Team Leads of HYS Enterprise shared their experience on how to set the workflow, overcome difficulties and adapt to remote work.

 

Anastasia Minaeva (HR Director)

The most important things in remote work are the necessary technical and psychological conditions. If there are technical problems, the company can help organize workflow. But the company can’t get family members to respect privacy during working hours. Many families think that ‘working from home’ means ‘not working.’ So you can take out the trash/go to the store/clean up and so on. Every employee will have to handle such situations in their own way.

The second enemy of remote work is procrastination. Many employees find it easier to work from the office. They like the working environment in the office because there are fewer chances to get sucked into a distracting loop. 

Unfortunately, procrastination is a very common problem and we have to increase control for those who have a tendency to it. 

 

Vladimir Garbar (.Net Team Lead)

It’s crucial to save the dynamics of the process. Most of the technical issues have been resolved long ago. It is enough to take a laptop, and your workplace moves with you wherever you want.

More critical is the communication situation. Remember the ‘7-35-55’ rule. Only 7% of information is transmitted by words, 35% – by voice and intonation, 55% – non-verbally.

One minute of talking is much more useful than 15 minutes of writing messages. After all, we cut off a lot to save our actions. As a result, we fill in the gaps, often with nonexistent things. So calls once or twice a day are extremely significant. And it’ll be even better if you make video calls.

Self-discipline is a core for remote work. We should keep each other in good shape, check out the progress, but also not overly control.

Replicate your office experience as closely as you can at home. Work in the same hours and not break your schedule. This will help you to avoid overtime and, as a result, lack of productivity later. Also, the working hours of the team members should be synchronized as much as possible. 

 

Yuri Snachov (Scrum Master)

My family has moved to Europe, so I have been working remotely since July 2018. During this time I tried several locations and modifications for the home office and I was disappointed in the Instagram prettiness of ‘working with a laptop on a lounger’.

The tasks have not changed much, I have my own laptop and all the devices, so I can’t say that adapting was difficult. At first, I tried to be in touch 146% of the time, but then I started noticing that I didn’t get up from the table for 4-5 hours. So I started planning my day more carefully and rejecting all questionable invites. The performance metric of your remote work is not an online presence, but a value you create.

Work from home makes you reconsider your attitude to cookies/coffee/lunch in the office and appreciate them a little more. Especially when a busy schedule doesn’t allow you to eat in 9.5 minutes as in the office. 

When working in full-time remote mode, your activity decreases significantly and desk work turns into hyper-sitting. So it is important to make a more convenient environment for your workplace (comfortable chair, appropriate light, laptop/monitor stand) and do something physical every day to maintain sufficient activity. Two hours spent every day for commuting to/from the office can be devoted to your bones, joints, muscles, and gray matter. 

 

Igor Gorbenko (Marketing Lead)

It’s important to monitor team productivity on remote work. In the morning I ask everyone in our chat to write what they plan to do, in the evening – what they have done and how can I help. 

Tasks that were previously solved by voice in three seconds turned into a lot of new chats and messages. I ask my team mates to write concise messages and not distract colleagues with messages like ‘Hi’ or ‘What’s up’. 

If the dog climbs on my head, I don’t move to calm her down.

 

Alexander Prygun (.Net Team Lead)

Our team doesn’t feel discomfort from remote work. Video calls perfectly solve the communication problem. We were ready for the fact that we would have to work from home. So all the guys were warned before the official imposition of quarantine.

I can advise all team leads to pay more attention to close communication with the team. No one should feel detached. This will allow the team during the transition period not to get bored and keep pace.

Keep in mind that everyone reacts differently to the current situation and notice the mood of each of the team members. Someone catches a panic mood, someone, on the contrary, wants to ignore all the recommendations and safety measures.

You need an individual approach here. The former should be reassured, the latter should be called for social responsibility and cool-headedness.

Any crisis is a temporary concept. So prepare a cozy working nest, isolate yourself from distractions, and be responsible to yourself, the team and the client.