At this very moment, thousand of professionals are accomplishing personal and professional goals while working remotely. Working remotely offers vast opportunities and several challenges. It is our ability to overcome challenges and capitalize on opportunities which will make the difference. While working remotely for many clients, I have discovered certain qualities which become an inseparable part of a remote worker’s persona. I would like to share these ideas with you. While some of these ideas are general and can apply to a variety of situations, others apply more specifically to the concept of Remote Work.

Habit 1 - Shared Work Time

One of the biggest challenges faced by a remote worker is the time zone differences between you and rest of the team/client. It will happen many times that while you are wrapping up work for the day, your client has just begun with his work-day and asks you about the status of a task. It gets frustrating. I agree. But there are ways you can counter these situations to your advantage. One such idea is ‘Shared work time’.

As soon as your establish a work relationship with the client, understand the time zone difference and plan your schedule so that you and your client/team members have at least one hour of ‘Shared work time’ everyday. It will come at a small price against the huge flexibility you get as a remote worker. It might not be possible to have a Shared work time with every team member. You should try to identify the key stake holders in every project and make it a point to work with that person to devise a shared work time. The best part about ‘Shared work time’ is that it is so practical and a down to the earth way to keep a strong link with your client/team members.

Habit 2 - Communicate Often

In my remote work experience so far, one of the most incredible ideas have taken shape due to our frequent and regular communication. Yes, do not shy away with your client just because you do not have an agenda to talk. Simply say a casual ‘hi’ everyday through an instant messenger and it will make you such a good communicator. I strongly believe that a majority of great ideas spring up during informal communication. Keep your communication frank, honest and guided by an objective to serve clients better. Remove all boundaries and just say ‘hi’ - you will gain so much out of it.

Habit 3 - Collaborate

I wonder how this single word as caught the fancy of so many internet start ups these days. I hear people talking about a new collaboration tool/platform every other day. And if used in the right manner; collaboration is the master key to success for remote teams. The reason - you can instantly build a reliable knowledge channel where everyone can contribute. One of the key ideas I would like to stress when we talk about collaboration is ‘Organized Collaboration’. When you want to collaborate on a document, specification or a list that you are preparing, make sure you organize it well, inform everyone about it and keep everyone updated about the progress made. This will certainly go a long way in making web based collaboration really effective and useful.

Habit 4 - Weekly Team Meeting

We feel proud of the fact that City Talent is created by a remote team. In our experience while building this amazing product we have realized the powerful potential of weekly team meetings. Initially, for all of us, it seemed like yet another procedure. But once a few meetings passed, everyone was enjoying it. It was so exciting to share your experience and discuss problems/solutions with everyone. A weekly team meeting becomes even more enriching experience for remote teams since there will be a lot more diversity on board.

Habit 5 – Have courage to Say NO

It takes a lot of courage to say no. One of the problems faced by Clients after hiring remote worker is ‘over-commitment’. As a remote worker, you always tend to look for better opportunities and there is nothing wrong in it. My point is, look for opportunities when you have fulfilled your previous commitments. Keep your availability most updated in the marketplace so that new clients do not get mistaken about it. Optimism is necessary for growth but at the same to you should be realistic about your capability, availability and extent of involvement you can offer in a project. One job at a time is the key to client satisfaction and it will ensure repeat work.

Habit 6 - Evaluate & Enhance

Once in a while, take time to look back. Going back to see your past performance can help you get a tremendous insight into what needs to be improved. Has there been a misunderstanding? Has there been anything not communicated? Is your personal schedule affecting your work? Are you able to meet deadlines? Looking at your past performance will help you answer these questions and eventually come up with better ideas to become a more effective remote worker.

Habit 7 - Show leadership at every stage

You must be wondering why the word ‘Leadership’ figures out here. I think almost all that we talked above essentially comes along with this idea. No amount of technology, tools or skills can replace your personal leadership. Right from your first contact with the client till the job gets done; lead yourself towards client’s objectives. As a remote worker, be proactive, listen to clients carefully, devise your plan of action, respond to sudden changes and come up with solutions when the way does not seem clear. Bring that ‘Remote Work’ attitude with you - I can assure - success will be easier than you have imagined.

At City Talent, we can help you with the tools, technology, collaboration and guidance, what will set you apart is - imbibing the ‘Seven habits of highly effective remote worker’ in your daily life.

There is a lot of buzz these days on the idea of ‘Remote Workplace’. It seems that the corporate world has found yet another big way to cut costs after the outsourcing wave. As with any other model, remote workplace has its own advantages and disadvantages. One fact remains - the culture of working remotely is growing and it’s not going to slow down in near future.

Remote workplace – why is it getting popular?

Recent statistics from the department of labor shows that numbers of remote workers are increasing at a faster rate. More and more people need flexibility as to where they can work and when they can work. Moreover, with the proliferation of technology, working remotely has become easier than ever before. People can stay connected through Internet and share important information securely on personalized intranets/portals. Many large corporations have the necessary infrastructure and resources to allow their employees to work remotely.

The key advantages of remote workers are:

• Savings in terms of office space and infrastructure investment
• Time savings since remote worker does not have to spend time traveling
• Personal environment improves remote workers productivity
• Reduced overheads

Although remote work can offer a whole bunch of benefits for organization large or small, a few bottlenecks can put up remote worker and their managers in a difficult situation. Some of these issues are:

• Personal interaction is non existent or very rare, bonding between the company and remote workers may weaken due to reduced communication

• Time zone differences

• Cultural/Language barriers

• Lack of proper technology to collaborate and share information can reduce effectiveness of remote workers

At City Talent, our goal is to remove all these barriers for those organizations that do not have the necessary tools or resources to manage remote workers. Our collaboration tools and project management suite can help even an individual run his own virtual organization on City Talent. Coupled with the ability to hire remote staff any time, based on need, you have one of the most powerful tools in your hands. The only barrier which remains is your ability to capitalize on them.