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Remote Work Why it’s cool to work in underpants

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Agenda •Needs •Employees •Team Leads •Company •Outcomes •Recommendations

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Needs: Employees •Commitment •Manage priorities •Work autonomously (distraction-free, ownership) •Communication •Write clearly, concise, respectfully •Respect others’ time (e.g. chat talk == shoulder tap, don’t abuse chat mentions) •Report progress: task tracking, dailies… •Don’t go invisible (e.g. salute, notify of going away) •Start meetings on time (or decline in advance)

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Needs: Team Leads •“Trust if you want trust” •Overcommunication •Keep standup meetings (remote via videoconference) •Frequent one-on-ones •Help others ASAP •Define success based on specific goals (e.g. team KPIs) •Lead by example (e.g. easily contactable, transparent on ongoing work)

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Needs: Company •Trust •Empowerment •Shared vision •Transparency •No second-class remote citizens (remote-first vs remote-friendly) •Will to learn new collaboration tools •Avoid One-person Teams •Bring whole team together: All-team offsites, events

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Outcomes •Productivity increases •Collaboration decreases (so encourage it) •Asynchronous flows: Answers often not instant •Global talent market (but remember salaries vary too)

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Recommendations •“One remote, all remote” •Setup home office space •Define “quiet hours” •Always assume miscommunication over malice •Give context: devlogs, updates, summaries… •Watch out for knowledge silos •Call if something needs quick clarification •Make HQ awesome to work at (so people is eager to go)

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Recommendations (II) •Reduce meetings (to relevant ones) •Cut out distractions (e.g. do pomodoros) •Set & keep your hours •Have a connection backup (e.g. tether phone data) •Sometimes, nothing beats a physical team meeting •Don’t over abuse communication tools (the fewer the better) •Agree upon core/shared working hours •Share documents or screen to ease explanation/help

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Recommendations (III) •Agree upon minimal must-use tools (e.g. Zoom, Slack, tmate,...) •Define clearly hardware & software requirements •Headset •Operating system (e.g. no Windows)

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References •https://www.toptal.com/freelance/how-to-work-remotely-and-still-be-the-best •https://www.helpscout.net/blog/ •http://www.hanselman.com/blog/30TipsForSuccessfulCommunicationAsARemoteWorker.aspx •http://scottberkun.com/2013/remote-work-tips-and-tricks/ (mega list) •Misc notes without source

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Thank You