How to succeed in working remotely?

Remote work or remote business is the term used to describe working from different locations. Working from home, or what is called remote working, means that the people working together are not in the same office. At Trippple, we have spent our entire working lives working remotely from different locations.

I started in 2006 and have followed the development. Today, it has never been easier to work remotely. But many people think it's just about using the right tools, but that's only part of it. It's how you use the tool that's the most important thing.

In other words: What is the remote culture?

You need 2 types of communication channels:

1. A place for sharing: where you can chat, share files and write in the same documents. In short, project management
2. Call centre: Video call application that has chat function

In Trippple we use Google G-Suite, Trello and Slack for this (if you want to see a list of possible solutions, see below). But the tool is not the important thing. It's how you use them.

Let's start with chat, share files and write in the same document:

1. Rules for success in chatting, sharing files and writing in the same documents

a) The notification rule

Many people have tried to get an email where they have been added to CC. Or added to a chat on Facebook, where you have to read a long thread to understand any of it. This is a waste of time. Studies show that many people spend several hours on average every day trying to find information in their emails that is hidden in long threads. Therefore, organise your email or chat into bullet points (don't use a bulleted list, but a numbered list so that you can refer to the correct point) and TAG the person to the point the person should look at. In almost all programmes, this is done with @Martin and the name also appears. If it is an old-fashioned e-mail, the first three lines are used to describe why these people have been added to the e-mail.

This provides answers to WHY I am added in the first 10 seconds you read the email.

If you work in documents such as Google Docs, Microsoft Office 365, Zoho Docsetc. the same rule applies. Do not send a long email, but @tag the people you want to see what in the document, and they will then receive a direct notification.

b) Share everything with your team

Imagine that everything you do will be done in the cloud. For many, this is a big paradigm shift, but for remote work to work, I, as your colleague, need to find your work at all times. We're a team, so why not share what you do? That way you avoid unnecessary emails and chats.

For example, in Trippples Google Drive I can always go in and find the documents that my colleagues are working on, i.e. if I'm looking for information about a project, I can search for the name, see who's working on it, see when a document was last written and what's in it. We're all used to searching Google when we need information. We can do the same in our internal work cloud. This way, a task doesn't stop when you can't reach a colleague.

But you should have some rules about where you put what in which folders, otherwise it can quickly become confusing.

c) Point or link to what you are talking about

In the physical world, we use tone of voice and body language. We point and explain what we want others to look at. This is not easy in a chat or email where everything is text-based. You've probably received an email where you spend a lot of time trying to understand what the sender is trying to describe. Most of us are not very good at describing details and many of us don't have time to read all these details. Therefore, it is important to link to the website or subpage you are talking about https://trippple.no/hvordan-lykkes-med-a-jobbe-remotely/ or better use a pointing app or screenshot tool. I myself use Cloud App which can make videocasts, screenshots, draw on the image, create physical buttons, etc. But best of all, the image is automatically uploaded to the cloud so you can send a link in the chat or email. And it costs nothing!

These were 3 good rules for chat, documents and file sharing. But you should also keep track of video calls:

2. How to succeed with online meetings?

We have 3 ground rules that we believe are the most important for success in video meetings:

a) Find a facilitator

You should have a facilitator if you are more than 4 people. Someone should lead the conversation. This person should ensure that everyone has their say on the matter. It is a good idea to use an online document so that people can see and write in the same thing that is being discussed. For example, the agenda should be in an online document that everyone writes in live. Google Docs is perfect for this.

b) Everyone must actively participate

The big pitfall with large online meetings is that some people become passive and do other things. That's why it's important that you have a way to get everyone to contribute. In large meetings with 30 or more people, you can use Google Forms or other tools to get more people to give their opinion on an issue. It can also be made simpler, for example by having everyone in the chat write a number on a scale from 1 to 10 - what do you think about... Should we switch to G-Suite, I'll write Martin 10, while my colleague writes Laura 8.

c) Raise your digital hand

If you've used video chat with multiple people, you know that people can quickly talk over each other, especially if there's a delay. This makes it impossible to talk without taking turns. That's why I always recommend having a digital handshake. This is done by typing your name in the chat. If I write my name, it's because I want to say something. Then the facilitator gives you the wording and the others mute their microphones.   

d) Share the screen

Almost all online meeting tools have screen sharing. This is very important, especially if you're not using a 1-to-1 responsive document solution like Google Docs.

e) Take a look at how things are going

The last point is often left out, but is actually one of the most important. In the workplace, random conversations occur at lunch, with the water tank or elsewhere. When everyone sits at home, this disappears and important social culture disappears. It is therefore important that all meetings are preceded by a review of how things are going, not just from a work perspective.

If people have a hard time sharing, the familiar SCORM questions are great to use:

1. What have you done since last time?
2. Did you encounter any problems?
3. What are you going to do next?

This doesn't have to take a long time. 3 minutes each is often a good length.

Watch this webcast by Ricardo Wiedenbrüg, senior consultant and executive coach accompanied by Xpand Deutschland GmbH, and Martin Morfjord, co-founder of Trippple and Simplylearn, gives a 20 minute lesson on how to conduct online seminars:

Useful apps

• Getcloudapp.com - used for screenshot and video recording (free of charge)
• Camtasia - video screen capture and editing programme in one
• OBS: Open Broadcaster Software to broadcast the screen and record the webinar (free)

Project management for chat, document sharing and co-writing

At Trippple, we use Trello and Slack to this, but Microsoft Teams, Asana, Monday, Jiraand Zoho Projects are all apps we recommend. But the choice of app depends very much on your goals and what you want to communicate. For some people Asana for advanced, while Trello too easy. Slack also makes the most sense to use when you start using the automated notifications, which is great for us at Trippple who work with so many different organisations.

When it comes to document management, the choice is limited, it's either Google G-Suite, which is in a free version, or Microsoft Office 365 - which is also available in a free version. If you're ready for something new Zoho Suite a total solution that is in many ways more complete than both Microsoft and Google's solution. Cloud solutions such as Dropbox, iCloud and Box are all good, but they don't give you a total solution without using other programmes or just being in the Apple universe.

Book a digital authorisation and we'll help you make the right choice.

Video meetings

In Trippple we use Google Meet which is free to use. Google Meet is fully integrated with your Google Calendar so that you can send meeting invitations to your colleagues from your calendar. If you want to use something more simple whereby.com a tool we use, but it doesn't have all the extra features that the full Suite provides.

Skype for business has been on the market for a long time and after Microsoft acquired Skype, Lync and Skype have been merged. Personally, I don't like Skype as you constantly have to install things. If you are in love with Microsoft then Microsoft teams much better, and much more modern in its design. Zoom in is one of the most popular total solutions where you have webinars and video meetings in the same application.

If you were to go for an all-in-one solution, where everything you need to work remotely is located, I would go for The Remote Work Suite From Zoho where you have Zoho Meetingwhich is part of the package.

What are the benefits of remote working? 

1 in 4 employees work remotely one day a week. In the future, it's likely that workers will increasingly work from home and remote locations. There are many benefits that come with that, some include:

• Save time and money: Instead of commuting, you can get that extra project done, reach that fitness goal you set at New Year's, or squeeze in some personal development
• Focus: Working remotely means you won't be asked for as many "quick favours" and the number of interruptions will drop
• Flexibility: You can work from anywhere with a stable internet connection

Book a digital authorisation and we'll help you make the right choice.