My personal tips for remote working.

In the next few weeks, there’s a chance that we all might have to work from home as governments around the world respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of us will be used to this as its already a part of many people’s normal routine, but for others it will be completely new and a strange experience. For some, working from home might make you feel that you’ve ‘lost’ your routine - or you may struggle with not having anyone to bounce ideas off. Others may feel liberated but may find it hard to structure their day or be as productive as you might be in the office.

As someone who works remotely regularly, I’ve seen the benefits but also have had to deal with some of the blocks to working remotely effectively.

Here are my top tips:

1.      Pick up the phone – one of the hardest things about working home is feeling like you are talking to a wall. Messaging apps and email are all great to keep conversations moving but they don’t replace well-structured and timely 1:1 or conference calls. Make the most of WebEx, Zoom or similar platforms and don’t be afraid to jump in on email chains to suggest getting on the phone to make a quicker decision. 

2.      Turn on your laptop camera– video calls are not a replacement for face to face meetings but are useful to make sure you are not missing out on “tells” from clients/team members or misunderstanding tone in messages or on calls. It is very easy to misinterpret feedback or a direction on a call when you are missing out on body language. This is one I continue to work on as I hate being on camera.

3.      Don’t assume silence is negative feedback – we all have had those moments on calls when the silence is a little too long and gets awkward. Or you might send a client email that has took you a while to craft and has been weighing on your mind and then you get nothing back. When this happens, it is easy to react negatively and assume the worse. In 9/10 cases this isn’t the case. We all have busy inboxes, packed schedules and a million different priorities. What is incredibly important for you might be a secondary priority for someone else. We deal with this in the office by walking over to someone and checking they received it or getting some feedback in real-time from a colleague. When working from home, you should take the same approach. Don’t be afraid to drop a text, give someone a call or chase an email. The worst thing you can do is stew on it.

4.      Embrace flexibility but be disciplined - working from home is the ultimate extension of flexible working and you shouldn’t be afraid to reap the benefits of that. Don’t be afraid to put a wash on or pop to the shops in between calls or do some research from a coffee shop. BUT, remember that our clients and partners still need to be able to get hold of us during a normal working day and that background noise from a house can be just as irritating on a call than background noise in an office. Also, normal rules around confidentially apply – if you have a sensitive call, it still needs to be done from a quiet and private environment, not a coffee shop. And make sure your WIFI connection is always secured.

5.      Keep connected – one of the biggest benefits I find from working from home is being able to keep connected to what’s going on in the world in my own style. For me – I enjoy the fact that I can listen to Chris Evans on Virgin Radio or Today on BBC Radio 4 in the morning and then BBC Five Live and keep the news on in the background all day. Make sure you save down subscription details of the websites/publications you read regularly in the office and make sure you can still access them and consider creating a list of the relevant journos on Twitter and keeping this open on a browser tab so you can check in during the day. Same with live blogs on the Guardian etc. Yes, this is straight forward media monitoring, but you will be surprised to the difference it makes when working remotely, particularly when you can’t always have a quick conversation with someone sitting next to you in the office.

6.      Walk around – it is so easy just to sit down in the morning and not move until the end of the day. Make sure you walk around, even if it is just whilst on a conference call or to make a cuppa. You will feel more energized.

Comment below and let me know what I’ve missed.