Working Remote Guide

When the pandemic started and everyone was sent home, I witnessed the effects it had on the teams and individuals. It initially began with some excitement with the newness of the dynamic (most of us still assumed it would last only a few weeks). Some thrived with this new work style, while others struggled in really big ways. This gave me pause and I began researching healthy techniques for staying productive, focused, engaged and still retain the feeling of being part of a team and not on an island.

While working remotely, we lose opportunities for personal relationships, face-to-face communication, and organic relationship growth through proximity and sharing a common space. We no longer feel the energy of the room to adapt our behaviors. This makes it difficult to monitor the reception of our audience and their understanding, and we miss out on 'watercooler talk'. All these situations can be abated or negated by the creation of a remote working foundation that we can build upon.

The recommendations below are guidelines and standards encouraged—they are not mandates. This guide is a starting point to keeping the team dynamics and culture alive and well by continuing to build new relationships internal and external of your team.

Guidelines for Enabling a Successful Remote Team:

Establish Structured Check-Ins and Expectations

Our team ceremonies are set and ad-hoc meetings can be planned. Keep to a schedule that aligns well with the team while being diligent about allowing flexibility.

Establish Expectations for Digital Meetings

While in digital meetings, it is highly encouraged to be "camera on" to aid in the 7% rule (see below) and build trust. There may be exceptions; perhaps overly large meetings you don't feel comfortable or you are present only for gaining knowledge as opposed to sharing knowledge. Or perhaps in long meetings when staying 100% attentive and staring at your screen becomes uncomfortable. Not to mention family life distractions, contractors in the house, or someone who shows up at the door.

Focus on Relationships

Half the battle in a healthy team dynamic is collaboration, communication, and building trust. Start with relationships.

Aim to provide opportunities for relationship growth. Aim to encourage going out of the way to build new relationships. Encourage random 'coffee dates' or shared lunches to have an open dialogue. Encourage the use of team “happy hours” for having fun or going deep on a topic of choice.

Focus on Outcomes

Not hours of work. Measure the success of our deliverables and commitments to understand the velocity, the health of our product/codebase, and bring insight into our process and efficacy. Early awareness of potential blockers/troubles and the ability to jump on problems before they grow.

Create a Healthy Support System

This is two-tier:

Providing guidance and easy reference for accessing and getting the support needed to be able to deliver value. Do you have the equipment you need? Is your system running properly? Are you locked out and need a password reset?
Build trust so we can support each other on a personal level. Options are available for so much support, but they can be lost on us based on a lack of awareness. Make it visible.

Use the Right Tools

The right tools are critical to remote work. Workers are luckier than ever right now to have effective tools that mitigate a lot of our on-site needs. Video conferencing without lag (Zoom), real-time communication and collaboration via Slack, async knowledge sharing through video (Loom), and easy pairing sessions with live-share coding sessions WHILE conferencing. Close the communication gap by effectively using the tools provided. See a gap in what is needed and know a tool that allows us improve? Let your leaders know and let them fight for it.

Other areas include office equipment and the right space. Don't have what you need? Bring it to leadership awareness and they will do what they can to support it. Everyone needs, and should be empowered and ready to attack the problems and features at hand.

Show Up

This is an encouragement to bring who you are to the table and let your colors shine. We are individuals and an environment should be established that allows everyone to feel safe to be themselves. Working remotely is an opportunity to be yourself up while already in a space that already feels ‘at home’, quite literally.

Be Present

Working remotely we are no longer visible to our peers. Expect team members to be present for regularly scheduled ceremonies and meetings, and expect clear communication and updates of unexpected events that disrupt this. Life isn't always structured and known, but communication can win the day.

Humanize

Go deeper into technological opportunities to humanize the workplace. Have meetings with cameras 'on' to see a familiar face. Set up a randomized coffee date to encourage meeting new people or deepening a relationship. Encourage leaders to be more visible and communicate more often. Engage with team members often and satiate basic needs for connection.

Don't stress about home distractions and make it okay for random drop-ins from family members or pets. It is an opportunity to get to know your team better and their loved ones.

Practice Work/Life Separation

We hear often that it can be difficult to separate schedules between work and life and it is difficult to create separation. This is a common struggle and creating structure is critical to promoting a healthy work/life balance and preventing burnout. Some common suggestions include:

Set a structured work schedule and try to keep to it. Clearly define work hours and close your laptop or leave your office when done. Try not to open again for the evening and only deviate when required by urgent events (pager-duty etc).
Have a Morning Routine Rolling out of bed to open up your laptop is not the right start to a day. Focus on yourself first and satisfy your biological and mental needs first. Take the time you need in the morning to maximize success later in the day. Workout? Eat breakfast? Sip your morning coffee? Read a book? Meditation/yoga? Up to you! Create a habit!
Set Boundaries Create boundaries for family or roommates on when and how to interact with you during your workday while being mindful of the needs of others in your home. Set up boundaries for yourself when it is acceptable to continue working and when it is not. Do not bring work with you anywhere unless during regular work hours or on pager duty.
Get into the Flow Create your ideal working environment, define your 'Power Hour' and protect it. Minimize distractions and get absorbed into the work at hand. More focus and productivity during productive hours allow you to relax and release later when the day is ending.
Take Breaks Taking a break from staring at a screen will improve productivity in the long run. It helps free up the brain from cyclical thinking when your head is deep into a problem. And moving your body is critical to a healthy and focused brain. In a remote dynamic, don't have expectations of an immediate response to a question in digital channels. Expedient responses are commonly expected, so if breaks are longer than 15 minutes, create a status update or notify the team of your absence. Yet, do take breaks!
Mark the end of the Day End your day at your scheduled time (or notify the team of an unexpected schedule change) and go enjoy time with friends and family, home projects, personal projects, or hobbies. You do you. This is your time, take it.
Ask For Support Are you feeling the stresses of life and the burnout from lack of connection? Don't hold back on asking for support from family, friends, and even trusted coworkers or an Employee Assistance Plan (if one exists). You are not alone and acknowledge it won't always be this hard.

Philosophies to Apply

7% Rule

You may have heard the statistic that only 7% of communication is verbal and 93% is non-verbal. Being remote, we need to recapture the human aspect of work and how we relate to one another.

Trust

Trust is critical for team success. We are better together but only if we can rely on each other. Here are some ways to build trust:

Use open communication.
Be vulnerable.
Be your true self and not putting on a personae.
Involve ourselves in the team and voice our honest opinions and feedback.
Be sincere and caring about your fellow (wo)man.
Be a leader and lead by example.

Life Distractions

Some of us live alone. Some of us live with a partner or roommate or even parents. Some of us live with a partner, children, and a dozen fur babies. We each handle remote work/life in the best way we can to minimize distractions and continue to provide value. Be understanding of these dynamics and attempt to promote a healthy work/life balance that fits the individual. The team should do their best to work around individual needs whenever possible, but as they say, the show must go on.

Power Hour

Everyone has a circadian rhythm (energy/fatigue cycle) that gives varying aptitudes of self (mental, physical, behavioral) at different hours of the day. Do yourself a favor, and block off time to manage expectations and deliverables during your most optimal time of day. Our energy ebbs and flows during the day, and we encourage you to attack your own highest-priority items during this time. Protect that time. Find your power hour.

Knowledge Management

Create, maintain and share experience to empower and level-up our teammates. Create an environment where team members are motivated to build and share learnings, and create a system for others to find answers quickly and efficiently. This is a continuously moving target in the engineering and product world and we choose to make it a priority to share the well of knowledge we collectively hold. As they say, sharing is caring. And as I like to say, Knowledge is power, knowledge sharing is empowering.

Read: Knowledge Management Polices

Assume Positive Intent

This is a big one and is most relevant with text-based communication. Sometimes folks are in a hurry, sometimes people are extra brief, and sometimes emojis aren't used to express the tone of the language. Language can come across as harsh. This happens often enough, be aware of this when reading a message using the voice and tone heard from inside our own heads (and this can change based on our current emotions). If you have a negative emotional response to a message, don’t assume you understand the proper tone and intent, and follow up for clarification. If necessary, schedule a call or video chat to ensure understanding. When hiring, the first qualifier is typically “do we want to work with you” and then focus on talents. No leader has intentions of hiring people that do not speak constructively and with positive intent… so assume positive intent first then go from there.

You May Work Alone, But You Are Part of a Team

It can be stressful struggling on a problem when working remotely. Do NOT struggle for to long and ask for help. When success happens, it is done together. It can feel great appreciating someone else, just as it does to receive appreciation (create a #kudos channel!). As the modified Swedish saying goes:

A problem shared is a problem halved, a joy shared is a joy doubled.

Additional Resources

auth0: 21 Tried-and-True Tips For Remote Working

GitLab: Remote Work Starter Guide for Employees

Zapier: How to Manage A Remote Team