Working Remotely: How to Get Results and Stay Visible

The Importance of Getting Results Remotely

• 🎯 Getting results is the most crucial aspect of any career, even more so when working remotely, as it forms the basis of professional relationships.
• 💡 Without the inherent structure of an office environment, remote workers must introduce their own structure to ensure they consistently achieve their goals.
• ⚠️ The lack of direct supervision can create a slippery slope where less important tasks are neglected, eventually leading to the non-completion of critical work.

Strategies for Completing Work Effectively

• ⏰ Start on time by adhering to your usual office start time, ensuring you are at your desk and working, not just arriving at the building.
• 📝 Create and focus on a task list to avoid losing time searching for the next activity, which helps in maintaining momentum and efficiency.
• 📊 Finish on time by working a reasonable number of hours, avoiding the temptation to work fewer hours than necessary to complete tasks.

Ensuring Work Quality and Visibility

• 🔬 Remote work can face scrutiny, so ensuring your work is done to a high standard is crucial, as it will be examined more closely.
• 📞 Make your work easy for colleagues and managers to find and understand, as they may hesitate to call for clarification, preferring easier but less effective communication methods.
• 🗣️ Communicate proactively about completed work, as work that is not reported as done is effectively undone in the eyes of management.

Reporting and Deadline Management

• 📌 Managers need to be informed of completed work; if they are unaware, the work is not considered done, regardless of its actual completion.
• 📧 Report your work using preferred communication methods that your manager is likely to see, such as email or Slack, rather than solely relying on project databases.
• 🗓️ Consistently hit deadlines, especially when it's tempting to delay, as this demonstrates professionalism and trustworthiness to your manager.
• 🤝 Showcasing your results is essential when working remotely to combat the 'out of sight, out of mind' phenomenon and prove your value to the team.