Practical Tips for Remote Working
The reactions to the first two blog entries on the subject of home office have amazed me. Actually, up to now I was of the opinion that the majority of brain or computer workers are able to switch to remote work without any problems. Far from it, because the opposite is the case.
We want to continue to support remote workers. This series will be continued and additionally we offer workshops for employees as well as bosses.
Let us talk today about a first collection of practical tips.
Meetings
Date Determination
When you used to sit in the meeting room and ask for a new appointment at the end, everyone looked at their calendar and the haggling over the favourite appointment started. Today we have to be able to find them asynchronously. A practical tool is Doodle. Here you can suggest some appointments, let Doodle send the invitation and finally choose the best option. Discussions do not take place, or they pass you by.
Presentations
Before the welcome slide for the respective meeting, I always start with two slides, which fulfill important tasks for me:
Synchronous Via Audio & Video Or Asynchronous
There is a big discussion going on in the net at the moment about which is the right meeting format.
But how do I decide which format is best for me? The first question for me is always whether all people have to participate at the same time. Very often this is not the case and you are off the hook. In this case I send a message via Slack or e-mail to the participants. Alternatively I discuss with them personally.
But if all have to be informed synchronously, the next rule of thumb is the number of participants. If there are five or more participants at the latest, I no longer hold a video conference, but only use an audio stream. However, it is also important to consider how long I have known the participant. The shorter that is the case, the more likely I am to have a video conference with him.
Apps for Communication
One app that I use as a synonym by now is Slack. This is where our communication channels and all our phone calls run. We have searched a long time, tried a lot and found Slack to be the best tool for us.
When we talk to several people we use either Skype or Zoom. Both allow us to make group phone calls and share the screen. But with increasing number of participants we use more and more Zoom.
Security
It should be self-evident today that all transmissions on the Internet should only be encrypted. So HTTPS is the first requirement.
The next big question is where the data is backed up. Here, of course, one must first evaluate the information to be transmitted. If I only talk about the weather or other widely known facts, the data storage is largely irrelevant. But when it comes to real entrepreneurial crown jewels I only trust my own server. With Slack, for example, you can specify in which country the data is stored.
Software
Attention: This section may contain traces of self-promotion π
Of course, I am highly biased in the selection of the programs to be used, especially the project management software. Therefore I will concentrate on data storage and framework functions:
- It must be possible to manage all purchased licenses in the software.
- It must also be possible to back up the data locally if data security requires it.
- The software must be able to synchronize the results of other employees.
In addition, the guidelines of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) must of course be observed.
Here you can find a few apps to work with, of course including Merlin Project ;-)
Your team should be able to work with current project data in any situation. Our patented MagicSync automatically synchronizes changes between all devices.
Finally
Of course this collection of information is not complete. We will continue to supplement this series at irregular intervals. If you have questions on specific topics, please e-mail us.