Remote work is still sweeping the nation as people continue working from home instead of going back to the office. This leaves many companies in quite the pickle, trying to figure out how to adapt their company culture and operations to a remote environment.
Lone Fir Creative was built as a remote agency in 2015, so we know a thing or two about making remote work realistic both for employees and the business. To help educate us, host Ashlee Rolkowski pulls in Jessica Crosby, Director of Operations, to discuss what other companies can do to better support their remote teams.
“The main things that people see are those feelings of isolation, the inability to focus and trouble separating work life and personal life,” Jess says.
She notes that the ability to focus is an interesting problem because so many people tout productivity as a reason to switch to remote work. Employees get more done, they’re less distracted, they’re more motivated when they’re at home. However, Jess notes the tradeoff is that people are also seeking out more human connection.
This causes an increased volume of notifications from your phone, messaging and platforms you work in as everyone is trying to communicate with each other. This impacts the ability to focus because people or systems are always trying to pull employees’ minds out of the task at hand.
Jessica suggests tactics like blocking off your calendar, turning off notifications and prioritizing focus time as good ways to combat this notification onslaught. She encourages managers and supervisors to instill those positive productivity habits in their team so they have time to accomplish tasks and make connections.
The next topic this dynamic duo covered was separating work and personal life. Ashlee mentions the age-old advice, “don’t work from your bedroom.” Jessica adds that it’s important to create a space for your work where you feel productive and that you can leave at the end of the day. This helps create the transition for your brain that the evening commute used to hold.
Jess also advises setting boundaries for yourself through your calendar or phone and holding yourself accountable to those. For example, putting on your calendar when you clock out of work and turning off all your notifications at that time before you walk away for the day. She offered another way to hold yourself accountable to remote work hours is to schedule activities in the evening that get you not only out of your office but out of your house. That way you can’t focus on checking one last email or wrapping up a project when you should be clocked out for the day.
Lastly, Jess spoke to the challenge of having dynamic personalities on your remote team. Many businesses have observed extroverted people tend to do better in remote settings because they’re more likely to seek out interaction. But, according to Jess, this isn’t entirely true.
“Not everyone is going to interact the same way in the same situation,” she explains. “It’s about having that understanding and having an acceptance for employees who are still getting comfortable in the remote culture.”
If you have team members who are more introverted, Jess suggests creating a variety of channels and projects that encompass the range of interests on your team. This provides everyone with a comfortable avenue for interacting with the team and nurturing their social needs.
She recommends training managers so they’re prepared to support team members and cater to those who might feel more introverted so they don’t feel isolated. “Think of it the same way you’d manage a community of customers, you’re managing a community of employees.”
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