Remote HubSpot Employees Give 8 Tips for Working From Home

At INBOUND this year, HubSpotCTO and co-founder Dharmesh Shahannounced that our company now has more than200 remote employeesglobally

Remote work is becoming so valuable to prospective employees that the second-most searched word on HubSpot's career page is "remote."

Clearly, people love the idea of working from home or a location outside the office. And this makes sense. Have you ever wanted to work for a far-away company you couldn't move to? Or have you ever wanted to cut a tough commute out of your schedule to spend more time with family? These are just a few great reasons why people might want to work remote.

If you're an employer concerned about how offering remote work as an option to employees could impact productivity,, a number of studies have concluded that远程工作是非常有效的at increasing productivity.

A2016 surveyfound that 91% of participants said they get more work done when working from home. Many of this study's participants also said they felt happier at their job when they worked remote as opposed to in-office.

后来，2019年，a two-year Stanford University studyfound that remote employees can boost a company's productivity.

随着远程劳动力的成长，Hubspot拥护了工作风格。实际上，我们的营销团队最近举行了一次远程会议。所有的HubSpot营销员工（即使是在办公室工作的人）没有预订大型会议室，而是登录了远程位置的视频通话。在虚拟会议结束时，我们从一小群远程集线器营销人员那里听到了他们在办公室锻炼方面的经历。

Although this all seems pretty promising way to work, you might still be thinking, "Remote work sounds great, but is it possible for managers or leaders?"

At HubSpot, the answer is yes. In fact, our blogging team alone has six fully remote members, including two people managers from across the United States.

Sounds great, right?

If and when you transition to your first semi or fully remote job, you might be excited about your role's helpful out-of-office location. But, you might also have concerns like, "How will I get visibility in my company?" or "Will I miss important meetings or be out of the loop?"

To help answer some of your burning work-from-home questions, I spoke with a handful of remote HubSpot employees from different departments to get their eight most valuable tips.

1.确定远程工作是否适合您。

对于某些人来说，全职工作远程工作感觉很理想，最有生产力。但是，有些人更喜欢在一周内在办公室举行会议，只有一两个遥远的日子。最后，其他人可能会觉得自己在办公室里完成了最好的工作。

Everyone is different, so if you think you'd like to work remote, testing out all three of the work styles noted above can be a helpful way to make a decision about where you'd like your role to be on a daily basis.

At HubSpot's internal quarterly marketing meeting, which I mentioned above, those who spoke on the remote panel suggested that employees should test a few work-from-home schedules if they think this working style is right for them. These panelists also suggested that it can be helpful to start with one remote day a week and then expand to two or three days as you get used to the new environment.

2. Schedule meetings and work hours in chunks.

When you're remote, it's easy to get distracted by family, friends, errands, or other aspects of your day-to-day life. Working in your own house might cause distractions as you think of chores or tasks you need to do related to your home. Meanwhile, prepping for multiple scattered work calls might distract you from completing bigger projects that require heads-down attention.

To avoid distractions from life or your other duties,establish a solid schedule当您开始远程位置时。

According toRebecca White，HubSpot博客的加利福尼亚州初级职员作家，如果您首次过渡到偏远位置，则计划和坚持牢固的时间表可能非常重要。

“Set up a schedule and routine for yourself as quickly as you can. This means setting boundaries for what you do during the day," says White.

怀特解释说，设定时间表界限可能涉及指定不工作时的离线时间。由于您可能在办公室的标准时间内或外部工作，因此您还可以在团队上任时将时间块设置为在线。

During work hours, White warns that a schedule with vague boundaries can cause you to end up working at odd hours.

“It’s easy to fall into the trap of getting things done during the day, but still feeling like you’ve wasted your time and now need to work later in the evening," White explains. "Setting boundaries for yourself and having a routine schedule will help avoid those pitfalls.”

Scott Tousley这是加利福尼亚州用户收购团队的一名高级团队负责人，他回应了这一观点，称他还安排了整个工作日，并在大型街区中休息。

图斯利说，他的第一批作品发生在上午7点至中午。然后，他从中午到下午2点休息。其次是他下午2点至7点的最后一个工作街区。

Many of the other remote employees we talked to also encouraged scheduling multiple meetings within the same day or in dedicated blocks of time.

For example, you could consider dedicating the first few days of the week to meetings and smaller tasks. Then, use the meetingless days to focus on the bigger projects.

“If you can, group all your meetings so they happen over the course of two or three days. Leave a couple of days wide open to get that heads-down, max-effort work done," saysAllie Decker, a content writerbased in Chicago.

Scheduling meetings all together will not only prevent you from having to stop working on a big project for a 30-minute call, but it will also allow you to streamline the time you spend preparing for meetings.

Decker adds, "You can also use these [meetingless] days to get out of the house, change up your workspace, and not have to worry about taking video or phone calls in loud public spots.”

Scheduling a workday when you can't be in the office can be tricky. While you might be able to schedule your own meetings on specific days, your in-office or remote coworkers in another time zone might need to meet at a time that doesn't always work for you. While you should make exceptions for important meetings, you’ll still want to try your best to stick to a regular week-to-week schedule and communicate your working hours with your team.

如果你的办公室有一个日历系统em where any of your colleagues can see your schedule and book time with you, check with your manager to see if it's okay to schedule a block of time that says something like, "Do Not Book," "Writing time," or "Email me to book meetings during this time." With notes explaining why you’re unavailable for meetings on your calendar, colleagues will be able to see that this time is dedicated to bigger projects and tasks.

3. Over-communicate with everyone.

当您偏远时，您的同事在另一个时区可能会在不知不觉中邀请您在深夜无效的视频通话中进行视频通话。或者，即使您在同一时区，您也可能会发现有一致的miscommunications之所以发生，是因为您发送了一封电子邮件，而不是就您想从团队项目中实现的目标进行面对面的对话。

为了避免您和您的办公室团队之间的混淆点，请在过度交流的一边犯错。请确保在电话聊天期间或通过办公室的直接消息系统中定期与同事一起检查。

“过度通信的一切，”Christina Perricone, a manager on the blogging teambased in Atlanta.

“Since people can’t stop by your desk to clear up misunderstandings, it’s important to explain everything with thorough detail and share more information than you think is necessary," Perricone adds.

虽然您仍然应该保持礼貌和专业，但对您的日程安排，当前任务列表，带宽以及对其他团队成员的期望保持透明和坚定，以便您的同事和经理知道您的工作以及您需要什么从他们。

4. Plan virtual coffee chats with colleagues.

When you work outside of the office, it can be hard to get that valuablevisibility that could move your career forward。因为你的团队将在informa键l office chats, outings, lunches, coffees, or events that you won't be able to attend, it's important to come up with creative ways to get to know your colleagues and improve key relationships with team managers.

“As a remote employee, it’s easy to be out of sight and out of mind," saysHenry Franco, an Illinois-based social media manager. "Setting up regular one-on-one meetings with every member of your team on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis is a great way to stay connected.”

Perricone ads, "Capitalize on any opportunity to connect with colleagues -- use team meetings, one-on-one meetings, or impromptu video calls to work through problems."

“You want to use every opportunity to make up for the lack of in-office interactions that typically build rapport," Perricone explains.

On the Blog team, one great one-on-one strategy we use to catch up with coworkers is called "virtual coffee." During these virtual coffee chats, you schedule a time to simply get to know your remote or in-office colleagues over coffee or lunch, without a set agenda.

您不一定需要使用虚拟咖啡时间来谈论工作。相反，您可以利用这段时间来了解有关您的同事或经理的更多信息。建立这些关系可以帮助您与更远的同事建立更有意义的关系。这些聊天还将帮助您了解有关团队如何在办公室合作的更多信息。

5. Create an efficient working space.

Working in your bed or kitchen could make you want to sleep, cook, or clean when you're on the clock. Meanwhile, a noisy space in your home might open you up to distractions. If you want to get serious about working from home, you'll ideally want to have有效的办公室或安静的工作区that has a designated work surface, great lighting, internet, and limited distraction points.

“Try to designate a space in your home exclusively for work," says Perricone. "Taking calls from your bed or writing memos in front of your TV likely won't be very effective. You need a space that allows you to focus and be productive. That way, you can keep your work and home life as separate as possible."

As Perricone mentions, when you're working from your own home, the line between work life and your personal life can get blurry. To avoid bringing your work stress into your personal life, do your work in one isolated location of your house so that you can mentally and physically walk away from your job when you're off the clock.

佛朗哥解释说：“避免在卧室或客厅工作，因为那里有更多的干扰，很难在工作和放松之间划清界限。”“如果您使用办公室，在工作日结束时关闭门并过渡到另一种心态要容易得多。”

6. Work outside of your house.

有时，即使您创建了一个坚实的工作区，您的房子仍然可能是最令人分心的工作场所。

On top of the distracting environment, associating your home with work all the time might not be so great for your mental health. For example, arecent Buffer surveyfound that 22% of remote employees have trouble tuning out at the end of the workday.

Difficulty tuning out of work might mean you miss out on happenings in your personal life or feel stressed about your job or a deadline even when the workday is over.

As Franco mentions in the fifth tip, a home office offers you an opportunity to leave your work behind at the end of the day. But, if you don't have a home office, it might be hard to escape looking at your computer or answering emails at night when you should be focused on your personal life.

If you've tested out a number of home workspaces and find that your house or apartment isn't a great place for getting tasks done, consider going to another location -- like a coffee shop, library, or shared working space.

“I work from home primarily, but sometimes I need a change of scenery to boost productivity or simply chat with other humans," says Decker.

Decker notes that finding the best workspaces can be a process, so you'll need to do a bit of trial and error testing.

“Don’t beat yourself up if the first few locations aren’t a perfect fit. Over time, you’ll find your favorites," Decker says, adding, "Bonus points if you work regularly at a coffee shop and you’re recognized by the baristas!”

7。Prepare for video calls.

As a remote employee, regular video chats will most likely be part of your role. So, make sure your working space is properly lit and offers a professional, non-distracting background.

Perricone说，虽然可以保持相机并避免向团队展示周围环境可能很诱人，但与相机打开的视频通话对于人际交流和办公室的可见性很重要。

“在您的电话期间打开视频，” Perricone建议。“百分之九十三的沟通is non-verbal. Being remote puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to reading facial expressions and body language during meetings. Video calls mitigate the disconnect that can arise from not being in-person."

8. Don't forget to take breaks.

At a normal nine-to-five job in an office, you'll usually take one or two breaks throughout the day as well as lunch. But, when you're at home and focused on a big project, time can slip away from you and you might forget to take a much-needed breather. That's why you might want to schedule breaks on your calendar.

“Since you miss out on the social cues to head out for lunch or end the workday that are inherent in in-office settings, you have to create them," says Perricone. "Set calendar appointments for lunch or a walk or a midday workout. Otherwise, you might find yourself sitting in front of your computer for 10+ hours a day."

When you do take breaks, it can be helpful to do something relaxing but still productive, like going out to lunch or takinga nice walkoutside.

泰勒·利特温, HubSpot's Art Director, echoed Perricone's thoughts on scheduling break times and encourages remote workers to get some fresh air during the workday.

“Without coworkers there to grab lunch or coffee breaks with, it’s easy to stay in one place for far too long. In my humble opinion, walks are an essential part of keeping your sanity and improving your productivity. Even 15 to 20 minutes is enough of a recharge,” says Littwin.

建立健康的远程例程

正如我的远程同事不断指出的那样，成功远程工作的关键是建立一个例程，使您能够有效完成不同的任务，同时允许您仍然可以将工作和家庭生活保持分开 - 即使您实际上必须将工作带回家。

当您开始在家工作或测试部分遥远的生活方式时，请务必确定您的工作和与生活有关的时间表，并为自己和您的团队设定重要的界限。这些策略将使您的工作日保持生产力，并可以帮助您的偏远职业成功蓬勃发展。

Want to learn more about what it takes to be a great remote employee? We recently published a post about research revealsfive more researched-based tipsfor a successful remote career.

Originally published Oct 15, 2019 7:00:00 AM, updated April 09 2020