A Rapid or sudden shift\nto working remotely can throw your team into confusion and frustration, and\neverything feels twice as hard as it should. The aim in this situation is to reclaim\nyour team\u2019s productivity and resume your regular activities in the shortest\nperiod of time. Here are few ways to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Communication is the key\nto being successful in any profession, in remote work it is the greatest asset\none can have. Since you\u2019re no longer interacting with colleagues or your\nmanager face to face on a daily basis, the onus is on you to establish that\ncommunication link to update your manager and coworkers on goals, projects and\ndaily tasks, whether that\u2019s through 1:1 meetings over the phone or skype or zoom\nthrough ad-hoc team chat via slack. Be\nclear with your people about how they can reach you and also, don\u2019t expect\npeople to answer instantly. Be mindful of their situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make sure to advocate\nfor yourself and clearly state the progress you\u2019ve made in the past week, which\ngoals you\u2019ve surpassed and which projects you\u2019ve led. When working remotely, it\ncan be difficult for your manager and team members to keep your work\ntop-of-mind, so don\u2019t be afraid to bring important milestones up on your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your workspace should be\nsetup for success, it should a place where you can focus on the tasks at hand. This\nmeans creating a designated spot for work at home, where you feel motivated by\nyour environment and ready to tackle your work head-on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are familiar to\nagile methodologies this is straight from the agile rulebook. When you\u2019re not interacting\ncolleagues face-to-face, it\u2019s harder to keep track of what everyone is working\non and what\u2019s on the agenda. This where stand-up\nmeetings come in, this 5-15 minute routine from\nthe agile world helps you and your team stay on track and can easily be done\nover a video or voice call. Each person concisely shares:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typically, in the agile world this is done first thing in the morning every day. This works great for software teams, that focus on incremental progress on projects. However, if your team works on longer-term projects, that don\u2019t have daily detailed incremental updates, weekly or bi-weekly stand-ups can be enough. A thing to note is that you can do these stand-ups in an ad-hoc fashion in your team\u2019s chat room and not necessarily live and in person on a webcam or in a team call. The idea\/goal is to ensure active collaboration among team members so that everyone is aware of what is being worked on and by whom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The line between \u201cwork\u201d\nand \u201chome\u201d starts to blur, when you initially start to work remotely, you might\nfind yourself stuck to your computer screen for longer periods of time. You may\nreceive emails and chat notifications at any hour, especially if you have to work\nwith globally distributed teams. This can necessary at times when working on\nmajor projects or finalizing a big deal. However, it\u2019s important to develop a\nhabit when you officially step away from the computer and officially log off.\nThe best part of working remotely is having the ability and flexibility to work\nwhen you are most productive, so be careful about setting the standard that you\nare available 24\/7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To learn how Polarion can help you collaborate and be more successful working remotely in a distributed team check out our upcoming Polarion Days Live Webinar Series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n