Here’s how to make remote work, work for you

According to a recent survey, 98% of the respondents would like to work remote for the rest of their careers, at least for part of the time. Organizations are also slowly coming to realize that remote work may actually be better for the company. This being the case, it’s time we start implementing practices, even within the office, that will support remote work.  

A perennial challenge that has been common across the globe has been team collaboration and communication. There is definitely a huge difference between informally sharing information by walking to a co-worker's desk and having to set up a formal meeting for the same thing. But there are some simple practices that you can implement to make it much easier for your team.  

Meetings only if extremely necessary  

While most meetings are redundant, we can’t completely do away with them either. Especially in a remote setting. This is where your judgement comes in. Differentiate which topics must be discussed with a meeting and which can be handled with a short chat.  

Another tip is to have a clear agenda prepared before you join the meeting. Ensure that your team also understands the agenda. This way, there is less time spent beating around the bush and you can get to the point without waiting for everyone to catch up.  

Keep in mind that every meeting MUST have a new takeaway, as without one, your meeting was a waste of time.  

Manage time zones efficiently 

The biggest advantage with remote offices is that talent can be hired from anywhere in the world. We are no longer constrained to a geographical boundary. Unfortunately. when your co-workers are spread across too many time zones, it can become hard to collaborate and find a common time to work.  

My first tip to manage this is to have a clock on your desktop that shows the time zone of your teammates. This way, there’s less confusion about what time a person will be available. The next step is to try and make the timings reasonable for everyone in the team. This way, people aren’t staying up till 2am just to attend a half-hour call.  

Take advantage of available tools 

Some of the biggest challenges that come with Working from Home is lack of constant communication, and a way to stay productive/on-track without the regulation that comes with an office set-up. But this isn't even a real concern anymore. We’re living in a time where there’s no lack of online tools that help promote and drive remote work. 

There are web-apps like Clariti that could be a solution to most of your remote work woes. Clariti is a free communication tool that brings you the power of working with connected apps. This way, your information doesn’t get trapped in silos, where your chats and emails all vanish into.  

In Clariti, related chats and emails are connected by threads. You can store separate conversations into threads and name the threads to keep track of it. Thus, the information you need is exactly where you put it, and is only one click away. This saves you a lot of time by cutting down on your email-checking routine.  

You can also share files, create to-dos and events and even make calls right from the same app. And the best part, all of these are connected and are saved in threads, so there’s not even a chance for you to lose information.  

Virtual Water Cooler 

Something managers/those in charge need to acknowledge is that working remote can get lonely. When a person has only a wall to keep them company for a couple hours every day, it can get pretty tiresome. To overcome this, the team can introduce practices like virtual-water coolers. Though it may sound fancy, it is nothing more than the whole team getting together on a video call and unwinding with a hot cup of chai. This makes the perfect solution for a mentally strained team.  

It doesn’t take much to figure out how to work remote and hopefully the tips shared in this blog help. And once you have, you’ll find that you have productivity like never before.