weKnow’s remote working guide to success - Part 2

As a fully distributed company, weKnow supports remote working; a form of management and daily routine that may not be for everyone but, we prove all bumps on the road can be successfully sorted out and made our organization even surpass productivity metrics compared to the in-office style.

Having a career outside of a traditional office setting comes with unique challenges, getting to know them beforehand will allow you to be more productive and happier. Read further to learn some tips to help you and your team excel.
 

Remote work challenges plus how to overcome them

• Health Habits: If no one is on your shoulder telling you when or not to take your breaks or it is easy to postpone lunch time or breaks, it could lead to the point where you might forget to eat. Tip: Enter lunch and breaks in your schedule each day, serving as an incentive to finish tasks before eating or just taking time walking around to stretch or clear your mind.
• You might ditch exercising altogether: Many stay in a single position most day or forget to go outside enough. Tip: The human body is wired for movement, try adjusting your desk to also be able to type standing up some portion of the day or make a pause every twenty to forty-five minutes and just stand up to drink some water and come back to your chair to continue on.
• Diet: You are as productive as what you eat or drink. Tip: Try having a healthy diet that keeps you awake, energized and hydrated naturally with a variety of vegetables, grains, protein and monitoring white sugar consumption. 
• Home Adjustments: Working at home is an adjustment for everyone in the house, including kids, roommates or family. A great advice is to be consistent and reasonable, therefore trying to accomplish work and quality time simultaneously is not advised. Set up a morning routine that allows everyone to be self-sufficient and allows you to have a fluid workflow too.  
• Isolation: the opposite problem. Here is where working from a cafe, coworking with friends or just signing up for an afternoon hobby activity is crucial. 
• Overworking: a recent report from the United Nations International Labour Organization found that productiveness is the greatest metric achieved by remote employees but they are more vulnerable to working longer hours. Work smart instead, by setting appointments on your calendar, set up reminders to take breaks, be clear with your team on when you are leaving, create physical boundaries between you and your workspace (have a dedicated office space) and as tempting as it is: never work from bed, it will only slow you down.
• Time management: Prioritize; first thing of each day: eat that frog! Work on the hardest task to get it out of the way, some people procrastinate by working on minor tasks first, stating “if I get the little issues first then I will have time for the more complicated one” and by the end of the day end up having little time and energy to dedicate the main issue. Basically, remote workers need to be time management experts by monitoring their energy peaks.
• Connectivity: the greatest fear of all is when internet goes down. Well… this is the remote worker problem to solve, have a mobile hotspot device or a great cell phone plan, if possible a backup computer or even a tablet can be of help.

weKnow´s Secrets to Remote Work Success

Trust keeps building up when everyone stays on task while feeling equally represented and present. 

We promote a company culture that embraces remote work to talented nearshore developers, weKnow keeps information and conversations open to everyone, any actions or plans are documented keeping them available to asynchronous team members in order for everyone to have a clear understanding and feel supported, therefore; making everyone feel connected. 

Embracing the remote model has given us access to the best talent in the region, regardless of their location.

A way we switch the regular mindset is by thinking on delivering results rather than time… 
In-office jobs are based on a clock-in and clock-out dynamic, instead; we have a mindset of productiveness that laser focus employees, who will actively try to avoid procrastination because their goal is to deliver great products and services but also to have time for their own means. Jointly this is done by having clear processes, structures and agendas while promoting a healthy system of meetings, events, and habits that keep people communicating, providing the right tools to achieve it.

Communication is key. Every member logs into our instant messaging tool, and every project has its own dedicated "space" within this tool, which enables the team to interact in real time. This also allows our Technical Leadership to be easily reachable to assist with any blockers or technical guidance.

We are an organization that understands the best talent is seeking to apply its knowledge and experience where creativity is encouraged, as well as where meaningful work experiences are provided. Each aspect is meant to facilitate not only the internal process in our company but also swift communication with our partners and customers regardless of location. By sharing these set pieces of advice, our hope is to edify and promote how really useful working remotely can be. 

Each year many more are realizing an office facility is not absolutely necessary, on the 2015 Global Leadership Summit in London 34% replied to a survey stating that more than half their company’s full-time workforce would be working remotely by 2020, we can definitely see it is now a fact that disrupting the regular working environment provides more positive outcomes, definitely provides more convenient perks for all: organizations, clients and workforce personnel.

You can read Part 1 of: “weKnow’s remote working guide to success”, indulge with more benefits of remote working here.