7. Remote Worker Mind Set
A remote worker is:
▹ Proactive & independent
▹ Has team-focused work ethics
▹ Is reliable, results-oriented and highly responsive
▹ A good team player: pleasant, collaborative, supportive
and receptive to feedback.
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8. Good Team Player
1. Communication & Collaboration
2. Building Trust
3. Building Relationship
4. Addressing Conflict
5. Etiquette for all Interactions
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9. 1. Communication & Collaboration
▹ Communication is key to team’s productivity
▹ Good communication practices involve how much you
say, when you say it and why you say it.
▹ Practice good communication etiquette:
▸ Slack
▸ TW
▸ Email
▸ Video calls
Both communication and collaboration are essential
ingredients for building trust and building relationships
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10. 2. Building Trust: Demonstrating
Reliability
To replicate the on-site mentality when working remotely,
we have to embrace a new mindset.
▹ We need to TRUST that others will deliver the results they
committed to
▹ We need to be willing to ADVERTISE our productivity
▹ We need to DELIVER the results we committed to
delivering
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11. Blocks of TRUST
Building blocks of trust starts with:
▹ Being reliable
▹ Being consistent
▹ Being transparent
1. Can I rely on you to get your work
done on time?
2. Will you deliver high-quality
work?
3. Can I find you if I need to?
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12. ADVERTISE productivity
Work out loud (WOL): is the act of making your work
observable to others so you keep remote team members
across each other’s progress and availability.
▹ WOL results to being transparent in your work habits
▹ WOL helps knowing you can be relied on
▸ Scrums (are SO important)
▸ Regular updates on what you are working on
▸ Updating files/tasks and discussing it on slack
▸ Updates on your availability (holidays, offline)
▸ Using the group channel rather than DM
▸ Video calls
Demonstrate reliability by tracking productivity
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13. 3. Build Relationships
▹ Video: as visual creatures, we can’t
help but feel more connected when
we can match a face with a voice and
name.
According to a survey done by Polycom in 2017, 92% of
respondents believe video helps improve relationships and
foster better team work. It improves communication,
productivity and fosters better teamwork.
▹ Be personable, share a bit of yourself
▹ Get together in person when possible
▹ Be open to feedback
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14. 4. Addressing Conflict
▹ Positive Communication
▸ Be nice
▸ Assume positive intent
▸ Resist the urge to express charged
emotion
▹ Constructive Feedback
▸ Avoid Seagull effect: someone comes
into your work, shits all over it, then
flies away
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15. Remember….
▹ Respect that there will be differences amongst team
members
▹ Don’t make assumptions; instead, ask questions - be
curious.
▹ Listen to what your team has to say
▹ Be intentionally positive; offer suggestions, not critiques
▹ Strive to not take things personally
▹ Take time to learn about other team members
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16. 5. Etiquette for all interactions
Meetings
1. Best quality meetings result from fast and stable internet, minimal background
noise and great equipment. Example of a bad conference call
2. Choose the place where you will be taking the call from
3. Always have your video camera on (unless wifi connection isn’t strong)
4. Show up on time
5. Be prepared
6. Introduce new people prior to starting the meeting
7. Make eye contact with the speaker. After all, the whole point of using video is to
visually demonstrate you are fully engaged with the meeting.
8. Don’t engage in non-meeting activities. Offer your undivided attention. Be respectful
and be 100% there.
9. At the end of the meeting, reiterate post-meeting action items.
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17. 5. Etiquette for all interactions
Slack
1. @Tag people when you want them to see something
2. Your default channel for anything related to a client should be the client channel
and not DM
3. Use threading in conversations where possible
4. Be responsive, if you are online don’t take more than a few hours to respond to
people.
5. Resolving conflict: start with a one-on-one conversation. If you choose to take it
public, #pillow-fight channel is the place designated for uncomfortable
conversations.
6. When posting messages, be specific with your needs and give context. Use full
sentences. Links to documents/tasks if necessary.
7. If you make a mistake in a message, edit your message rather than writing a new
corrected one.
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18. 5. Etiquette for all interactions
TeamWork
1. When a task is finished, add comments to the task, add link to the document that is
being delivered, log your time and tag the task as “complete” - do not tick it off
2. Log your time in the relevant task. If unsure, ask your AM.
Availability
1. If you are going to be away/unavailable, it is your responsibility to let the team know
2. Put your OOO
3. Put it in the leave calendar
4. Send a reminder on Slack
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19. 5. Etiquette for all interactions
Working across time zones
▹ Prioritize your overlap time
▹ Know everyone’s preferences
▹ Check everyone’s calendars
▹ Make it fair
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20. So remember….
▹ Demonstrate reliability by tracking productivity
▹ Communicate in a productive way
▹ Build Trust & Relationships
▹ Can I rely on you to get your work done on time?
▹ Will you deliver high-quality work?
▹ Can I find you if I need to?
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During this presentation I will be covering some basic points that sometimes we are not getting right.
Sometimes we are not able to control the controllable aspects of our work and I strongly believe we can.
The title of this presentation is very much in line with one of my main focuses as CSD - Making sure everything runs smoothly between: AMs and delivery, Delivery and Client, Client and us, us as a team, Freddy and Paul...
This quote reflects how I see my journey at IMWT
I really have found a passion in this team.
I am fully committed and I believe we can all work in a more structured and productive way….
I want to make sure we have the tools and the know how to be able to do it
Let’s take a moment to think about the Remote Worker Mind Set
As I see it and as many specialists in the remote working space see it
Let’s take a moment to think about the Remote Worker Mind Set
As I see it and as many specialists in the remote working space see it
From my point of view and experience a Good Team Player
When we work in an office, we can see that our teammates are present and engaged with something - we see how we are all being productive and this creates an atmosphere that inspires us to demonstrate ours as well.
Team effort produces a sense of trust, which bind a team together.
But when we work remotely, we don’t have the built-in awareness of everyone contributing to the mission.
Delivering demonstrates a lot but if your work takes more than a workday to complete you need to find additional means to make yourself “visible” to your colleagues.
Video: You are more engaged because you’re seeing my facial gestures, my movement, my energy, my passion. I’m communicating with you as you were designed to be communicated with.
It does take time to get used to video ….it takes preparation. But it takes preparation to dress up and come to the office too. People like to hide, We’re lazy and we like to hide behind slides or audio. But if we give in to laziness in refusing video, we risk damaging long-term effectiveness and connectedness
Positive Communication: it is easy to read negativity into written communication, even when none was intended.
Assume positive intent: make a conscious effort to not jump to conclusions. Even if you someone wasn’t friendly, try to assume no ill was intended. When you are not sure how to respond to someone, ask yourself: What else do I not know?