“It’s much harder to swing by a coworker’s desk to ask any questions they have about a request, so they make sure to include any relevant details and context along with any communications they send.” Susan R. Vroman is a lecturer of management at Bentley University. Her research interests include the impact leadership enactment has on organizational culture and employee engagement, with specific focus on supporting flexible work arrangements. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Vroman worked for over 20 years as an organizational effectiveness and strategic human resource management executive and advisor. This phenomenon extends beyond task-related work to interpersonal challenges that can emerge among remote coworkers.

But do you know what the biggest trap of working from home is? Preparing your favorite food beforehand allows you to work remotely from home without wasting precious time in the middle of the day or resulting in unhealthy eating habits. Working in a flow state creates a sense of control and happiness in work. This state of mind boosts your creativity, while reducing stress. If you’re easily distracted from work, this could be the answer to how to successfully work from home or when traveling.

tips for working remotely

It promotes positivity, which leads to building relationships and delivering on objectives. If you’re suddenly not sure what you’re supposed to be doing, ask. Slack your manager, set up a call, make sure that you are clear about what’s expected of you. And if you’re a manager, check in with your team to find out if they understand their tasks.

how to be successful working remotely

It includes features like calendar management, discussion boards, and a newsfeed—making it easy for employees to stay connected on the go. And fortunately, there are tons of options and solutions to help remote teams stay connected and productive from anywhere. A survey by Growmotely found that more than half of remote employees prefer working fully remote. Consider checking in CI CD A Guide to Maturity Continuous with your workforce periodically to uncover their work preferences—whether fully remote, in-office full time, or a hybrid arrangement. Remote work is essentially any work done away from a physical office location. Remote work gives employees the flexibility to do their work and stay productive and connected to their team and office from anywhere—whether on the road or at home.

If a work-related issue is upsetting you, take the matter up privately with your manager or with human resources, if needed. To help you set a similar course for remote work success, we’ve compiled a list of best practices into a “do’s and don’ts” list provided below. We’ve also created an infographic, which Cloud CRM Cloud based CRM software you can view here, that includes the core recommendations for remote work success. Now that you’re working remotely, life will look slightly different . However, if you rely on the 20 work at home tips we’ve listed above, the transition to the freedom of a flexible work style will be smooth and successful.

Create a morning routine

Our aim in doing postmortems is to celebrate what we did, understand the results, and do even better next time. They are one of my favorite tools to use as a remote team and are great for colocated teams as well. For remote teams, since there aren’t any hallway conversations about how a project went, postmortems help us get everything down on paper and discussed. Getting to know your teammates beyond just work will help you feel connected, be more productive, and feel happier at work. Even if you mostly work alone, feeling connected to the team will help you enjoy the work you do. This is especially true since, contrary to popular belief, most remote workers are not introverts.

  • The social benefits are nice to have, but they can become a challenge if you’re easily distracted.
  • Some organizations like Reddit allow their employees to work from anywhere full time.
  • “You will excel in this environment if you are able to manage distractions and remain focused on your work.”
  • Instead, dedicate a desk or table space and some peripherals that will be used only for work.
  • People often assume that those working from a remote location have more distractions than in an office space, but that is not necessarily true.
  • FlexJobs surveyed more than 4,000 remote professionals in 2020 and found that, while remote work is the number one preferred type of flexibility, flexible scheduling was the second most preferred.

This can be bad (you’ve got a hangover, you weren’t able to get any sleep) but typically, it’s quite good. Make sure you share what you’ve written and discuss it with your team, either in your team’s chat app or on calls. Remote work requires purposeful and planned communication. Otherwise, things can get misunderstood, or never communicated in the first place. Try different ways of working, different break times, and working from different places to learn what’s best for you. You should also consider the times when you are most productive and want to do independent work, and when you should do less intellectually stimulating work.

For years, I’ve baked a loaf of bread nearly every week, and usually during the workweek. I love baking bread, but you need to be home to tend to it once an hour or so to punch down the dough, shape the loaf, and let it bake. It doesn’t take a lot of hands-on time, but you need to be there.

Effective Communication

It’s easiest to be in comfortable clothing, ordering take out and working around the clock. Instead of working, you can wash the dishes you forgot to wash the night before. Even do your laundry while you’re on a call, as long as you keep the video off.

While these types of events may sound artificial or forced, experienced managers of remote workers report that virtual events help reduce feelings of isolation, promoting a sense of belonging. Decide what your regular work hours will be and inform your boss and colleagues of your schedule. Your coworkers need to know when you’ll be available for work tasks and meetings, and when you’re clocked out and on personal time. Creating a set schedule also makes it more likely that you won’t consistently work long hours, which will support your overall work-life balance.

When I worked in an office full-time, I struggled to find half a day when I was home to bake. Reading tone in written messages is really difficult in all-remote settings. The less face time you have with people, the more an intentionally concise message can come off as terse and short-tempered. In addition to top-down training, you can request online or in-person courses, training, and coaching if you need it. There are also plenty of online learning sites that teach business soft skills, programming, software skills, and other courses. Remote companies often have a budget for learning and skills training.

When people are able to work as effectively at home as in the office, everyone can do their best work. Remote working is working anywhere outside the office, such as at a coffee shop, bookstore, or at home. Boost trust and encourage development with performance feedback. In other words, how, where, and when they work will look different from in-house employees .

Also, there are countless things that can distract you from the business of work during the day — the TV, social media apps or that closet you’ve been meaning to clean for months, for instance. One aspect of virtual work that many people struggle with is the lack regarding W3 Total Cache settings of in-person interaction with their work colleagues. And there’s no question you’ll need to make an extra effort to forge strong working relationships with your cohorts when working remotely. In fact, cybersecurity should be a top priority when working remotely.

That said, one of the best benefits of remote work is flexibility, when the job allows for it. Sometimes you need to extend your day or start early to accommodate someone else’s time zone. When you do, be sure to wrap up earlier than usual or sleep in a bit the next morning to make up for it. “Flexible scheduling can take many forms and is one of the ingredients that allow remote workers and teams to thrive both at work and in their personal lives,” Reynolds tells TechRepublic. Instant messaging and videoconferencing tools like Slack and Zoom can make it easy to check in with other remote employees and remind you how your work contributes to the big picture.

Keep a Dedicated Office Space

In other words, it’s not enough to throw in virtual happy hours or remote perks. It’s about knowing what your employees need and want and making sure your culture, processes, and policies support them. This can be as simple as taking 5 minutes at the beginning of your weekly team meetings to share about your weekends or scheduling virtual team breaks together to get to know each other.

Connect with your teammates

A final tip for leaders is to find ways to make sure their team is connected. One of the greatest risks of working remotely is that employees feel isolated and lonely. Leaders should work to combat this by creating opportunities for all members of the team to connect and to build personal relationships. To be a good remote employee, it’s essential to not let household to-dos take over your schedule. Sure, throwing in a load of laundry during a work break is fine, but make sure you don’t let miscellaneous household tasks dictate your workday. Not only will they ultimately extend your day past your regular work hours, but the constant interruptions will impede your productivity and performance.