Coronavirus has made remote work the new standard. But, lost reason and decreased camaraderie don’t need to be. Here’s the way to keep your company work culture alive:
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1) Make time for small talk.
For Organizations, while managing remote workers, it’s easy to simply discuss the main priority and get done and end your call, and get back to executing. Furthermore, in some cases, that is actually what you should do; if you’re on a tight deadline, battling a fire, or just having a quick standup meeting that makes sense.
In any case, if that is all you do, you’re truly missing out on a basic part of the management.
You should build a report with *every* colleague. Rapport is the thing that will help you with working through issues each colleague has, trust they can come to you with things essential to them, and give you the best about you when you make on a mistake or a disliked choice.
Rapport (Compatibility) doesn’t come from doing and discussing work. Rapport originates from getting to know them as a complete individual.
2) Create morning and evening routines
As telecommuters, our “drive” is often only a couple of steps from bedroom to office – there’s no travel time to signal toward the brain that work is starting and closure. That implies it can sometimes be difficult to get into “work mode” for the day and also out of it at the end of the day.
I’ve discovered that it encourages a great deal to set up morning and evening schedules that advise your brain when it’s an ideal time to begin working and when it’s a great opportunity to finish.
I try to keep my schedules simple, and I use an application called Streaks to help me with building new habits and stay responsible. I’ve discovered that the way to building habits is to be consistent and disciplined.
Quick takeaways: Morning and evening schedules can help open and close your day as a telecommuter. Keep your schedules simple and consistent.
3) Communication Issues and Being Out of the Loop
Why communication is paramount for a remote team—and why it’s such a challenge:
When the bulk of your communication happens through skype, WhatsApp, email and so forth, it doesn’t take much for bad blood to develop unless everyone is making their best effort unexpectedly. Little misunderstandings that could have been halted from developing in any way with the wink of an eye or a specific manner of speaking can rapidly snowball into the drama.
Remember that Remote work needs additional communication.
The communication issue is intensified if some of your team operate from office but you don’t. You miss all the overheard conversations and work area meetings.
You may feel distrustful that others are having meetings and settling on their own predictions without you—and you’d probably be right. Except if the organization has built a remote work culture of inclusion for telecommuters, you may be no longer of any concern.
The main genuine solution is to convey as much as could be possible—explaining whatever could be a misunderstanding—and to be proactive in speaking up.
4) Be Available and Respond Quickly
Out of sight, out of mind. As a natural side-effect of working in an office together, individuals, for the most part, feel like they have the option of asking a question or favor from a fellow collaborator. By only being in the workplace, co-workers see each other as being “available” and fairly responsive.
As a telecommuter, you have no such luxury. It is dependent upon you to make an additional effort to tell others, through your activities, that they can rely on you. That requires you to ensure that you are available as often as possible for unplanned meetings, chats or even re-organizing tasks to help other people.
You may need to sacrifice a little bit more than office employees to be constantly available, but it is well worth, in the end. You should respond quickly to questions and absolutely never let anybody feel like you’re less responsive because you are not across the table or down the corridor. Being responsive and available creates trust with others and gives you credibility.
Presently, like never before, it’s easy to stay connected while working remotely.
Remote Work is No more a Challenge:
Despite the above challenges, remote work is exceptionally rewarding — as long as you know what you’re getting into and can handle these common issues in the job. If you drive forward, you’ll appreciate flexibility, self-satisfaction, the opportunity to work in your best environment, higher productivity—and maybe also more time for an actual life that exists outside of work as well.
Fully Remote Companies That Thrive on Virtual Work, Hiring Now
COVID-19 has widely and seriously disturbed the working environment, with many organizations adopting remote work as an option in contrast to the traditional office, and many others tragically reducing hours for their employees or laying them off altogether. To help inspire organizations searching for best remote work practices and to help job seekers interested to work in remote jobs — FieldEngineer Freelance Marketplace has connected with fully virtual organizations that are also currently hiring.
Our listed organizations allow all of their colleagues to work from home 100 percent of the time and currently have remote job openings. Since these organizations are fully remote and have been for years since their establishment, they are well equipped to continue hiring and welcoming on new workers during this uncertain time.
You may feel that remote jobs are limited to engineers and freelancers that work for global organizations. But, reconsider. These fully remote organizations that let each worker work remotely 100% of the time. Large organizations and small organizations across many industries include this list.
Virtual Work Could Soon Be the New Normal
As more organizations make remote work part of the organization culture, day by day commutes, inflexible hours, and physical workplaces are becoming dim & out of style. If you’re thinking to be a part of the new normal, we have a lot of resources to raise you to an acceptable level. Learn how to stay on track and be productive as a remote worker, how to set up your home office, how to telecommute with children, and more.