Forum Discussion
Remote working and what it takes
After many years of working from home for different employers and in different countries. It still amazes me is how many employers still refuse to let people work away from the office.
The number one reason I have found for this is not technology, just simply trust or lack of it.
Generally an employer has
- No remote working policy
- Had a bad experience with people taking the wrong attitude towards remote working
- Management who just prefer to have their employees where they can see them. (Yes, I have had people tell me that was the reason they were denied to work remotely.)
There will be organizations who have
- A total ban on working remotely
- A limit it to a number of days per week
- Fully embraced remote working.
Which type do you work for?
Remember trust is an easy thing to break and hard to rebuild.
There are jobs not suited for remote working and of course regulatory compliance conditions which make it impossible, but those are becoming less over time.
First Time Remote Working
The first time I was a remote worker my new manager sat me down and actually explained how uncomfortable she was with having someone work for her that was remote. It was a first for her and the team. I really appreciated her telling me that as it was something I had not thought of before. As in how does it impact the rest of the rest of the team.
We came to some general communication guidelines which we adjusted over time to suit the team and the role. We had time zones and cultures to traverse. With my Team being East Coast US based and myself in the UK at the time. It worked out very well for 5 years. Primarily through having such a great team and flexibility.
It felt strange to work remotely at first because I had to manage my own time and find my way around what worked through trial and error.
So how can we build trust?
Like anything it comes down to good communication. Working remotely means you have to work that bit harder on your communication skills.
Ensuring those people you are working with are continuing to include you. Being out of sight should not mean out of mind!
Make sure you keep close contact with your manager or team colleagues on a regular basis. It is essential to making remote working essential. How you do that is up to you and your Team, you have lots of options.
Find opportunities to shine and stand out too. It maybe being flexible with your hours to accommodate some project work or calls. Remember you have a bit of extra time if you are not commuting every day. So occasionally use it to everyone's advantage.
Time Boundaries
That said when it comes to your work hours set boundaries for yourself. If you do extra make sure you balance it out. Always take your breaks and lunch and make sure you make time for yourself. Get up and move around and don't be tied to your computer. (A good wireless headset is good for that)
Sometimes it is easy to get on a roll and not want to stop. If you need to set yourself an alarm to clock off for the day.
Your Workspace and Headspace
If you are going to be working remotely on a regular basis make sure to setup some dedicated space at home for it. That area needs only to be small, but comfortable and well lit.
You also need to make that space in your mind as a place you work. That way when you are in that space your mind is on work and not your home. Conversely when you are not in that space you are at home and not work. If you can hide your work space away all the better. When working remote I had a desk which was a cabinet with doors on it. So at the end of the day I closed the cabinet and work vanished!
Minimize distractions
TV, Radio, Phone and even outside noises can stop you from focusing. Switch non work devices off, close the windows and doors. Put your phone somewhere you have to get out of your seat to reach it and avoid temptation.
Family will initially treat you as if you are on vacation when working from home. You will have to remind them numerous times that you are working. Give them some kind of signal as to when you are and are not available. It will take a long time and persistence to get that boundary in place.
Similar thing with any pets, especially cats. They love to wander over the keyboard when you least expect it.
Introvert / Extrovert
If you identify as one or the other remote working will be a different experience for you.
Introverts like me tend to thrive with remote working from home. The lack of interruptions, noise and yes people make remote working easier.
Extroverts, however have a harder time as they need people and the noise to thrive. Some of the better options for these people is to limit your remote working time away from the office or if you can work from an external location, though keep to your organizations security policy. At least get out an have lunch around people.
Summary
- Remote working is still a privilege and shows your organization has trust in you. Don't break it as you could break it for everyone else.
- Work harder on communications, It will be trial and error to get things just right.
- Have boundaries and remove distractions.
- See people when you need to.
- Use all the tools at your disposal
Philip Worrell How i wish i could read your blog before the WFH time during COVID 19! It is really helpful~
I like your points of boundaries of time management. At first of the time of WFH, my working time and break time totally mixed up, i'm sitting on the chair in the whole morning like a statue as there are so many things on the communication. And i can't even feel whether i am hungry or not after working. Really mess up in the beginning.
We really need to fully prepare the WFH physically and mentally altogether.
Now after a few weeks, as you mentioned, we had the WFH policy for general working atmosphere. I start to trust my colleagues even they are far away from me if we could decide the processes and talk about the expected results with team ahead. I feel relieved and more confident with the WFH time communication right now. But still learnt a lot from your blog. Thanks for sharing!- Our organization tends to have an inconsistent policy around working from home that seems to be on a per-manager basis. We have a lot of managers who feel you have to dress a certain way or be present to be productive. They also are unfortunately often the ones who micromanage their teams.
Meanwhile, others allow it, but the effort to include those WFH can be a challenge since you are not as visible and meetings often forget about those not there.
These are some great tips overall. I think what I would include in that list is that leaders need to remain mindful that all of their team is included when some are in the office, and others are not and that decisions that were once group exercises don't accidently become silo's.- Thanks Christopher,
I have seen it where remote working is left to manager discretion and that is what happens. It is like you are being punished because your manager is fearful. Some times discussing it with HR can help but not always.
I mentioned about having to improve your communication skills due to make sure you are included. There will be times when you as a remote worker do feel excluded. Things like office events and people birthdays. It is always worth making a business trip to the office if at all possible from time to time. When you do arrange time with colleagues and build that rapport.
Managers do feel bad about you missing out at least the ones I have had. So make up for it when you are there. - AnnaChu
Microsoft
Keep us posted SyntaxBearror as I expect the current environment is shifting a lot of perception on what it takes to truly WFH. How will this impact company culture?
ShonaBang I think you'd like to hear some of these perspectives considering you are also 'roomies' with a fellow MSFT employee
- ShonaBang
100% agree that setting boundaries with your co-WFH spouse is super critical. It takes a lot of patience, coordination and COMMUNICATION to ensure that you get a good setup going in your home.
Living in a small home (hey, housing prices are expensive in WA!) means you need to be really creative about the spaces you can carve out for these purposes. My husband and I set an agreement that whoever has a "big call" (i.e where one of us has to speak/present on it, lead etc) gets to have the home office while the other will have to use either the living room, or dining table or the kitchen counter as a working bar area. If you both need to have calls at the same time, then just be sure to set expectations about noise level (keeping tones down, opening/closing doors quietly etc). The last thing you want when you're working in the kitchen bar area for your spouse to come in and turn on the blender to make a smoothie etc 🙂 Communication is everything.
For more tips on working remotely, I also recommend reading this post by our Humans of IT guest blogger and Microsoft WFH veteran April Spreight- a few years ago she transitioned to a fully remote role and called it "life-changing": https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/humans-of-it-blog/guest-blog-adjusting-to-a-fully-remote-work-life/ba-p/1210320
Philip Worrell I wholeheartedly agree about the need to establish trust through good communication.
Frequent communication is important. Let people know what you're working on. Ask questions of your team. Answer their questions. Have a bit of fun too.
This is why chat-based communication is a great medium for working from home. Conversations don't need to be a long, composed email. They can be fluid and open.
- AnnaChu
You raise some very good points Philip Worrell particularly that you need to set boundaries with your family - that this isn't a holiday! I also liked your very first point about transparency with your colleagues and employer about how everyone feels about working from home. For some it really is uncomfortable, even turning on that pesky webcam. All good points that bear reminding.
I loved the point on boundaries as well AnnaChu. 🙂
They can even be important on the flip side of that coin. With the "office" just a few feet away from the "family room", when I'm not working, it can be all too easy to say, "I'm just going to do like 10 minutes worth of work....."
...You will then find the family staring at you or beginning to feel like you are never "off work".Being disciplined with ourselves to ensure we are "off work" can be a hard balance to find, but one that is equally important.
DavidWarner I find that challenging as well, but it was one of the first challenges I really worked to overcome, and where my wife really supported me. When I´m working, regardless from where, I´m at work. I dont do anything with the household at all, a part from during lunch breaks if needed. That means that I have more time, and that I also CANT put the blame on "private stuff" when I struggle with deadlines. That makes more more focused in general.
When my daughter is at home, she is three, its more challenging since she of course wants to spend time with me, or at least look at me when working. However, we can usually come to some to some agreement 😛
