How to Work Remotely and Onboard Online
How to Work Remotely and Onboard Online 1. Benefits of Working Remotely 2. Transition to Remote Work 3. Onboarding Employees Remotely 4. Tools to Use 5. Team Remote Tips 6. Personal Remote Tips
April 22, 2020
Liam Caffrey
1. Benefits of Remote Working
· Flexible Hours / Better Work Life Balance
Employees get more time to work to a timetable that suits them, whilst keeping up with their work.
· Higher Productivity
Employees are more proactive and efficient without a commute and generally more comfortable whilst coding.
· Communication
Communication seems to be a lot more free flowing in a remote work environment than it would be in an office space. Of course, while working remotely, communication is key and is often vital to effective work being done, so communication is often improved in a remote work setting.
· Responsibility
Employees are likely to feel trusted when they are working remotely. They are given more independence and so, are likely to feel more responsible for the quality of their work.
· More Talent
Employers who offer remote work have a greater chance of securing the best talent for their company; location not being a barrier.
2. Transition to Remote Work
Working from home will be a new experience for a lot of people; be patient – there will be hiccups.
Set clear objectives and priorities and hold your team members accountable for their delivery.
For most effective communication and accountability.
· Select tools that integrate well with each other.
Remember to not complicate the process for your employees and not bring about too much change. Do not select 10 tools that in the end will confuse your employees.
3. Onboarding
· Materials
Have onboarding materials in a digital format, including a website, documentation, and video.
· Introduction
Present the new hire in a video meeting; This interaction will help new joiners put a face and a voice to each name.
On a video call, go through your values, culture etc. and follow the same practices you would do if it was the first day of an employee on site
Treat remote employees the same as employees who are on site.
Cover projects they will be working on, workflow, priorities and expectations.
· Mentor
Within the engineering team, all new hires should be assigned a mentor who will guide them through work processes and be their go to for any questions.
Clear Expectations
· CheckIns
Have regular weekly and monthly check-ins with remote employees and new hires; should be more than on site employees
· Code Reviews
Keep track of the tasks they are working on and create an environment that allows them to produce valuable results. Do this by sticking to clean code standards, code coverage expectations, and time boxed sprints.
Use a code review process to make sure new team members are meeting code standards and offer suggestions on where they can improve.
During the first several weeks, feedback should be frequent and frank
· Won’t always be smooth; expect teething problems
4. Tools to use
Programming Tools
· Bitbucket/Github
Programming related tasks can be done on platforms like Bitbucket or GitHub where everyone has access to the repository and can see what pull requests have been submitted or what changes were made.
Cloud Storage and File Organizers
Google Drive - allows you to store and organize documents; collaborate with team members in real time and share documents, spreadsheets or presentation with whoever you choose
· Other options: Onedrive / Dropbox
If you want to stay on top of things liketasks, or other updates on projects and foster team collaboration, then these are the best remote working software you need to have for this function:
Slack
Probably the most popular and described as a place 'Where work Happens,' Slack is an instant messaging platform for work. It offers critical features like real-time messaging, file sharing, voice calls and screen sharing. These capabilities make it a perfect software solution for remote workers because it's easy to collaborate with team members wherever you are.
Trello
Trello is an easy to use web based tool for managing projects that can be used for individual task management or project management for an entire team. It lets you assign tasks to individual team members of a group and it tracks deadlines. Trello's mobile app is simple to use, making it perfect for the remote worker on the go
· Asana
WithAsana, you can manage and track tasks, to individuals or groups, check due dates, monitor progress, and even track time and generate time sheets.
Conferencing and Instant Messaging
· Conferencing(Skype, Google Hangout, Zoom)
A quality conferencing tool will be crucial for holding meetings. Does your conferencing tool of choice work for both one-to-one and company-wide meetings?
5. Team Remote Tips
There’s no ‘I’ in Team
- More important than ever to be a team player; support each other and be accountable
- Regular face to face interaction; try schedule video calls with colleagues etc.
- Communication/ keep communication channels open
- Create a culture of feedback
The etiquette for dial-in meetings
.
How to hold meetings
Make use ofGoogle Calendar to ensure you are all available for meetings etc.
Collaborating with your team
6. Personal Remote Tips
- Stay Disciplined
- Build a Routine – will help keep focus
- Comfortable Headphones
- If sharing a space – set boundaries
- Stay active; take regular breaks
- Doesn’t always have to be 100%business
- Stay aware of your mental health