Remote Work Survival Guide

Getting started working remotely can be tricky, we're here to help!

New to remote work?

How’s it going?
— Hiten Shah (@hnshah) March 5, 2020

At Remotive, we've been writing about remote work since 2014.

Here's our guide, rounding up the best resources to get you started.

This article has 3 sections, depending on what you need today:

I'm an employee working remotely for the first time.
I'm a manager, leading a team remotely for the first time
I'm a leader, my company is pushed towards remote. Now what?

Employees working remotely for the 1st time.

So, they told you to work from home, uh?

Yes, everybody say it's fun to "work from home in your PJ's".

Expect that it's not so easy...

Remote work starts out fun, then instantly turns into the hunger games once you and your spouse have conflicting video calls and only one "professional" space.
— Aaron Levie (@levie) March 6, 2020

As you get started, remember a few things:

You're not alone. Nobody has remote work 100% figured out. What matters most is to find a system that works for you and for your company. Most people who go remote start asking less questions because they have less face time with their team. Try to do the opposite. Ask your manager/colleagues questions, stay in touch with everyone. You're not alone in this.
Over Communicate. Hardest thing with remote work is knowing when to stop. Most first-time remote workers overwork, often because they haven't discussed what "a full remote work day" means. Talk to your manager about it. Are you expected to put in certain hours, to simply do your tasks, a mixture of both? Not knowing can be stressful!
Take Breaks. You need to keep fresh. Brew some coffee, walk the dog, stretch. Make sure you walk away from all screens every couple of hours. Sitting in multi-hours video meetings WILL exhaust you.

Have specific questions? We're here to help! Shoot me a Twitter DM or hit me up on our Slack Community.

👨‍💻👩‍💻 How would you rather work? 🤔
— Rodolphe Dutel (@rdutel) September 29, 2022

Further readings and resources:

What are the most commendable/thoughtful initiatives you've seen companies take around "forced work-for-home"? 🙌
Let's list them below ⬇️
— Rodolphe Dutel (@rdutel) March 16, 2020

Managers leading a team remotely for the 1st time.

Managing remotely can be tricky.

#1 thing to know? Communication is everything.

Setting expectations and ensuring you keep your team's trust through transparency will make or break this remote experience.

Connect with management: Find out how execs want to do this. Is this going to be "business as usual, but remotely?". Will you have different objectives? Going remote is a huge shift for your reports, ensure you get a clear mission from the higher ups as you go remote. Else, trust may erode quickly among your team.
Set Expectations: Teams going remote overnight may feel lost. Social interactions, office chatters and meetings: everything just got shuffled. It's your responsibility to share what's expected of employees, if you don't, they'll feel puzzled. Unless your team is ready for asynchronous work, here's what to do: Set up 1:1s with team members, set-up office hours and a regular team meetings. Share what's expected of them often and early.
Gather Feedback: Through this new norm, keep asking questions. How does working remotely feel? How can I support you? Bring this back to fellow managers and Execs, adapting on the fly isn't easy, they need your input.

Pro-tip: Watch this hour-long webinar, it will help a ton...

A Crash Course in Remote Management from @catehstn another colleague at @automattic https://t.co/gu3CF1hEt4
— Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) March 6, 2020

Have specific questions? Shoot me a Twitter DM or hit me up on our Slack Community.