This article may seem a little late as we have now been away from the office for almost four months. However, I believe this current time is when a lot of us are realising that this is not such a temporary situation after all, and we need to make sure our mindset is tuned to working remotely, as even when we all can be back in the office, many of us will still choose to work at home more often. And with working at home likely being more popular in the long term, working together remotely is something we need to get used to doing productively.
Initially, back in March/April, I was winging it, feeling like we were in a temporary situation and we would be back to normal soon. I was less productive (largely due to children at home) and work was done in any spare moment I could. Not good for staying well, staying connected, or staying productive. As we settled into working at home all the time, I realised I had to make more effort to be productive in some ways. My children are now back at nursery (I realise not everyone has childfree time again yet) and that has enabled me to move to the mindset of working like this on a less temporary basis.
One way I felt I was being less productive was in the way I was supervising people. I work with several people, as do many of you. Different people communicate with me in different ways; some by IM, some call me, others send lengthy emails. All have their place. I am terrible at typing – it takes me just as long to correct what I’ve written as it does to type it out in the first place, so I usually prefer an initial telephone or video call to discuss work that needs doing and then switch to amended documents/emails thereafter. I’ve started using track changes more often to amend work that I am supervising (I amended things in the very old-fashioned pen-and-paper way when we were in the office). I have not used the screen share function very much, although I know that this is really useful for many people. I prefer to make any changes necessary and follow up with a call to explain what I’ve done, rather than put someone through the painful task of having to watch me slowly retype, correct, delete and re-retype their inventive step arguments.
Aside from the usual tips about supervising work/working together (communicate!), here a few that are relevant when you and your team members are working in different places:
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Have a call about what you would like to be done and expected time frames.
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Share screens when you are jointly agreeing on a piece of work – it helps that you can both see what is written and what you are talking about.
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Use track changes if changing something that might need an explanation later.
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Use the phone to discuss changes/updates and who is doing what next.
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Don’t be afraid to ask the person you are doing some work for to clarify if you aren’t sure. I believe this is more relevant when remote working as we don’t just bump into each other, so more effort needs to be made to reach out (to use a phrase I hate!). Often people tend to push on through and complete work without taking a moment for a quick sanity check after starting. I can be guilty of leaving people to get on with things without checking in that they are ok with some tasks, leaving them floundering. Checking-in can save a lot of time in the long run = more productive.
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Agree on how to be responsible for work. MyDesk works for many people, but others prefer email or using the DMS space. Clarify which way you’ll be working before starting. I’ve failed to do this and work has been sitting completed in MyDesk when I was expecting it to be emailed. This is more likely to happen remotely as we don’t bump into colleagues to check they’ve seen something.
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As a supervisor, if something is not done well (which is rare!), use video. Telling someone they have not done the best piece of work you know they are capable of is much better talked about in person, or as close to in person that we can currently get.
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Don’t forget the virtual pats on the back. Not being able to see that someone is unsure if they have written something the right way means we might forget to add that reassuring “well done”. Praise where praise is due, and then some.
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Appreciate that people are more flexible. My team did a fantastic job of accommodating my strange and unpredictable hours when I was doubling up work with childcare for three months.
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Above all, be patient – both with supervising work and having work supervised. Many of us are all still adjusting to working this way and coming to terms with it being for a while yet. Even if you go back to the office, chances are that the person you are working with, won’t be.
I realise that none of this is ground-breaking and that many people work like this very effectively, anyway. But for me, it was about making changes to accommodate the realisation that this is the way things will be for the next few months, at least, rather than an occasional day working at home. I have also had to get rid of my “I can always clarify that face to face tomorrow” attitude. And typing this out (very slowly) has, at least, helped me get my head around how to make collaborative working as productive as it can be.
I know several of our colleagues worked remotely for much of the time before we had no choice but to, so if you have any more tips to share, please fire away in the comments!