10 Keys to Working Remotely during a Pandemic by L.A. Fosner
Over the past ten years, I’ve had the luxury of a working in a job that can be done almost entirely remotely. I say almost because motivating others, showing support and concern, helping them be their best selves and perform their best work, does require some person-to-person contact. But for many of us, the real challenge now is to take what we already know about our colleagues and find ways to use that information to help them through these unprecedented and challenging times.
It’s not always intuitive either. While it makes sense to be sensitive to the struggles of others (especially those at home with school age kids) it’s also important to guide people toward becoming more efficient and effective, despite the challenges we currently face.
Whether you actively manage others or are just trying to get a team to accomplish something specific, adjustments need to be made. Even if you worked remotely part-time before the pandemic, it’s not quite the same now, is it?
These notes are from my personal experience. My company (high-tech) has allowed us to work from home whenever we needed it — whether to save driving time for a mid-day doctor’s appointment or allow us to get to school in time for a late afternoon teacher’s meeting or early football game. So, we’ve got the technical stuff down. But even with Zoom, Bluejeans or Skype, getting people focused and motivated isn’t easy these days.
The key is getting set up for success, and that means taking stock of what’s happening now.
1) Share your schedule — We all make assumptions, but now that we are each at home with varying demands on our time, we can’t assume everybody is on the same time schedule. Give people the information they need to understand your schedule, what works for you and doesn’t. Don’t wait for them to ask. Lead by example.
Here’s mine:
Best time for meetings/calls: 10am to 3pm PST Monday through Thursday — no meetings on Fridays
Family time: 3–6 (Can occasionally meet during this time but need advanced notice of 1–2 days)
All booked time (both personal and work related) will be entered in Outlook so please consult that before inviting me to something.
2) Be flexible — Stuff happens. If something changes at home and you need to bow out of something you’ve committed to, be prepared to make up for it.
Let’s say you’ve committed to a meeting, but now you can’t make it. Let the meeting organizer know and ask if they can record it. Then schedule a time to review the meeting on your own and take notes to send back to the team so they know you did it.
We all need to go the extra step to show our participation. Nobody will know you watched the recording if you don’t tell them — and it’s important to communicate your commitment and participation in an active way. Sitting passively in a room alone doesn’t reinforce your involvement with the rest of the team, and that matters a lot. Take the time to show that you are still part of the team, even if you need to show up in a different way.
3) Hone your time management skills — It’s very easy to put things off when nobody is monitoring your progress. Start by taking stock of your personal habits and what tends to motivate productivity for you.
For me the trick is just getting started. If I would rather read or watch the news than work, I need to work first, and pick up my book or turn on the news only after I’ve accomplished what I need to for the day.
The trick is paying attention to yourself and thinking about what works for you. It’s great to have the freedom to set your own schedule, but if you don’t figure out how to use the time wisely, you will fall further and further behind.
4) Schedule MORE online meetings — Okay, this is totally counterintuitive, but it works. Even though we’re all at home, and have more time (no commute or need to pack a lunch, shower and dress, etc., prior to the long drive into the office) that also means we can more easily fool ourselves into thinking we have plenty of time. Too often that thought leads to procrastinating until we’re out of time and we’ve missed the deadline.
I use online meetings to review progress and to check in on the health of my teammates. If my progress depends on getting information from someone else, I’ll set up a quick call vs sending them an email.
Emails seem to get ignored more easily in today’s Covid world, but surprisingly, people are quick to accept meeting invitations. It is easier somehow to accept a meeting than it is to figure out what someone wants/needs from an email we’ve received and then type it up in a coherent way and send it out in the hope that it makes sense and is what they are looking for. If, instead, we talk about the same subject in real time, it’s clear right away if we’re on track or not.
Another benefit of more meetings is that if the request I get from someone else does require that I do some prep work, the meeting invitation is a constant reminder that I have a deadline, and that I will be holding someone else up by not meeting it. For me, that’s a huge incentive to do it on time.
5) Always include an agenda in your meeting invitations — This seems like a no-brainer, but I’m consistently surprised at the number of invitations I get that don’t indicate why we’re meeting. It can be as simple as “check-in on progress regarding _____” but don’t ask someone to commit to spending time without letting them know what you’ll be asking of them.
You don’t want to blind-side people with requests they are not prepared for. Include the purpose of the meeting and be as clear as possible about what you’ll be asking of them. Uncertainty is anxiety-producing. We all have enough of of that as it is.
Likewise, if you are looping someone in for the first time, give them some background on the situation so they know why they are being included and have a sense of context. One of my teammates is constantly sending me things to review, but she rarely takes the time to explain why she’s asking for my help or the context of the item she’s asking me to look at.
It’s a chore for me to initiate a long back-and-forth email conversation before I even understand why I’m being involved in the first place. Don’t waste other people’s time this way.
6) Give others the benefit of the doubt — It’s easy to make assumptions. We all do it all the time. But when it comes to work, it’s best to think positively and give the benefit of the doubt — even if you are wrong. This is because how our colleagues respond to us depends more on how they feel about us as people than any other single thing.
If you give people the benefit of the doubt, you are saying you understand that nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes, but you are not someone who will use that against another. This builds trust, and trust is the thing that makes teams work. I’ve heard it said that a Team is not people who happen to work together; a Team is a group of people who trust each other.
7) Document your progress — Regardless of whether documentation is a required part of your job description, keeping others apprised of your progress is harder when you’re not in the office. Think of all the impromptu conversations you have had in the break room, in the hall or elevator, or just before a meeting starts when you’re all sitting in the same room just relaxing while the late arrivers wander in. How much information used to pass between you in those settings that no longer even exist?
How are you making up for that lost communication? In my case, we have detailed Project Pages online where we can update our work for whomever is interested. People can “watch” pages and get automatic notifications when something changes. Think about how you might set up something similar. It can be as simple as posting to a Box folder or Google doc — the software isn’t as important as consistency. If you find yourself feeling out of touch, find a way to fix that.
8) Use online collaboration Tools — Collaboration tools like Miro and Smartsheet are great for working with others to collaborate online and to create and document your work. If you manage a team, think about how you can fill the gaps created by remote only work and set your team up with the tools needed to make up for it.
9) Create Objectives and Key Results — It’s easy to lose track of where you’re going when your environment never changes. If you are not already doing this, write down your long- and short-term objectives and specify 2–3 key results you’ll need to achieve to get there. If you manage a team, make sure your objectives and goals align properly with the rest of the team and set up time to check in to keep everybody on track. This way, when something changes, everybody is queued up to adjust, as needed.
10) Prioritize with gratitude — It’s hard to work, but if you have work right now you are one of the lucky ones. Try to remember that. This is a temporary situation. Put your energy toward a healthy mindset of being grateful for what you have and committing to doing your best, under the circumstances.
Your health and the health of your loved ones comes first. Don’t be afraid to share your struggles with your colleagues. Everybody is struggling, so showing empathy as well as vulnerability is a strength in times like these.
Ask for what you need, but if you get something less, accept it graciously and move on. This is not the time to be hypercritical or excessively demanding. It’s a time for tolerance and flexibility.
So, stay safe, be kind and do your best as long as you can. This too, shall pass.
