Cam's Tips for Working Remote
As my fiancé and I planned to leave Florida for the holidays last December, she asked me if we could extend our trip to Corning, New York, by a little. And by a little, she meant an entire month.
Being away from one's fiancee for a month is less than ideal, so I asked my boss if it would be alright if I joined her and worked remotely for the month. We worked together to come up with a plan for how my remote month would work and make sure I was set-up for success while away from the office.
Now as the world is going remote due to COVID-19, it feels like the right time to share what I learned during my experience.
First Things First: Make a Plan
Once you know you are going to be working remotely, you need a plan. This plan should highlight things like:
- The dates you are working remotely. I know, kind of up in the air in our current situation.
- Your daily schedule: when you will be online and when you are jumping off for the day. (This is very important if you are going to be working in a separate timezone from where your office is.)
- Defining clear communication channels like Slack, your phone number and any conferencing channels you will utilize.
- How you plan to back up projects and assets.
- Locations of equipment or anything that people might need.
If you set up these expectations before leaving, both you and your co-workers know what to expect.
Here are two other things to consider.
- Make sure you have a strong and reliable internet connection. Not only do you need access to the interwebs for everyday tools like email or design inspiration on Pinterest; you also need to make sure you have open communication channels to your co-workers and the ability to download assets that clients send your way. There is no bigger waste of time than waiting hours for something to download, just to have it fail halfway through.
- Make sure you back up your work regularly. Two major reasons. First, sharing files with co-workers can be harder when at a distance. It isn't as simple as airdropping something anymore. If you back up to the cloud or your office server regularly - you know that anyone who needs access can get it easily. Second, remote work can imply travel with your computer. God forbid something happens to this equipment on the road and everything you've worked on is lost. Backing everything up on a hard drive and a cloud server will ensure that you always have all bases covered.
Set up a Work Station
Sometimes working at the same place you live and relax can prove challenging. Just like your desk at work, you need a home base to put you in the right headspace for getting your work done.
That being said, just because you have a defined workspace doesn't mean you always have to sit there. The benefit of working remote is that you can work anywhere! Sometimes taking a seat on your comfy couch or working from your bed is OK.
But if you find yourself slacking off, head back to your home base.
Communicate Daily
When you are in the office you talk to Project Managers, Creative Directors, and teammates regularly. Why should work remote be any different? In fact, you should communicate with them more than when you are in the office. This way your team knows what you are working on in real-time and it sets expectations for everyone.
Use video chat for all your meetings. You retain more information when you are looking at someone in the eye. So when it comes to important work information or client meetings, make sure you can see the other person and they can see you. Some conversations are easier over the phone or video than they are through email or slack. If you want to talk something out, pick up the phone and call someone to ask questions instead of typing it all out.
While video conference is great for the important work stuff, make sure you don't stop participating in the fun. Whether it's the #fun-Channel, #general, or #music make sure you are part of the conversation. Working remotely can be lonely at times, so communication with your co-workers about non-work topics is a great way to let off some stress while remaining connected to your office culture.
You Have no Commute!
One of the best parts about working remotely is that your commute is zero minutes. This can make a world of difference depending on what your regular work commute was. Now you get extra time in the morning to yourself, and when you are done all you have to do is close your computer. No driving through cruddy rush hour traffic wishing you were home already. Instead, you finish your workday, go right to the fridge, and grab a beer.
Hug your Dog
One last thing I will leave you is this: My favorite part about working remotely is spending all day, every day with my dog. So if you’ve got one, and you see them roll over on their backs or they come and cuddle up next to you, take a minute and give them the well-deserved pets they want and don't take their presence for granted.
Now that you may have the chance to work remotely, I hope you'll see that working from home provides you with some great freedoms that working in the office does not.
