Working remotely amidst COVID-19

Amidst this difficult time, maybe COVID-19 becomes a catalyst for driving improved remote working at more companies đŸ€ž

Picture of Ruan Odendaal

Written by Ruan Odendaal

17 March 2020 · 4 min read

A coffee next to a laptop

This has been a topic on my blog list for some time now, however, with COVID-19 it seems more important than ever.

Remote working can force great new ways of working and in my experience when done well, keeps meetings focused.

Don’t get me wrong, doing remote working well is hard, it takes a shift in ways of working, I think for the better, especially for companies not set up for it and in my opinion many still focus on presenteeism.

Trust your team

It goes without saying you should do this irrespective of being remote or not, however, some people will say things like

What are they up to? They’re not always available

In my experience, the people who ask these questions are typically not measuring success by outcomes but by output. If you haven’t already set some KPIs or OKRs or whatever works for your business but set some NOW! This is a whole other post topic I could talk about.

Schedule your time

It’s easy for people to feel pressured to show they are present. Hopefully, you have a trusting manager and team, so keep focused on your objectives and not how many hours you’re online.

It’s too easy for time to disappear too since there won’t be the typical human interruptions or social queues for lunch or grabbing a coffee etc. Schedule break time, practice the Pomodoro technique or some other time management techniques so you don’t get burnt out.

Turn your video on

Seeing a real person at the other end of a call makes a difference.

Sounds stupid but turn your mic off when not speaking

I can’t tell you how many times people forget this and all you hear is them chomping away at a chocolate bar. It’s impossible to hear each other and you get insanely jealous that you don’t have one 😂

Learn to turn your notifications off when in “meetings”

In most meetings, I try not to have my laptop open and I take a notepad. However, now you’ll be on your laptop 100% of the time. Learn to turn off your notifications so that you stay in the room and aren’t distracted by constant email or slack notifications.

Over communicate

I can’t say this enough but over communicate everything. Write up meeting notes, send clarification messages and make time for personal updates.

Make time for pleasantries

Being remote can remove some of the human element out of communication. Take time to ask how people are and listen before you jump straight into work mode.

Learn with your team

Every team is different, we all work slightly differently but make time to discuss remote working techniques that you’d like to try. Some simple things I’ve done:

  • Socialise virtually - create a meeting whose sole purpose is to catch up over coffee.
  • Make sure there is one facilitator, who should ensure each person in the meeting has a say.
  • Create a Google Doc for each meeting and have everyone collaborate on it in real-time.
  • Make space for things to be parked; items that can be discussed later

Get out the house

Make time to get out of the house where safe to do so. Go for a walk and get some fresh air (whilst following social distancing or your local advice).

Working at home for extended periods can be hard if you’re not used to it, but create a routine and get some fresh air.

There are so many things you can try as an individual and as a team; test, learn and adapt
.what other choice do we have?

Further reading