Before the coronavirus kicked off stay-at-home orders across the U.S., many professionals probably couldn’t count how many times on any given day they’ve left their office desk to get coffee or a snack, ran into a colleague and ended up having a stimulating, unexpected conversation.
Those experiences shouldn’t stop just because many employees are working remotely.
Both veteran and newly initiated WFH-ers across New York agree that maintaining relationships — also known as “staying human” — should be a key part of everyone’s work-from-home strategy. Professionals we spoke with recommended taking time to connect with colleagues, either by reaching out via Slack to catch up, or by chatting about non-work topics for a few minutes at the top of a meeting.
Another tip for making the most of remote work, they said, is sticking to a routine, particularly one that incorporates physical movement of some kind. When adjusting to telework, it’s easy for a person’s regular schedule to be thrown off, which can disrupt productivity, work-life balance, and overall physical health.
Abiding by a daily routine can maintain a sense of normalcy, keep distractions at bay and make remote work more enjoyable.
Movement helps Evan Sultanik maintain his productivity at cybersecurity company Trail of Bits. Taking his mind off a task by physically moving his body for a brief period allows the computer security researcher to work with renewed efficiency.
The allure of remote work: I started working remotely eight years ago at my job prior to my current position at Trail of Bits. Despite permitting remote work, the majority of the employees at that job opted to work most days from a shared office in a different city. I commuted numerous times per month to various out-of-state customer sites, as well as regular visits to show my face at the office. The years of constant travel took their toll and I was ready for a change.
Trail of Bits offered a company that was designed from the ground up for remote work, where I would neither be disadvantaged nor inconvenienced by living in a different city than my colleagues and customers.
It’s OK not to sit at a desk for eight hours straight.”
Daily practices to improve remote work: I set micro-goals that allow me to triage incoming communications. Our employees span nine time zones, and sometimes many more when we are traveling to conferences. The default mode of communication is asynchronous. At a remote company, no one should bat an eye if an employee takes an extra 30 minutes to respond to an email or Slack message. And those 30 minutes of uninterrupted focus on a task can reap asymmetrical rewards in productivity.
Every time I sit down to work, I first address all of my pending messages before starting a new task. Then I set a goal for myself of what I intend to accomplish in the next half hour, during which I will mute all messages. Messaging software like Slack can be distracting at times, but it can also be an excellent tool for focus, allowing remote workers to gain control over when and how their attention is directed.
Most important lesson learned: It’s OK not to sit at a desk for eight hours straight. In fact, moving will make you more productive. It’s important to disconnect throughout the workday, and working remotely lets employees do so without any of the potential stigma of disappearing from the office for an hour. Some days when I hit a block, I’ll throw my laptop in a bag, bike to a park and work from there for an hour. If I’m having a particularly tough time with a task, I’ll put it on pause and go grocery shopping then work an extra hour in the evening.
More often than not, diversions — even one as simple as taking a walk — provide the necessary distance to look at the problem in a novel way when resuming work.
Clear communication is a vital part of office life. But its importance takes on added significance for an employee new to remote work. Arianne Perry, COO of cleaning product company cleancult, said her leadership team uses well-practiced communication strategies to remind employees that it’s OK to step away from work to maintain their mental health.
The allure of remote work: I am new to remote work. However, the cleancult team is very distributed, with team members across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. So we have a lot of practice in virtual collaboration, video calls and keeping everyone in the loop via Slack and shared tools.
What’s great about the distributed aspect of our team is that it allows for a diverse set of perspectives and fosters a culture of clear communication. Although I love being in person with teammates — engaging in quick dialogues about challenges fostered by working in the same space — I am enjoying more time with my family in the morning and at the end of the day.
Take a few minutes to check in with people at the beginning of meetings.”
Daily practices to improve remote work: It’s been important for me to stick to a regular schedule. I’m used to walking to work and grabbing a coffee in the morning, saying “hello” to my team, taking a quick walk to grab lunch then decompressing with a walk home at the end of the day. Since I don’t need to do any of those things now, I try to work that structure into my day with a workout in the morning, firing up my workstation at the same time each morning, taking a walk around midday and another walk with my family after work.
As a leadership team, we prioritized making it clear to our team that if they need to take time off to process or decompress from everything going on right now, that it is a hundred percent OK to do so. Working virtually, it’s so important to verbally communicate what is and is not expected so that our teams have the certainty they need to take care of themselves personally and professionally.
Most important lesson learned: Phone calls are so important. People can waste countless hours going back and forth on topics over email or Slack, so picking up the phone, sharing a screen, or putting a 20-minute meeting on the calendar is more vital than ever. I also think it’s important to take a few minutes to check in with people at the beginning of meetings so there’s some opportunity to connect outside of the meeting topic.
Three employees at Radar, a location data solution provider, shared the support leadership offers for remote work, as well as the importance of following a routine and being active in some way each day.
The allure of remote work: I was originally hired to be the only person on the West Coast for a while to establish a presence there, so I’ve been working remotely for Radar since the beginning. What originally drew me to this role was the autonomy and the responsibility of helping to establish a foothold there.
I knew that it was going to be a challenge because I had never worked remotely before. But I’ve had a lot of support from our founders Nick and Coby, who come out here regularly and also fly me out to New York. Having the support of leadership has made it a smoother ride for me.
Every hour on the hour, I physically get up from my seat.”
Daily practices to improve remote work: Almost every day before work, I take a walk through the neighborhood with my coffee. That practice helps make the transition from “off” to “on” — in terms of work — a good one. It also gives me a minute to think about what I’m going to do with my workday before actually sitting down in front of a computer, which has a lot of distractions.
I try to reach out to someone on Radar’s team that I don’t have a reason to talk to every day. It’s been helpful for me because as a relatively new person in the company, I was only working at the company for a month before we went into isolation. I started to build a couple of relationships, but since going remote, I don’t want to create hesitation or barriers to people contacting me if they have an idea or vice versa. I think it helps to be lightly social.
Most important lesson learned: Every hour on the hour, I physically get up from my seat. I think physical movement is important so I might do 10 pushups, go out to my balcony and gaze for a minute, or even just get up to wash my hands. I also take long walks in the morning and go get coffee. Even if my workday ends at 7:30 p.m., I will still take a walk, regroup and then make dinner. There’s a clear beginning and end demarcation to my day and that’s usually done by some sort of motion outside of my apartment.
