Best Inspiring Remote Working Toolkits & Guides Shared by Global Companies
Office spaces are no longer going to be a requirement to work soon. The world we live in today is dynamic, and things are always quick to become history or things of the past, and office spaces are not left out of this. Remote working has become a trend, and various employees and organizations are beginning to accept this trend.
To adapt to the new normal, companies and service providers released remote working toolkits, guides and content hubs for remote employees and their employers so that they will ensure the transition to working from home becomes easier for all parties.
We’ve listed a few inspirational remote work toolkits and guides to help you out with your home office productivity below.
Slack - Remote Work Reports and Guides
Along with the announcement in June, Slack has shared that most of their employees will have the option to work remotely permanently if they choose. In addition, the company will begin to hire permanently remote employees increasingly.
With the digital space, Slack has been able to help teammates communicate with one another. It is a channel-based messaging platform and a place for your works, files, and even third-party applications such as Zoom and Google Drive.
According to Slack, channels can be used to create a virtual office. With this new normal, channels allow everyone to view the same conversations and stay abreast with the latest files and decisions of the company. Working with channels isn’t an easy task and has to be done with much efficiency. Here the company shared a support hub for remote workers, including tips & guides both for big companies and small businesses.
With Slack, messaging is instant. To achieve this, you’d have to name your channel; this comes after creating your channel. Naming your channel ensures the energy of the team stays on a topic. Next is to pin important files. This simply allows team members to find important files easily. Also, general channels can be used for an announcement. This way, no member of your team is missing out on any important information. Creating a general channel becomes important because your team members are not together in the office. Secondly, you’d have to stay engaged with your team from anywhere in the world. Slack helps to build a bond among departments of different departments.
Maintaining a good relationship with a motivated spirit is important for every team to grow, and that is what slack was made for. You can use emojis to celebrate, as this helps to build a jovial spirit among your teammates. Also, you’d have to create time for face to face interactions. Working remotely doesn’t mean you won’t see your teammates. You can always video call your teammates to chat with them. Lastly, your partners can also work with you on your channel. No matter who your client is, you can always use your channel to connect two organizations.
Dropbox - Virtual First Toolkit
Dropbox has started working remotely, and they have announced their Virtual First Toolkit, a work in progress based on the company’s experiences.
One of the first things they did is to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion. With diversity, organizations tend to work smarter and efficiently. Also, with working remotely, you’d need to seek the opinion of people who don’t share your ideas and are completely different from you. Also, you’d need to develop and support your team equally. In doing this, according to Dropbox, you’d need to carry out performance appraisals and review them equitably. Besides, you also have to assign tasks equally, as this helps build productivity among your teammates.
The first virtual toolkit is on how to shift your mindset. The first thing to do is to focus on impact and not busyness. Working in an organization can be stressful, and it also requires long hours of work. If organizations allow employees to work independently, this allows them to focus on the impact they’ve made on the job and not how much work they’ve done. This helps to boost productivity.
Next is to be patient with yourself and each other. No human is perfect, which means we are bound to make mistakes. However, behavioural shifts take time; this becomes even more difficult with changing from the traditional office space to working remotely. You should allow yourself to make mistakes to learn from them, don’t be harsh on yourself. This also applies to your teammates, allowing them to make mistakes.
Zapier - Suddenly Remote Starter Kit
Zapier is a “100% distributed company with over 300 remote employees in 17 time zones and 28 countries.”
The company has a dedicated page for remote work and cover various topics supporting the remote work culture: The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work.
Here you can also download the recently released free ebook Suddenly Remote Starter Kit.
Zapier has given several tips for working remotely. Here we wanted to share a few highlights from what they have shared so far;
Their first tip is automation for remote work. You should let your team know when you’re away from your computer. When working remotely, your team members aren’t with you physically, so they don’t know what you’re doing exactly. To avoid this, you should set up an automatic status update in your team chat tool. This feature is also handy when you’re having a meeting as it lets other team members know why you’re not responding. Additionally, you should automatically send your video meeting link to your team. You can send reminders to the public channel and even tag potential invitees for the meeting.
Lastly, you have to build friendships and connections while working remotely. Building friendships help to boost productivity while working. You’re probably wondering how you can build friendships while working remotely. By simply asking your teammates how their weekend went on a Monday morning can lighten up their day. Or even asking how their personal growth is going.
Looking for more? Zapier’s founder Wade Foster shared about the reasons for working remotely.
Microsoft - Work From Home
Microsoft workers can now work remotely, and they’ve provided a remote working hub to guide all remote workers around the world.
The first thing is to stay productive. Working remotely deals with you maximizing your time and doing the most work you can. Linking up with your clients using various communication apps is also very important. Also, you have to stay secured. Working remotely for the first time. There’s a lot you have to learn about security as this is very important. You also need to make sure your antivirus is up to date.
From creating a workspace to running online meetings, they share tips on staying connected amongst the teams during the remote working period.
Shopify - Remote Work Systems
Shopify is one of the companies working remotely, and they have released a very insightful remote work page considering remote employees worldwide. The company talked about maintaining health, wellness, and team connection while working remotely.
As they shared, it’s essential to make your workspace comfortable. Getting the important things such as a comfortable chair, desk, stationery makes your workspace tidy and comfortable. Next is to make time for breaks. Giving yourself breaks helps you to stay healthy and also reflect on all you’ve done. Taking breaks also helps you revise what you’ve done to find mistakes and make corrections.
In bringing this to a close, adapting to this new norm is fundamental in our lives, either as employees, employers, or business owners. Working remotely in the world we live in today makes our lives easier, and it is actually a lifestyle that many people like to embrace.
What is more, they also released a comprehensive guide for full-stack freelancers. The guide includes details about expanding freelancers’ service offerings to retain and delight existing clients. Here you can download it: Grow Vol 2. Becoming a Full Stack Freelancer
Remote working is a style or way of working that allows various employees to work from anywhere in the world where they feel comfortable other than their traditional office spaces. This style of working does not apply to all fields such as medicine, medical laboratory science, nursing, pharmacy, and many more. However, to be clear, technology-based fields such as computer science, customer service are always very easy to switch between the traditional office space and working remotely.
