EFFECTIVELY
FROM ANYWHERE
THE STAFF OF ENTREPRENEUR MEDIA
AND JASON R. RICH
iii iii Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix What It Means to Work Remotely ................... x What The Remote Worker’s Handbook Offers ......... xii CHAPTER 1 Pros and Cons of Becoming a Remote Worker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The 16 Biggest Benefits of Working Remotely ......... 2 The 14 Biggest Drawbacks of Working Remotely ....... 9 The Pros and Cons of Working from a Shared Work Space .............................. 20 Contents
iv THE REMOTE WORKER’S HANDBOOK Contents Determine If You’re Cut Out to Work Remotely 21 Becoming a Remote Worker Will Require Developing a New Skill Set ................................... 24 CHAPTER 2 Being a Successful Remote Worker Is a Skill Set unto Itself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Develop Your Written Communication Skills .................... 28 Verbal Communication Is Also an Important Skill to Master 30 How and Where to Get the Training and Coaching You Might Need ... 30 Master the Art of Managing Your Time .......................... 32 Become an Effective Collaborator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Prepare Yourself to Work Remotely ............................. 42 CHAPTER 3 Adapting Your Existing Work Habits and Workflow to Remote Working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Identify and Outline Your Existing Work Responsibilities 44 Adapt Your Company’s Workflow to Support a Remote Work Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 When It Comes to Internet Access, Have a Backup Plan ........... 48 11 Strategies for Making a Smooth Transition to Working from Home ........................................ 49 Make a Smooth Transition to Working from Anywhere 57 Start By Creating Your Ideal Work Space ........................ 57 CHAPTER 4 How to Set Up and Organize Your Home or Remote Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Identify the Perfect Work Space Within Your Home .............. 60 10 Considerations When Choosing Where to Set Up Your Home Office 63 Home Office Decorating Tips That’ll Enhance Your Mood and Productivity ................................. 70 The Home Office Furniture You’ll Likely Need ................... 70 Additional Home Office Furniture You May Need ................ 72
THE REMOTE WORKER’S HANDBOOK v Contents Gathering Home Office Equipment to Meet Your Needs 73 The Applications That’ll Keep You Productive .................... 75 Required Office Supplies ...................................... 81 Telephone and Internet Considerations .......................... 82 Set Up an Organized Work Space ............................... 84 Identifying Your Equipment Needs for Working Outside an Office .. 85 Considerations Before Choosing to Work Outdoors 85 Don’t Just Go on a Massive Shopping Spree ...................... 89 CHAPTER 5 Work Successfully from a Shared Work Space . . . . . . . 91 Benefits of Working from a Shared Work Space .................. 92 12 Potential Drawbacks of Working from a Shared Work Space..... 94 Tips for Working from a Shared Work Space You Think Meets Your Needs 96 Popular Shared Work Space Options 97 There Are Many More Shared Work Space Options to Choose From ............................................ 100 CHAPTER 6 How to Remotely Collaborate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 10 Tips for Collaborating Using Online Tools ................... 102 Pinpoint and Gather the Collaboration Tools You Need .......... 104 Determine How Each Application Will Be Used and Establish Etiquette ..................................... 112 Strategies for Dealing with Time Zone Scheduling Issues .......... 113 CHAPTER 7 Working with PDF Files Instead of Paper Files . . . . . . . 117 Work with PDF Files from Any Computer or Mobile Device ...... 118 Why PDFs Are Replacing Traditional Paperwork ................ 120 A PDF Reader Is a Must 121 Easy Ways to Create PDF Files 122 Ways You’ll Want to Work with PDFs .......................... 124 Be Sure to Manage and Organize Your PDF Files ................ 125 Digitally Sign Your PDFs ..................................... 126
vi THE REMOTE WORKER’S HANDBOOK Contents Consider a PDF’s Resolution When Creating It 126 As a Remote Worker, Always Focus on Security ................. 126 CHAPTER 8 Effectively Deal with Online Security and Privacy Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 The Concerns of an Employer ................................. 130 Start with a Secure Internet Connection ........................ 131 Use Common Sense to Avoid Phishing Schemes 136 Use the Security Tools Built into Your Equipment ............... 138 No Security Measures Are 100 Percent Effective ................. 144 CHAPTER 9 25 Strategies for Hosting and Participating in Effective Virtual Meetings . . . . . . . . 147 1. Choose the Most Appropriate Virtual Meeting Platform ........ 149 2. Use the Most Current Version of the Application or Web Browser 150 3. Prepare Your Computer or Mobile Device .................... 150 4. Include Your Account Information and Profile Photo .......... 151 5. Choose the Best Camera, Microphone, and/or Headset ......... 152 6. Focus on Lighting .......................................... 153 7. Select an Appropriate Background ........................... 154 8. Take Advantage of Filters, Virtual Backgrounds, and Other Special Features ...................................... 154 9. Configure and Test the Virtual Meeting Application ........... 155 10. Develop or Adhere to Virtual Meeting Protocols and Etiquette ... 155 11. Encourage Use of the Chat Feature .......................... 157 12. Schedule Appropriately and Invite the Right People ........... 157 13. Set an Ideal Meeting Length and Create an Agenda ........... 158 14. Take Proper Security Precautions 158 15. Dress for a Business Meeting, Not a Pajama Party ............. 161 16. Determine When to Speak and When to Listen ............... 161 17. Look into the Camera and Don’t Get Distracted .............. 161 18. Distribute the Agenda and a List of Participant Expectations ... 162 19. Allocate Time for Pleasantries .............................. 162
THE REMOTE WORKER’S HANDBOOK vii Contents 20. The Meeting Host Needs to Maintain Control 163 21. Don’t Become an Interruptor or Distractor................... 163 22. Assign Someone to Take Notes ............................. 164 23. Pay Attention to the Clock and Be Mindful of People’s Time ... 165 24. Record the Meeting for People Who Missed It ................ 165 25. Follow Up with a Summary and Call to Action ............... 165 CHAPTER 10 The Psychological Aspect of Working Remotely . . . . . 167 Expert Advice from Miriam Groom, an Industrial and Organizational Therapist and HR Strategist ................ 169 Strategies for Overcoming Loneliness .......................... 174 15 Activities to Help You Get Out of the House More ............ 175 Final Thoughts . . . ........................................... 176 About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Prior to COVID-19, only about 5.7 million people in the United States were considered “remote workers,” according to workplace research and consulting firm Global Workplace Analytics. However, when COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic in March 2020, everything changed quickly. By the end of the year, Pew Research reported that 71 percent of American workers who said their jobs could be done remotely were in fact working from home. By 2022, while the United States and most other countries continued to grapple with COVID-19, many people returned
ix ix
Introduction
to their office jobs, but an unprecedented number of people across a wide range of industries (such as health care, technology, and financial services) continued to work remotely, and this is not likely to change.
In fact, freelancing platform Upwork estimated in its 2020 “Future Workforce Pulse Report” that by 2025, 22 percent of the entire U.S. workforce (approximately 36.2 million Americans) will be working remotely. This means that more employers than ever before will offer remote work as a viable (and sometimes preferred) option for their employees.
We’ve already seen that traditional offices for established businesses are being shut down. According to the 2021 “State of Remote Work” report by Owl Labs, 16 percent of companies around the world now operate fully remotely. This represents one of the biggest changes in how businesses operate since the Industrial Revolution back in the 1800s.
Countless people who once worked in a traditional office setting, either by employer mandate or by choice, have abandoned their offices or cubicles to work remotely, either from home or another location. These people, and you may be one of them, must relearn how to do their jobs while relying much more than ever before on technology. Remote workers need to acquire an entirely new skill set, alter their workflow, and adapt their mentality to successfully handle their professional responsibilities and communicate and collaborate with their employer, co-workers, customers, and clients.
So as people around the world talk about a “return to normal” as COVID-19 becomes less of an immediate threat to our health, for many of us this means a permanent “new normal” that includes remote work. This already represents an 87 percent increase in remote workers around the globe, compared to prepandemic levels.
What It Means to Work Remotely
Working remotely does not necessarily mean working from home. It refers to someone who works outside a traditional office operated by their employer, either on a full-time or hybrid basis (meaning that at least one day per week, they do their job outside a traditional office). While this might very well mean working from home, it could also mean working from a shared work space, a coffee shop, a hotel room, an airport, or even a car.
x THE REMOTE WORKER’S HANDBOOK Introduction
Thanks to new technologies and many companies’ recent efforts to adapt, a growing number of people in a wide range of industries can now perform their job from virtually anywhere. However, this often means abandoning the status quo and adopting new ways to communicate, collaborate, stay organized, stay motivated, and handle time management and scheduling while remaining as productive as ever—even when not under direct supervision.
The Remote Worker’s Handbook is your comprehensive roadmap for navigating the fast-evolving remote work frontier. This book will help you understand the pros and cons of working remotely, teach you how to overcome the many new professional challenges you’ll face, harness the power of the technologies at your disposal, establish a well-equipped home office or remote work space, and deal with the psychological aspects of working outside a traditional office.
As you’re about to discover, no matter how experienced and skilled you are at your job, becoming a successful remote worker will require you to learn and master an entirely new skill set that relies heavily on technology. Yes, this can be intimidating, but remember that millions of people were working remotely long before the COVID-19 pandemic. They already knew what you will soon discover: being a remote worker has some significant advantages and perks, which we will explore throughout this book.
There are, however, also some common pitfalls related to remote work. With the help of this book, you can learn to avoid them and save yourself time, money, stress, and aggravation, even if your employer does not provide you with the training and guidance you need to adapt to a remote work situation.
HR technology firm Quantum Workplace’s 2021 report “The State of Remote Work,” for example, shows that remote and hybrid workers have higher levels of engagement than people doing similar jobs from a traditional office, and both they and their employers agree shifting to remote work has had no negative effect on their productivity.
Meanwhile, according to social media management company Buffer’s 2022 “State of Remote Work” report, 97 percent of remote professionals would recommend working remotely to others, and 97 percent of those who worked remotely during COVID-19 would, if
THE REMOTE WORKER’S HANDBOOK xi
Introduction
given the choice, continue to do so for the rest of their professional lives, on either a full-time or hybrid basis.
What The Remote Worker’s Handbook Offers
If you want to start working remotely right away, or if you’ve already had a taste of what it’s like, but for whatever reason, things didn’t work out, this book will help you succeed as a productive remote worker and truly enjoy the experience.
Each chapter of the The Remote Worker’s Handbook covers a different aspect of how to achieve success, productivity, and happiness working outside a traditional office. In the past few years, the business world has changed a lot, and this evolution will continue. As a result, even if you opt not to work remotely yourself, you’ll likely have to work with others who are, so understanding how the process works is essential.
Failing to become proficient in the latest technologies and tools for communication, collaboration, and online security, for example, will leave you at a professional disadvantage and could put your job security in jeopardy or make you a less desirable candidate for any future jobs you apply for.
To make one thing clear from the start, becoming a remote worker can allow you to live a happier, prosperous, and more well-balanced life, but you will need to learn new skills, adapt to change, and get to know your own wants, needs, and work habits a little better. Will it be easy? Probably not at first. But in time, it’ll become second nature.
It’s also important to understand that as a remote worker, you may work from your home, a shared work space, or a wide range of locations as you travel. While your work responsibilities will remain the same, the equipment you’ll use and your work habits will probably vary depending on where you’re working.
To address this, Chapter 4, “How to Set Up and Organize Your Home or Remote Office,” focuses on the equipment, tools, and applications you’ll need anytime you’re working outside a traditional office space. As you’ll discover, simply having the right tools and equipment at your disposal is important—but so is a work space that allows you to be productive and to communicate and collaborate effectively.
xii THE REMOTE WORKER’S HANDBOOK Introduction
Becoming a remote worker can provide you with greater freedom and autonomy than you ever thought possible while working for a company, or even when running your own business. We’ll begin our exploration into the remote working frontier with an overview of the pros and cons related to becoming a remote worker. That’s the focus of Chapter 1, “Pros and Cons of Becoming a Remote Worker,” so let’s get started!
THE REMOTE WORKER’S HANDBOOK xiii Introduction
CURATE YOUR CAREER TO FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE AND UNLOCK THE UNLIMITED POTENTIAL OF REMOTE WORK
By 2025, an estimated 36.2 million Americans will work remotely. With benefits like flexible schedules, increased independence, reduced commuting, and significant financial savings, more workers are opting to take their careers virtual. Whether a seasoned professional or fresh on the scene, The Remote Worker’s Handbook gives you the tools to harness an entirely new skill set for a seamless passage into the modern employment frontier.
DISCOVER:
■ File sharing, virtual whiteboards, and collaboration tools to keep you connected
■ Workflow charts and time management techniques to stay organized
■ Recommended security settings including firewalls, VPNS, and file encryption options for guaranteed safety
■ Top-of-the-line technology and equipment for the ideal remote setup
■ Advanced software specific to remote workers
The Remote Worker’s Handbook makes success simple. Transition to your most flexible lifestyle yet and discover the freedom of remote work.
JASON R. RICH is a bestselling author and consumer technology specialist with more than 55 texts spanning from e-commerce, online marketing, travel and entertainment, and personal finance. A frequent contributor to the New York Daily News, Forbes Vetted, and countless nationally recognized media outlets, Jason is a leading voice in consumer technology.
ENTREPRENEUR MEDIA is where small business goes big. For more than fifty years, millions of entrepreneurs and business owners have trusted the Entrepreneur Media family to guide them from startup to retirement and everything in-between. With three major outlets to choose from, Entrepreneur provides exclusive opportunities, acclaimed content, and innovative ways to push publishing, small business, and entrepreneurship forward.
ISBN-13: 978-1-64201-156-2
$24.99 US Business / Marketing
Cover design by Andrew Welyczko entrepreneur.com/books