By: Kristen Tripodi
Did you know that April 10th is Global Work from Home Day? Since the pandemic, the work landscape has changed as businesses adjusted to remote work to keep employees safe. While some companies are calling for employees to return to the office, many others, like Slide Nine, have since embraced the efficacy of working from home. I’m a Media Relations Specialist with Slide Nine, and I work fully remotely from Utah.
Working remotely has a lot of advantages - but can also come with some adjustments. For example, my commute to work has gone from one hour to zero, saving time and money on gas. And while there might be no in-person interaction with my co-workers, I have adjusted by making an effort to connect through more virtual calls to continue that sense of collaboration. Here are the top five things I’ve learned from working remotely:
1. Communication is key. Keeping the lines of communication open is important. Whether I need or am offering help, I always try to keep my coworkers in the loop as to what I’m doing. Working remotely can feel isolating at times, but I’ve found that jumping on a quick call with a coworker is the best way to get out of a funk.
2. Hold a consistent schedule. Working in an office, everyone knows when you begin work or when you are likely to arrive that day. Working remotely, I only know a co-worker has started their day when their icon on Slack goes green. Because I work in a different time zone than the rest of my team (2 hours behind), I’ve worked with managers to come up with ways to keep everyone in the loop while also offering structure to my day. To do this, at the end of every day, I put up a Slack status message indicating when they can expect me to be back the following work day.
3. Balance your newfound flexibility. Flexibility is my favorite part of working remotely. Depending on your employer, working from home comes with a lot of flexibility. Finding the perfect balance between working during your core hours and getting appointments and other nuances of life completed during the work week is important.
4. Trust is paramount. Trust in your co-workers and their trust in you is really important. Trust always takes time to establish, but I think it’s even more important to establish it quickly when working remotely. This can be done by completing tasks on time, jumping in to help others when they ask for it, or simply establishing open lines of communication. With more trust comes more flexibility.
5. Sign off for the day and walk away. Just because you work in your home doesn’t mean you always need to be working when you are home. Once I’ve put my hours in and finished my tasks, I make a conscious effort to sign off and walk away from my workstation until the next day. (Of course, if there is a work emergency, it’s really convenient to be able to walk down the hall and log back on!)
One of the many benefits of working at Slide Nine is the remote option. If you think you’d be interested in joining our team, visit our website for openings or drop us a line.