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Telecommuting: Your productivity tips
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Telecommuting: Productivity Tips
- Establish regular working hours—block these on a company accessible calendar
- Use Skype for as many virtual face to face sessions you can. Use the Skype status to notify when you've left your desk (restroom break, etc…)
- Be accountable and reliable
- Use a smartphone and sms text (so people can find you quickly)
- Do NOT have children crying/screaming in the background (use offsite child care)
- Take a sick day if you need to care for your child sick (do not give anyone the ability to question your focus)
- Do NOT allow your dog to bark—or any animal to make chatter
- If you have a home with some yard space get a separate office pod (I have a 12x12 that is awesome). If you don't clearly organize/create a space for work—and make it look professional on camera—even if you are in a more casual work environment. This means no religious, political, slacker or other items in view of the camera. I'd also recommend not showing your kids pics if you have them
- Dress like you would when you go to your office in whatever that is
- Get good equipment—printer, fax, HD camera, deck (I have a sit to stand), etc….and make sure you have 50-100mps bandwidth for smooth video/audio communication
- Use a wiki or other cloud tools for collaboration (basecamp, box.net, dropbox, etc…)
- Use iPhone/iPad apps for marking up PDF's/ppts, sketching ideas (something like CloudDraw that others can join via iPad, iPhone or desktop) or general sharing (join.me, etc…)
- Turn in status weekly to your manager (accomplishments, risks/challenges, up next and upcoming personal appointments/time off)—transparency here very important.
- Follow-up on meeting requests, emails, etc… in a timely manner—don't sit on these
- Make your deadlines
- If you are light—pitch projects/deliverables (to your manager) that would benefit the company/team
- Use Skype for as many virtual face to face sessions you can. Use the Skype status to notify when you've left your desk (restroom break, etc…)
- Be accountable and reliable
- Use a smartphone and sms text (so people can find you quickly)
- Do NOT have children crying/screaming in the background (use offsite child care)
- Take a sick day if you need to care for your child sick (do not give anyone the ability to question your focus)
- Do NOT allow your dog to bark—or any animal to make chatter
- If you have a home with some yard space get a separate office pod (I have a 12x12 that is awesome). If you don't clearly organize/create a space for work—and make it look professional on camera—even if you are in a more casual work environment. This means no religious, political, slacker or other items in view of the camera. I'd also recommend not showing your kids pics if you have them
- Dress like you would when you go to your office in whatever that is
- Get good equipment—printer, fax, HD camera, deck (I have a sit to stand), etc….and make sure you have 50-100mps bandwidth for smooth video/audio communication
- Use a wiki or other cloud tools for collaboration (basecamp, box.net, dropbox, etc…)
- Use iPhone/iPad apps for marking up PDF's/ppts, sketching ideas (something like CloudDraw that others can join via iPad, iPhone or desktop) or general sharing (join.me, etc…)
- Turn in status weekly to your manager (accomplishments, risks/challenges, up next and upcoming personal appointments/time off)—transparency here very important.
- Follow-up on meeting requests, emails, etc… in a timely manner—don't sit on these
- Make your deadlines
- If you are light—pitch projects/deliverables (to your manager) that would benefit the company/team
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