Ops Insights #021 Remote Work 101
September 8, 2023 | Read Time: 6 minutes | Written by Jenny Kleintop
I am an advocate of remote work, and I found it to be highly effective for me and for the ones I work with. For this reason, we are diving into the basics of remote work. You can learn from what I experienced to either get started yourself or help your team get moving. Whether it’s fully remote or hybrid, these tips will help guide you.
Let’s dive in.
I’ve been working remotely for eight years now, five years before the pandemic hit. When I first started to work remotely, it was because my husband got a job at another location, so we had to move.
I was working at a nonprofit organization and searched for other possibilities, and I found a job that was working remotely. I went to my boss and explained the situation and how I lined up another role and I didn’t want to leave, but I had no choice since we were physically relocating. Without hesitation, she said, “Why don’t you just work remotely for us.”
Now this was a huge, huge shift in her thinking. She never thought of it until she heard the other place would allow me to work remotely. She believed in me, and my abilities, and she trusted it was the best move for the organization. She took a leap of faith that it would work and years later she said it worked out beautifully. She said everyone was getting what they needed and not one person said anything negative about me working remotely.
Set Yourself Up
Fast forward 8 years and we now have fancy tools. I have a ton of stories I could share about the learning journey. Ever heard of the bike under the desk? Or the laptop on top of a bike? Or the work and treadmill at the same time? Yes, I tried them all and none of them worked.
Here are seven of the basics that did work:
I made sure I had a strong phone connection. At the time, we communicated by phone (Zoom was not a thing). We kept our landline and changed it to me being the account holder. This made sure I had a good connection and when I called someone, my name would come up.
I purchased a headset (Plantronics), so I didn’t have to hold the phone up to my ear all day long. It was also helpful to have a mute button as I take lots of notes on the computer (I type way faster than I write). This allowed me to type notes without having the loud sound of typing go through the phone line.
I made sure I had a good working computer, keyboard, and mouse. At that time, I had a desktop in the office and a good laptop where I could remote in to do work. I purchased an ergonomic keyboard (Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000) and a trackball mouse (Kensington). I love both and wouldn’t go back. The keyboard is so worn out that you can’t see many of the letters anymore (that typing class in high school sure paid off). The mouse took a little time to get used to, but it’s so worth it to save the wrists from hurting.
I set up a dedicated office. It was in our walkout basement with plenty of windows. This worked for me, but it depends on your style and preference. I know plenty of people who prefer to work in other areas of their house, outside, or even on a beach, and they are effective.
I had a good calendar system. I use Outlook and have a color-coding system. Under categories, you can assign different colors to different buckets, so you see it visually on your calendar. For example, internal calls would be one color, external calls another, project/tasks another, and so on.
I made sure to keep in connection with team members. I would have standing weekly check-ins with my direct report, and then I scheduled 1-1s with anyone who needed support.
I would go into the office one day every other week for biweekly manager meetings as we were 2.5 hours away. I held super user meetings during that day as well. And during times of high-volume gift processing, I would drive down on the weekend to help catch up on gifts.
How the Basics Changed for Me
Two years later I went to consulting, and a few years later, the pandemic hit.
Some adjustments I made during the pandemic:
I got rid of the landline as most of the calls are now on Zoom or another video conferencing software.
I took time to make sure I had a polished and professional background for Zoom calls, as that was important to me.
I purchased a good camera, which is a Logitech C920 HD pro webcam with a privacy shutter, and I highly recommend it.
I still use Outlook with color codes. I also started using Calendly which I love, and it makes scheduling so much more seamless.
I still connect with people and most conversations are through Zoom or LinkedIn.
I rarely go into an office. Most of my work is remote.
And a game changer, I purchased a rising standing desk. The one where the whole desk rises. I tried one of those half-ones where you put it on the desk and then it lifted, but that didn’t work too well since I’m tall and the monitor position was awkward. Now, my whole desk rises with the push of a button, and I can stand more than sit. A floor pad and “indoor” shoes also help
My Office Set-up Post-Pandemic
There is no one-size-fits-all. I researched a lot and got tips from others, but most were trial and error and figuring out what worked for me and for those I was interacting with.
You can take these tips and try them out and adjust for what works for you and your team.
Take Action
If you work remotely or hybrid, here are three things to look at today:
What is your remote office set up and is it effective for you?
What software tools are you using and are they effective for you and the people you work with?
How is your communication and connection with others and is it effective from their perspective? This means you may want to have a conversation with them and ask them. Feedback from others helps.
Now, it’s your turn. Try these out and let me know how it goes.
You’ve got this!
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