Tips for Remote Working

First time trying out 100% remote work? Here are some friendly tips to get you started.

Make friends! – Work may be remote, but won’t you want to work with friends? Get to know people – their likes and dislikes, and what’s happening in their lives. Knowing when people are going through difficulties will enable you to communicate sensitively even across long distances.
Show appreciation – because the value of a person is more than their work. Even if the other party doesn’t do it, appreciation and positivity is contagious. It’s as simple as saying “Thank You” or showing up with a smile on videoconferences.
Choose the form of communication – Face-to-Face is preferred when that works for everyone. And if it is really important, travelling to meet and build relationships might be worth the investment. Face-to-Face is followed by Video, Voice-Only and then Text-Only, in that order. This would lead to less misunderstanding.
Your manager relationship – in a remote startup, transparent communication is really important. We want to fail quickly and fail small, and you’re not expected to be perfect or know everything. Instead, you need to communicate clearly what you know or don’t know, or what you need help on – especially with your manager. If this relationship suffers, your journey at the company will suffer as well.
Give – find some ways to contribute back to your working community. It’s a start up so feel free to raise your hands to conduct a skill-sharing session. You could check with your colleagues at HR if specific topics or areas are needed.
Have sufficient sleep – The surest way to become disengaged on remote work is if you’re short on sleep, which makes you less resilient to stress, more prone to fall sick, including being susceptible to various forms of ill mental health.
Spiritual balance – It’s helpful to have some form of spiritual practice, so that you have a place to offload stress or containerize work at the end of each day. Working at a start-up could become consuming rapidly. Have something that helps you reflect what you have done for the day, and take time to review the various balls you’re juggling in your life, to know if you’re keeping a good balance.
Say No – In Asian we have a more communal culture, so sometimes it’s very difficult to say ‘no’ to additional tasks. And often, we do not set up healthy boundaries. Know when to say ‘no’, and also have these “whens” aligned to your manager.
Purpose-led – Always be very clear why you are in this job and what you are here to learn. When you find yourself raising your voice or being irritated with others, check if the purpose is still true for you.