How do you set healthy boundaries and expectations with your remote manager and colleagues?

When partnering with managers of remote teams, one of the first things we do is ask each team member publicly share their own custom working preferences document. This varies from team to team, culture to culture, but we can include things like: - The hours you prefer to work in (i.e., most productive hours, best hours for co-working) - Conditions you prefer to work in (i.e., quiet, with music, opportunity to discuss) - How you like to communicate (i.e., tools you prefer for collaboration) - Things that influence your working hours (i.e., partners, pets, or family) - How you learn and receive feedback best (i.e., reading, visual, or real-time discussion) This helps establish availability, set healthy boundaries, while encouraging trust.

Some of the things I have found helpful is ensuring we define the work schedule: Setting clear boundaries around your working hours and ensure that everyone is aware of them. This will help to prevent overwork and burnout, and ensure that you have time for personal pursuits and responsibilities

Sometimes the hardest person to get to respect our boundaries is not other people, but ourselves. Checking your work emails or messages outside your working hours also has another detrimental effect, which is that it takes away more time from your recharging than just the time you spend working. Every time your brain shifts focus, it takes your mind an average extra 23 minutes to regain focus. Time and energy are not the same thing, and sometimes you lose more energy than than equivalent amount of time you spent on something. The more you respect your own boundaries, the more you will find it easier to also respect those of others.

Clarify your role and responsibilities: Ensure that you understand your role and responsibilities, as well as those of your manager and colleagues. Clarify any areas of confusion or uncertainty, and agree on the best ways to approach your work.

If you’re somebody who struggles with saying “No”, you can try a softer approach where you ask your manager to help you triage your tasks so you have a clearer picture of your priorities.

Take breaks: Make sure to take regular breaks and avoid working outside of your set hours. This will help you to maintain a healthy work-life balance and ensure that you are performing at your best.

Have you ever been outside or been taking a shower, and you thought of the answer to a problem you had? Putting ourselves in different environments can give our brain a much-needed refresh and a new perspective on our obstacles.

Asking for help can feel a bit more daunting in a remote setting - it can require more initiative if you don’t see your manager every day. But having the knowledge and transparency of where you currently stand, where you are excelling, and where you need to improve can bring immense peace of mind and a feeling of personal growth and learning. Having a goal to strive for gives us purpose.

💻 Encourage your team to practice async and digital first communication! ❓ What is it? Using a digital space (like Notion or Confluence) to host a single source of truth document that codifies goals, expectations, progress, activities and decisions. 🧐 Why work this way? It'll free up your calendar, you don't need to "be on" at the same time as your colleagues, and you can work in the places and times that suit you ☀️ How you can start! Try swapping out a team meeting with async updates. Designate a document where folks can post their update and any related documentation. Have folks spend time reading & updating that document vs. meeting live.