How To Cope With Remote Working: A Guide For Managers And Employees

Over the last year, more and more businesses and employees have been turning to remote working as their way of conducting business. This flexible style of working is beneficial to employers who can save on building costs, as well as saving money for employees travelling to and from work.

Communicate More Often

With remote working, you will likely see your colleagues a lot less, or even not at all during a working year. This just makes it all the more important that you look at ways in which you can communicate more effectively.

In fact, in some cases, it may be worth you over-communicating where possible, if nothing else for the social skills. Throughout the day you may find you’re spending a lot of time alone, which can be daunting. You will also be further away from managers, which means it can be harder to be seen and recognised for hard work. Consider scheduling meetings with management from time to time, at least once a week, so that you can go over the working week and get updates.

Ensure You Have Good Tech

If you are planning on working from home or remotely in general, then you should consider the technology that you will use. You will need to have equipment that allows you to work unimpeded and with ease.

There will be computers or laptops as the basics that you need, as well as office equipment and basics such as Wi-Fi and electricity. This means you could be using more of the amenities of your home whilst working, which depending on your bill type, could be costly. However, the government has plans for this and can help with your tax if you fall into the remote working category.

You may also need certain software, which your employer could provide to you as part of their package, or compensate you for. If you’re an employer, then consider working with your employees so that they don’t need to pay out of their pocket to work for you.

Consider Your Workspace

Remote working means you could be doing your work anywhere you like. If you so wished, you could travel to the Bahamas and work from the beach. Whilst that sounds good on paper, that does mean you could be more distracted from your work, and not fully able to enjoy the destination due to your work commitments.

That’s why you need to find somewhere that you think you can happily disconnect from. If you’re working at home, if possible, try to ensure the room you work in is separate from the room you relax in. This will help you disassociate from work when you need to, and prevent distractions from coming to you.

Your workplace could also be away from your home and the office. There are various spaces you could go to work, such as a coffee shop or evens some pubs. They offer these services usually for a small fee to allow you to work throughout the day, along with some drink top-ups, but otherwise, you will need to bring your equipment such as a laptop.

There are more modern solutions for this, however. For example, you could look into professional spaces and companies that offer you a desk somewhere to work whilst you’re out and about doing things. This is known as desk booking, and a company such as Matrix Booking can help you get set up with everything you need no matter where you are currently. They have an app that you can download that makes it easy to book and get in and out of places, to suit your needs.

Find A Working Style

Working remotely can be a different challenge than what you’ve been used to at the office or your workplace in general. That’s why you need to find a suitable working style that works for you.

As an employee, you may just be starting on your remote work journey. Consider what you want around you when you work. Would you like there to be much noise around you, with music or crowds, or do you prefer silence?

Once you can find out what you want from your work style, then you will be able to find a place and prepare for it. Consider what time you are most productive. If you’re more productive in the morning, then prepare for that and wake up earlier to do so. Likewise, if you are more productive in the evening, then you should plan your day around that, to get the maximum amount of work done whilst not overwhelming yourself.

No matter what you do, you should schedule small breaks throughout the day to not overdo anything, and work at a pace that feels natural. At the end of the day, being able to work remotely means you can essentially work during your best hours.

Find Time For Self-Care

On a similar scale, whilst you’re working remotely at home or elsewhere, you should still find time for self-care in your life. If you are working at home, then the line between work and home could start to blur, leaving you feeling stuck and lost. Of course, sometimes it’s inevitable that you will need to work through a tough period, such as working on a major deal or meeting that can take a long chunk of your day.

That’s why you should give yourself time yourself before and after major work events in your day. If you have a fitness routine, which is advisable for remote working, then you should work on that. You will need to eat throughout the day, so it’s useful for you to schedule these times into regular times that your body can get used to.

With remote working, you can incorporate more of your personal life into your daily routine. For example, if you have recently had a baby, you will be able to take time from your day, thanks to the flexibility and if you so wish, to spend loving time with them. You will be able to enjoy life’s important moments without being far away. This will also be true for booking appointments, such as the doctors, without having to find time away from the office to make it happen.

Understand When To Finish

When all is said and done, you will need to know when you can shut off and log off from work when not physically there. It can be more challenging than you’d think, as you could still receive work emails and chat messages before and after work.

This is why you should find a definite point of starting and stopping, as to not overwhelm yourself and get lost with work. As an employer, you should be finding time to make your employees schedule flexible, whilst still getting the work done.

Embrace The Perks Of Remote Working

Working from home comes with several perks. For example, you can take your talents on the road. This means you could be on the move across the world whilst working to your schedule, getting the work done. There will be other perks that will be more personal and relevant to your everyday life. You should embrace these, and enjoy life to its full potential.