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If you’ve been selected for a career path that involves working remotely from the comfort of your home, it isn’t always clear on how to adapt. There are many factors involved in creating an effective work-from-home strategy, including the type of work you’ll be doing and how much time it takes to complete projects. As with any other process, there are key areas where you can focus your attention so as not to miss important milestones while working remotely. Equally, for employers, with the adaptation to remote working, many hiring managers haven’t even physically met their employees and hired them over a video conference. Here are a few tips to help both the employer and the employee thrive in this new era of working remotely.

Time Management Is Everything

Many managers or employees who work remotely struggle with time management. You can increase your productivity by setting up an appointment calendar for yourself, where you’ll write down all of your daily tasks and appointments. In addition to helping you stay on track, this calendar will act as a guide for your manager or coworkers when they need to reach out to you. The sooner they understand how often you tend to check emails and communicate with others, the easier it will be for them to contact you in a timely manner.

It’s also important to invest in a reliable cell phone, preferably one that allows you to use a VPN connection. You should have a separate mobile phone for business contacts and activities. This helps to eliminate any possible conflict of interest with your family, friends and coworkers who call you on your private number. Additionally, do not limit yourself to working from home every day. Instead, try going into the office once per week or at least twice per month. In doing this, you’ll be able to re-initiate face-to-face interactions with colleagues and supervisors that might have been lacking from your work style after spending a few weeks working remotely.

Staying Motivated Can Be Challenging

Working from home can be the most tempting experience in the world when you have no supervisors or coworkers to keep you accountable. This is why it’s even more important for you to create a schedule for yourself that includes daily and weekly tasks. This will help increase your self discipline, as well as making it easier for you to stay focused on priorities and deadlines. If you find yourself procrastinating or becoming frustrated with your work, talk to your supervisor about mix-up goals and expectations related to projects so that they can assist with the process of getting things back on track.

If you’re a hiring manager and your goal is to hire the best remote workers available, you’ll need to make the hiring process as flexible as possible for both parties. For employees, this will mean bypassing typical interview formats such as phone call or video conference interviews. This is because these interview styles tend to create feelings of uncertainty due to their impersonal nature. Instead, try conducting in-person interviews that allow you to get a feel for who they are as a person and how they might best interact with your team members. In addition to this, skip baseline tests such as IQ or skill exams during the interview process. Take a step back instead and have a conversation where you can learn about their professional and personal goals. By transitioning to this type of interviewing process, you will be able to determine whether they are a good fit for your company or not. Allowing people to interview in person also allows them to feel more confident and comfortable with the level of trust you place in them.

Special Considerations For Remote Workers

If you’re an employer looking to hire remote workers for your team, it’s vital that you create a company culture that is open to people working from home. This also means you have to avoid any type of formal policies on how much time an employee can work remotely. Instead, you should simply embrace the notion that remote workers are part of your company. This will encourage them to be more productive and take more risks while collaborating with other team members. To encourage productivity, managers should try to eliminate or minimize distractions from the workspace such as music cases for screens, snacks and other items that might interrupt focus or create a distraction while working with others.

A good tip for employers is to build in regular breaks during the work day. If you have remote workers working longer hours, it’s important that they take breaks from the work environment in order to refresh their minds and bodies. This will give them the best opportunity to stay as productive as possible.

If you’re a remote worker, don’t be afraid to ask your boss or coworker for some help from time to time during the work day. You can inquire about sending or emailing documents or sharing information through phone calls. If you’re unable to do this on your own, it’s okay to ask for a colleague or supervisor who would be willing to help in this manner. Finally, be proactive and ask for help if you feel you need it. While this may seem like it will make you appear needy, the opposite can happen. This is because hiring managers aren’t expecting to hire remote workers who feel they are doing everything themselves throughout the work day. By asking them for help, you will demonstrate a need and the fact that they matter to them – which is usually a positive sign that they want to continue working with you at your job.

By: Nathan Ware

*This article was first published by Axe Staffing & Recruiting. For more details visit: https://www.axerecruiting.com