Working remotely comes with its benefits and challenges. These challenges in particular can become more pronounced when you work in a global team with a 24/7 setup.

Noise can seem constant, and it can be tricky to stay in touch and aligned with your team members across the globe and in different time zones. Building on from Our Mindset page, here are some practical tips for making remote, global working, a little more comfortable for all

Visibility 👀

Invisibility is default in a remote environment. Invisibility of tasks, progress, availability etc. The following are simple steps for how we tackle this lack of visibility. None of this is about being big brother. Its about making sure we all know when we are around, so we can reduce distractions when we are away, and plan work and expectations better.

Calendar

• Set your work hours.
• Set focus times for when you don’t want to be disturbed.

Setting your work hours in your Google Calendar

Slack

• Set status when you’re away.
• Connect your Calendar to Slack to notify others your on leave, in a meeting etc.
• Leave a message in the team channel when you start/end your day, or pop away.
• Set your notifications to match your work hours.

Setting Slack notifications

Connecting Slack with your Google Calendar

Flexible working 🤸

People can work in a way that fits their life, while still keeping work predictable, progressing, and easy for others to collaborate with. Flexible working works when it sits in sync with the other principles we discuss. Visibility, Moving work forward, and Wellbeing.

• Have a flexible schedule, but not communication - follow the visibility steps above in setting up your preferred working schedule.
• Be aware of and account for any required availability times for meetings, co-work, or tasks.
• Set your work day up in a way that works for you, and gets you most productive. This isn’t 9-5 for everyone.