Remote working has become a commodity in this day and age. Companies all over the world are starting to realize that their employees don’t actually need to be in the same room to get any work done. Today, it’s common to see this perk on various job openings.
Although working remotely is great, it comes with a few drawbacks. Working from home can be a bit lonely and isolated. Some individuals might even have a hard time sticking to a clear work schedule and end up overworking. Another common drawback is miscommunication between colleagues.
The good news is that you can take a few steps to minimize the drawbacks of remote working. Here are some tips to ensure that your remote working experience is drama-free and productive.
Set Clear Expectations
Before you get down to business, make sure you establish clear expectations with your employer and fellow employees. Your workdays can become aimless and unproductive without any clear goals and targets.
Without any expectations, there’s a bigger chance for miscommunication, problems in the team, and violation of boundaries. So, before things get out of hand, it’s essential to make sure that you have discussed everything with your team and management.
Stick To a Schedule
Working from home can become comfortable quickly. By the time you know it, you won’t realize that it’s already a few hours after work because you’ve been sitting comfortably in your bed or living room sofa.
Remote work can blur the line between work and home since you don’t need to commute every day. Although this is more of a perk, overworking can quickly take a toll on your mental health and quality of work. So, make sure that you stick to a fixed schedule and avoid pulling any all-nighters to finish up some stuff at work.
Have an Open Line of Communication
Often, we hear horror stories about remote working, and they mostly revolve around a lack of communication. When we’re all in the same place, it’s easy to just come over to someone’s desk to ask for something. Remotely, it’s hard to get in touch with someone when they’re not online.
Keep up to date with the latest news, moreover if it’s related to your role. For example you can regularly watch healthcare videos if you work in the healthcare industry. To avoid ghosting anyone and getting ghosted, make sure you provide information on where everyone can reach you.
It’s also recommended that you let them know what hours you will be available to respond to them. A part of having an open line of communication is to be responsible and accountable with your team. Without communication, you can appear unreliable, which will affect your credibility.
Keep in Touch
Lastly, don’t forget to keep in touch with everyone outside of the Internet. It can be easy to forget that we’re all humans behind these screens. Every once in a while, schedule a meeting with your team and make time to catch up with everyone to see how they’ve been and get to know them better.
Wrapping Up
Working on the go has many advantages, but they also come with drawbacks. If you want to know more about remote work and what to expect, the folks are Milkwhale; an infographic design agency whipped this infographic up.
Courtesy of Working On The Go (Working Remotely)
