How to Work Remotely and Still Be the Best

http://www.toptal.com/freelance/how-to-work-remotely-and-still-be-the-best

by crm416 • 13 years ago

48 26 13 years ago

area51org2• 13 years ago

I think these are all good suggestions, although there's actually a danger in trying to employ too many tools (especially in an enterprise, where you're probably more likely to encounter less-skilled technologists who may be frightened by such an array of apps).

The biggest key, in my experience: find basic, reliable ways to communicate, standardize on them, and use them consistently. The biggest problems in remote work always seem to stem from people going invisible: no communication, no signs of work being done.

One tool that the OP doesn't mention, but should be a staple among companies of all sizes: Google Hangouts. You can make a permanent hangout using Google Calendar (search for this and you'll find how-tos). It's like a clubhouse, and it's really good for quick chats as well as full-on multi-person meetings.

For pairing, my team has been using a combination of Hangouts with tmux, which is an app similar to GNU Screen, but with next-generation features. (E.g.: when you split a window, or change to another one, everyone in the session sees it! Simpler configuration, too.)

We've found that this simple combination of live video chat with multi-user terminal access is actually better than working together in person. Both people can communicate easily, and no one has to move out of the way of the keyboard. :-)

edit: wording

rpwilcox2• 13 years ago

Author here.

One tool that the OP doesn't mention, but should be a staple among companies of all sizes: Google Hangouts. You can make a permanent hangout

It's interesting to see the potential evolution beyond just text chat for remote teams.

I've never used a permanent video Hangout (although Hangout's new group chat features might work well). I'm excited to try out sqwiggle.com - similar result, but it just takes a still picture of you every few seconds: same effect, less bandwidth/worries about leaking your music to your coworkers 1,000 miles away.

julianez• 13 years ago

We make sure we set up daily Skype/goog calls with remote employees at the same time every day. For me as a manager of remote the toughest problem is to keep them motivated, not only make sure they are doing stuff. A "normal" motivation lie cycle if you don't apply extra effort is 3 months..

area51org2• 13 years ago

Hi, Author.

Sqwiggle sounds interesting, particularly for bandwidth-challenged situations.

alphakappa2• 13 years ago

I find that the biggest downside for working from home is my posture. I don't have a dedicated office setup at home (small apartment), and therefore end up working from the bed/couch. Within an hour I'm slouching or sitting in a terrible posture which is not really great for working for a long period of time.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a chair (not an office chair, but something that can otherwise be part of the home furniture) that is convenient for sitting and using a laptop for long periods of time?

MartinCron• 13 years ago

Even a small apartment should have a dining table, your straight-backed dining chair will be better for your back than your bed or your couch, especially if you get up and stretch at reasonable intervals.

alphakappa2• 13 years ago

I should have a dining table, but given how small places are out here (SF), I had to optimize and do without :)

atwebb• 13 years ago

I had an issue with this for a while, even having a desk I chose the couch sometimes (pick up laptop in morning and find I haven't moved for hours).

I can quasi-recommend a standing or treadmill desk. There are many benefits but for you, one would be space (fold up treadmills or a shelf on the wall). The one issue is that you can't really do it all day.

cpursley• 13 years ago

Hum. I have the opposite problem. Office chairs hurt my back and distract me. It's not a natural way to sit for human beings. But cross-legged is : )

pjungwir• 13 years ago

Buy a good chair. :-) I used to use a painful chair, and eventually I shelled out $350 or so for a fancy chair off Craigslist. I figured billing $100/hr I would pay it off fast if it helped me work a full day. Sure enough, my troubles sitting have disappeared.

I'm still trying to find the right arrangement for my trackball to keep my shoulder from aching. . . .

jroseattle• 13 years ago

Working remotely is not an easy job to do well. It requires great communication skills and the ability to translate and interpret words into actionable tasks.

Having done this for a while, there's a big thing that anyone who works remotely needs to understand: the biggest presumption those on the other end have about you is that you're not working when you're not on a call or communicating. It's nothing personal, it's just the nature of being remote.

There is only one real thing that addresses this presumption: output. Deliver on promises, and deliver great work. All the tools in the world can assist you and your teams in being productive, but the real value is when you produce.

clueless1232• 13 years ago

Jira, Skype, Github, Jenkins are a few examples of tools that help bosses (smart ones at least) have direct visibility into your work & productivity. With these I can see exactly when/what/who/why my team is working on better than if they where right next to me.

Buzaga• 13 years ago

isn't that a weird title for praising remote working?

porker4• 13 years ago

I freelance for a number of companies (both one-off and recurring clients) and I can't find an issue/bug tracker and PM tool that works when switching between multiple projects.

Ideally simple enough that the client can file feature requests, discussions can happen and they can provide feedback, yet comprehensive enough that I can prioritise items, tie VCS commits to them etc.

Basecamp isn't any good for technical projects (or structured enough); I've trialled Planscope with a price-conscious client and it worked well (but isn't a bug tracker as the Author says). Lighthouseapp, PivotalTracker, both good but neither encompass the whole project lifecycle that a freelancer has to deal with.

Because we don't need a bug tracker like an in-house development team, or a project estimation tool like a sales team, or a client management system like an account manager, or a project maangement system like... you get my point. We need them all.

I've also decided after 10 years freelancing the tool needs a Gantt-esque view, so clients can visually appreciate the impact of delaying the project at a certain point by X days, or adding a new feature. It won't be an accurate time-chart in reality, but they need to see the impact of changes to realise it's not worth making them.

With the number of tools out there I'm convinced something must match. What am I using? Google Spreadsheets with a large client (relatively successful, save for the discussions... ouch); Another client insists on long email threads (got to find something better). And I'm doing less work and managing more overhead the whole time, with no clear system to tell me what's Important/Urgent across all my clients.

To those of you who have solved this already: Please tell me how!

rpwilcox2• 13 years ago

Author here.

Sounds like App Trajectory (by ThoughtBot) may fit the bill. It has discussions, and these discussions can have many related issues. Each issue gets an estimate, agile story point style, and App Trajetory computes your velocity (and pushes too big issues off an iteration!) so you can see how a two week detour will affect timeline.

It worked really well for me on a project.

It also does multiple projects, although I don't think it will give an agregate view over all your projects ("this week I have these two items due for project x, an these 3 for project Y")

bdunn2• 13 years ago

(Guy behind Planscope here.)

I've actually been working on what I think are going to be some nice changes that will make juggling multiple projects a LOT easier. My development background had me working on one big project at a time, but I'm learning that a lot of people self-juggle a lot of projects at once.

One of the perks of an all-in-one time tracking + task list tool is that I've been silently collecting data on: how accurate are estimates? how many hours a week does this person work? how many projects are being worked on in a given time span?

And next on my plate will be to actually use this data to make predictions based off of data that will help you see a lot of what you're talking about.

porker4• 13 years ago

I look forward to seeing the results! As a freelancer I'll have clients who I work for regularly, and clients I work for once in a blue moon. A way to archive projects (and not pay for them as GitHub makes me) is crucial - because on my books I have 30+ clients, and can't lose the info in case they come back in 2 years for a change to the system.

CodeMage• 13 years ago

Have you tried hosting a Redmine server?

porker4• 13 years ago

No, the UI of public Redmine servers I've seen has put me off as not being fit for purpose - especially with clients seeing it. Definitely a project which could benefit from a UX team!

clueless1232• 13 years ago

We use Jira, I think it pretty much does what you want straight out of the box, except the gant charts that you can get as a paid plugin.. (I use the ondemand SAAS version)

qwerta• 13 years ago

Working remotely requires some investments: dedicated room for office, good chair, conference set. Most people just try to code on sofa at living room, and fail.

jeffio• 13 years ago

You definitely need a dedicated office space. Especially when you got kids in the house! When we were looking for a house, having a sweet office space was one of the major factors. My office is away from the family common areas, on a different floor, and the noise I hear is minimal if any.

ajtaylor• 13 years ago

This issue is one big reason why my attempt at remote working failed. If I had had a basement office, away from the rest of my family, it very well could have worked. But I couldn't get physically enough out of sight to be also mentally out of sight.

How to Work Remotely and Still Be the Best

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