Therapy, about how to create the best video version of you.
Give Your Zoom Self a Glow Up
Accentuate the positive
Click to jump to:
How to work remotely
Stay Connected
Give Your Zoom Self a Glow Up
Request demo now
Chat with us
Want to create interactive experiences like this?
