Whether you’re working remotely due to the pandemic or you’ve been doing it awhile and want to improve your game, we’ve got you covered. Our best tips below, from people who have it down.
Communicate Better with Your Manager
“Be deadly serious about your daily meetings. Even if you need to drop everything you’re doing or don’t have much to report—call in for the daily meetings. Make it a habit, and make sure you exchange a few words with your manager every day.”
—Nina Krol, outreach specialist, Zety
“Don’t be afraid to take the initiative for scheduling or improving remote meetings. Ideally, remote work communication strategies should come from the top down, but that’s not always the case.”
—David Cusick, chief strategy officer, House Method
“Communicate your schedule with your manager right off the bat. Set the ballpark hours when you’ll be working and available to chat, including the best timeframe for check-ins. It’s especially important to do this if you’re a working parent juggling multiple roles throughout your workday. Let your boss know your hours so they can’t make so many assumptions about your productivity or habits.”
—Ty Stewart, CEO and president, Simple Life Insure
“The key components of being a good remote worker are communication and reliability. How do you know if you’re communicating too little or too much? My rule of thumb is to make sure your work is done on time and to touch base with your manager periodically to see if there is anything you can take off their plate. But managers are busier than ever, so don’t overdo the communication and become a nuisance. The other important factor of working remotely is reliability. Many companies are anxious about not being able to constantly monitor their team and are looking for staff to step up. If you’re asked to do something, get a due date and get the work done. If you have calls or meetings, be present and do your homework beforehand. Your manager should be able to call on you via phone or email like they would if they were knocking on your office door.”
—Brendan Heffernan, writer/editor, Dunk or Three
“If a question or concern requires an in-depth explanation, use a video platform to share screens. These platforms provide more responsive dialogue compared to emails that may get lost in the shuffle.”
—Shannon Walker, founder and president, WhistleBlower Security
“Asking for feedback from your manager is one of the easiest and most effective ways of communicating efficiently and better.”
—Antreas Koutis, assistant administrative and HR manager, Financer.com
“Always follow up with an email to recap objectives after a meeting. Attach deadlines to each to make sure you’re aligned with your team and boss.”
—Eva Peris, cofounder of Wanted
“Many teams struggle with finding the most amazing tool out there. The tool really isn’t the problem, it’s agreeing on the tool. The best thing you can do is get clear with your manager on the communication method they prefer and then agree on how you will communicate. For example, I know that an email will get seen within 24 hours, but if something is urgent, I will send a text message.”
—Allison Chaney, chief digital training officer, Boot Camp Digital
“Remote employees can improve their communication skills by learning about their manager’s preferred style, frequency and method of communication. Some managers prefer to only hear from their employees at the weekly round-up, whereas some prefer daily updates over Slack or a project management tool. By understanding how, what and when their manager expects to hear from them, remote workers can answer questions before they arise. There are two ways to understand a manager’s communication style: observation and questioning.”
—Nelson Jordan, conversion copywriter, digital marketer and host of the Working from Home podcast
Communicate Better with Your Peers
“Most of the time, employees are too focused on a task to actually explain why they need the task completed. Communicating to your teammates why you need that task delivered at a certain time will help them understand how they can contribute.”
—Eva Peris
“Come to an agreement on how members of the organization will communicate with each other. No one method of communication is the best all the time. When an immediate answer is needed or the issue requires discussion, use the phone. For communication that needs an answer within minutes, use text or a chat app. For issues that need a reply within a couple of days, use email. For phone calls that need preparation and focus, use an autoscheduler so a specific time is set aside on each person’s calendar for the call. It sure beats telephone tag. I use a free service called Meetingbird.com.”
—Dr. Frank Buck, author of Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders, FrankBuck.org
“When it comes to communication, you don’t want to be on either extreme. It’s annoying to coworkers if you’re constantly messaging with updates and questions, which can distract them or break their focus. On the other extreme, if you never update coworkers about your progress or reply to messages, it could prevent them from doing their job properly, or lead to redundant work. A good gauge is to compare the frequency of your communication to others on your team. You shouldn’t consistently be the one sending the most or the least messages.”
—Matt Erhard, managing partner, Summit Search Group
“Respect your colleagues’ needs and preferences when it comes to communications. If you don’t know what those preferences are, ask! For instance, you might know your colleague has a toddler at home. Phone calls might be easier than stationary video calls, since they allow your colleague to talk hands-free away from a screen while multitasking with their child.”
—Ty Stewart
“We’ve seen a lot of success by adding new Slack channels for office-cooler conversations. We’re sharing recipes, movie recommendations and weekend travel pics from our team around the world…find out what your coworkers enjoy, then suggest a topic based on mutual interests.”
—David Cusick
“Agree on a communication platform that is easy for everyone to use. My coworkers and I use Google Hangouts. I leave the window open all day and immediately know if someone needs something. We also have shared calendars, so if someone is not answering immediately, we know they’re busy or in a meeting.”
—Allison Chaney
“Apart from attending the daily huddles, make sure you socialize with your colleagues once in a while. Slack helps work colleagues stay connected and share ideas daily. You can set up a dedicated channel for funny memes or pictures of your pets—something to help you blow off steam and share a laugh. You can also hop on a Zoom video call and play online games. There’s plenty to choose from, including Pictionary, e-charades or Cards Against Humanity and other group activities that span from strategy games and puzzles to those that are more about making each other laugh.”
—Nina Krol
“Here’s the cure-all: virtual working sessions. We are a company that was born online, so we had to get good at this from the get-go. The main issue we had was creating a sense of togetherness. My cofounder works from Ecuador and I from Chicago, and we have team members hopping on from Virginia. We set up two- to three-hour sessions each week for team members to work together. There is no agenda, and employees come and go as they please and work on whatever they please. The result: Team members are three times more responsive on their projects. Goals are actively set and hit each week, and team members say they feel like they’re part of a team again.”
—Rishav Khanal, chief executive officer, inPerson
“Be an exceptional listener. People are desperately looking for other people to listen to them. While your coworker speaks, be present. There is a reason why you have two ears and one mouth. Use them accordingly!”
—Andreas Koutis
“Whether you are senior or a newbie, keeping your [communication] lines open to everyone is one of the best forms of virtual respect you can give. If you want your private number kept private, have a separate phone that people can call with work-related problems. Allow everyone on the team to feel [they can] call you because you are the person who’s a call away.”
—Alicia Hough, corporate wellness expert, The Product Analyst
“Make sure your message is suited to the medium you’re using. If you have a quick question that will require a one-word answer, like Is this blog post approved to go live?, use an instant messaging tool. If it’s a topic that requires in-depth discussion, like We need to talk about this presentation for the Q4 board meeting, book a video call at a time when all parties are able to concentrate on the task at hand.”
—Nelson Jordan
“Open your webcam. Also, if you have colleagues in a different time zone, take note and message them during their working hours.”
—Owen Drury, digital editor, ODDigital
“Work ahead of deadlines to avoid creating emergencies. Sometimes you need a piece of information from someone else before you can move forward on a project. Allow plenty of time in case the other person is unreachable or swamped with work. Don’t let procrastination on your part create an urgency on their part.”
—Frank Buck
“My number-one advice: Condense your communications into as few messages as possible. One of my communication pet peeves is when people send out five one-sentence emails in the span of an hour when they could have sent one message if they thought through what they wanted to say from the beginning. This is especially important if you’re sending messages to a group. Multiple messages lead to multiple reply threads, and that kind of clutter causes confusion and information to be missed.”
—Matt Erhard
Limit Distractions
“Get a room. No room? Get a designated corner, space or table just for working. Avoid working from bed or a couch, because only a few can.”
—Owen Drury
“Stay off social media. Period. It’s a time suck, and I am a digital marketer whose job is to be on social media all the time. Do your best to avoid personal social media site-checking, and stay focused on your tasks. Set deadlines so you’re focused on completing the task vs. whatever is distracting you.”
—Allison Chaney
“You can’t always control distractions, but you can control how many of them you perceive. Having background noise can help block out audible distractions. Don’t use something that’s equally distracting (e.g., don’t turn on the TV).”
—Matt Erhard
“Dealing with distractions as a remote employee is the key to productivity. If you find yourself checking social media as a form of procrastination, use tools like WorkMode and StayFocusd to block access to your accounts for a pre-set period. If you find yourself turning on the TV for background noise, unplug it at the start of every workday or relocate to another room with fewer distractions. If you find yourself distracted by notifications or emails, make it known to your coworkers that you’ll only be available between certain times for productivity reasons.”
—Nelson Jordan
“Distractions can happen anywhere in any environment, and a dedicated workspace may not always be feasible for employees working from home. Decluttering the dedicated space will help provide a more productive environment.”
—Shannon Walker
“Using the Pomodoro Technique® is my one and only tip. Divide your time into ‘Pomodoros.’ Each is a set of 30 minutes where 25 minutes are for work and five minutes are for rest. During the 25 minutes, set yourself a task and do not focus on anything else. After 25 minutes, spend five minutes on a distraction of your choice. These five-minute breaks are mandatory even if the task isn’t finished. After five minutes, start the next Pomodoro and continue the task or start another task. This method has improved the productivity of my entire team.”
—Will Ward, CEO, Translation Equipment HQ
“Avoid distractions by having interesting work at hand. Plan your day the evening before. Establish your ‘Fab 5.’ What are the five items that represent urgent tasks that significantly move a project forward? Put those at the top of your task list. I assign a ‘Priority 1’ to them in Remember the Milk™ [a to-do app]. That puts them at the top of my ‘Today’ list. Break projects into bite-sized pieces that can be accomplished in one sitting. When things are hard or ambiguous, we resist them. Facebook is never ambiguous. It’s easy, and it’s interesting. That’s why people get sucked in.”
—Frank Buck
“Distractions are a part of working. The secret to hacking your own focus is to establish at-work routines. That means working the same hours every day in the same dedicated workspace. It also means scheduling periodic breaks.”
—Ty Stewart
“Distractions are a hard one. I’ve tackled them a few ways: Using extensions/apps to block websites such as Facebook during work hours, [following] the Pomodoro Technique (either 25 minutes working followed by a 5-minute break, or 50 minutes/10 minutes) and altering work hours. If you want to start at 7:30 a.m., and you’re allowed to, do so! I get more distracted in the afternoon, so I make sure to work hard in the morning so I get a lot of work done before lunchtime.”
—Rhiannon Moore, hiring manager, evopure.co.uk
“Mark out your deep work time in advance, and let your employer know you’ll be doing so. Mute notifications, put on noise-canceling headphones and have your to-do list lined up. You should know the approximate [number] of hours it takes you to finish key tasks. If you still can’t handle them even with distractions blocked, track your time and discuss a solution with your manager. You may simply be overburdened, and now you have the data to prove it.”
—David Cusick
Set Boundaries
“A team, not just an employee and her manager but the whole team, should set expectations. Define core working hours, say 10 a.m.– 4 p.m., when everyone’s around and responsive. Outside of that, people can set their [own] expectations, e.g., ‘I start at 7 a.m. because my kids end school at 4 p.m., so I’m not available after 4:00 except for emergencies.’”
—Mark A. Herschberg, author, The Career Toolkit: Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You
“If you can’t follow a schedule or are unable to set boundaries, you need self-control. Words of motivation or self-motivation are useful to regain some balance. Don’t work [during] your break hours or you’ll end up exhausting and stressing yourself, which will reduce your productivity.”
—Rolf Bax, HR manager, resume.io
“Employees who find themselves working all the time should try bullet journaling to track working hours. If journaling is hard, use software that tracks your time. At the end of the day, go through the amount of time you worked. Do this every day. After a week or two, you’ll notice changes in how and when you work. Simply raising the awareness of your process will autocorrect most unhealthy habits that lead to a lack of balance.”
—Will Ward
“It’s far too easy to answer the email that comes in at 9 p.m. and end up still staring at the screen three hours later. Habit is the key here. At the beginning of the day, clear some time for the tasks that are important to you. They could be personal tasks, activities like exercise or deep work that require your full concentration. Protect these hours fiercely. Every day, I begin my morning with yoga and reading. No matter how hectic my day becomes, I know that I’ve accomplished two things that make me feel good and move me forward. I don’t open my laptop, look at emails or think about work until these two things are done. Remote employees can also benefit by implementing a ‘hard stop time.’ This is a time where no matter what is going on, they’ll close the laptop, put the phone down and concentrate on something else. If there are days where you have to break this, that’s fine; just realize that on other days you’ll have to stop earlier to make up for it. If you’re breaking your hard stop almost every night, you need to rethink what’s most important to you. If that’s work, fine, but make sure your family and friends are on the same page—otherwise it’s not fair to them.”
—Nelson Jordan
“This issue is very common, especially for those who don’t have a lot of experience working remotely. There are two common scenarios here. First, employees don’t set boundaries with other people and get overwhelmed with requests. Second, they don’t set boundaries with themselves and end up becoming the victim of an ‘it’s never enough’ mindset. The first step to fixing this issue is self-awareness. You need to be brutally honest with yourself and identify the problem. Once you do, set clear boundaries with others and with yourself. At the beginning of each workday, review your objectives and priorities. Ask yourself: What do I need to accomplish today to feel comfortable switching off? Write everything down and commit to switching off your computer once you accomplish those objectives so you can enjoy your well-deserved rest time.”
—Jimmy Naraine, entrepreneur, Udemy teacher
“When working remotely, it’s easy to get carried away. Put together clear mini-guidelines on when to work and pick a definitive end time to wrap up the workday. You should be productive and execute on your deliverables, but not at the expense of burnout.”
—Max Woolf, career expert, Resume Lab
“Schedule things that cause you to have to stop. I like scheduling a 6 p.m. yoga session, because I know I have to stop work at 5:30 or I’ll miss it.”
—Allison Chaney
“Do a ‘fake commute’ by leaving the house for a quick walk before the day starts. This might feel silly, but I’ve tried it, and it’s quite a nice way to start the day!”
—Rhiannon Moore
“I’ve found a combination of a time-tracking app and break-time alarms to be helpful in reining myself in. It seemed counterintuitive at first, but tracking time helps me keep an objective view, and I find it’s easier to force myself to step away when I can see I’ve already put in eight productive hours. As for the alarms, I set one to tell me when it’s time for lunch, a second to indicate it’s the end of the day, and a third 30 minutes after that—the ‘no, really, stop working now’ alarm.”
—Matt Erhard
Avoid These Common Mistakes
“Recognize the communication styles and timing of other people. It’s easy to walk by someone’s desk and see that they’re busy. It’s harder when they are at home 50 miles away. You can send them an IM, but the message notification may distract them. Talk with others on your team about when and how to interrupt each other. You may even want to set aside specific blocks of time when people understand that everyone is ‘heads down’ and won’t respond to calls, emails or IMs.”
—Mark A. Herschberg
“When working remotely, especially from home, it’s easy to forget that we are meant to be professional. The neuro-associations in our brains say: home = informal. As a result, it’s common for remote workers to make the mistake of not taking certain parts of their work seriously, for instance, participating in video conferences in inappropriate clothing and not making sufficient effort to ensure that the background looks professional.”
—Jimmy Naraine
“One big mistake is when employees are not responsive online when teammates reach out. If you are completing a task when someone messages you, let them know that you are completing a different project and that you will get back to them as soon as possible. If you are hard to reach during work hours, your colleagues will have a negative perception of your work ethic and communication skills.”
—Shannon Walker
“I see a lot of folks answer communications a little too directly. You know they’re not being short on purpose—the online-only medium robs them of body language, tone and other cues we use to establish rapport in person, so it can be more challenging to convey personality and warmth through text while staying on task.”
—Ty Stewart
“If you’re communicating via a text medium, avoid sarcasm unless it’s blatantly obvious. If you’re having trouble understanding what a coworker is saying, paraphrase what you think they’re saying back to them to make sure.”
—Melanie Musson, insurance expert, USInsuranceAgents.com
“Be open and transparent with your manager, because they are your safety [net] when things go south. The biggest mistake is to keep managers [in the dark] while you fix errors, because there’s no assurance whether you’ll be able to do so efficiently, and the blame will still be put on the manager. Consider the pros and cons of your actions and how it will affect your upline and downline.”
—Alicia Hough
“Some employees show no interest in others’ work or in socializing. If you attend a daily huddle, pay attention. Say hi, share a short story. Ask how others are doing with their projects. Actively socialize and exchange ideas with your coworkers.”
—Nina Krol
“One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen is people multitasking during Zoom meetings. It’s obvious if you aren’t paying attention on Zoom, and it’s really disrespectful to your team.”
—Colin Palfrey
“Not replying to emails on time or canceling one-on-one sessions creates trust issues between your teammates and you. It also makes you seem unreliable.”
—Azza Shahid
“Slacking off on work or frequently taking breaks just because you can is a mistake people often make. It’s important to keep in mind that you’re still at work and to function as you would on a normal workday.”
—Shruthi Rajagopal, digital marketing executive, Clariti app
“A big mistake is not communicating at all. When you’re silent, it raises questions for many people; they wonder if you’re even doing any work. So, clearly communicate your goals for the week. It’s ok to say ‘I’m time blocking and unavailable for four hours so I can focus on this project.’ If you’re producing results, you don’t need to check in as often.”
—Allison Chaney
“Connect with the people most directly linked to your job, and don’t forget to respect hierarchy when working across cultures. Sometimes the person you choose to [go to] first offends another.”
—Katherine King, founder, Invisible Culture
“Don’t be the guy who always wants to correct other people.”
—Andreas Koutis
“Being too intimidating [is a mistake]. Employees, especially those who work in the corporate world, should learn the usefulness of being socially adept and approachable. There’s a positive impact on productivity when employees know they can lean on you and talk to you about any topic.”
—Alicia Hough
“The biggest mistake remote employees make that adversely affects their teammates’ perception of them is assuming everyone knows what they know. As a remote employee, it’s better to over-communicate than under-communicate—no one wants to guess a project’s status or feel like the last to know. If you’ve had a discussion with one team member about something the rest of the team needs to know about, send them a quick summary. You may not realize it, but they may have been waiting on that information to start their tasks.”
—Nelson Jordan
“Don’t be a robot! Some people seem to believe that a kind personality is unprofessional, but adding a smiley face to the end of a WhatsApp message when you’re logging off for the weekend can make it clear to your manager and coworkers that you’re a nice person. I’m sure you can figure out when it’s not appropriate.”
—Rhiannon Moore
“Nothing hurts peoples’ perception of you more than [your] failure to communicate. Silence is deafening. If you’ll need a few days to gather information, respond to the email and say so. Avoid having the other person wonder if you even saw their message.”
—Frank Buck
“Because workers are monitored less (no coworkers to peek on them, no managers to pass by their desk), some splurge on leisure activities during working hours, which affects their efficiency and productivity. There’s no better time for employees to prove themselves. You’re blessed if you’re still employed.”
—Owen Drury
“Recognize there are highs and lows to transitioning to something new. At first it may be exciting and daunting. It’s a bit of a roller coaster, but with time the ride gets more familiar and normal.”
—Katherine King
Master these tools to be a better remote worker:
- Google G Suite for documents, emails, schedules and cloud sharing
- Slack for communicating with small teams and sharing documents
- ImageOptimizer for resizing, compressing and optimizing image files (this is important when sending out large images and you want to save on bandwidth)
- Grammarly for finding and correcting grammatical mistakes in written documents
- Self Control for avoiding distracting websites so you can focus on work (it’s free)
- Dropbox for free cloud space up to 2GB
- Yanado for managing inside Gmail
- RealTimeBoard to use as a regular whiteboard
—Skyler Reeves, president and CEO of Ardent Growth