ThoughtWorks
  • Contact
  • Español
  • Português
  • Deutsch
  • 中文
Go to overview
  • Engineering Culture, Delivery Mindset

    Embrace a modern approach to software development and deliver value faster

    Intelligence-Driven Decision Making

    Leverage your data assets to unlock new sources of value

  • Frictionless Operating Model

    Improve your organization's ability to respond to change

    Platform Strategy

    Create adaptable technology platforms that move with your business strategy

  • Experience Design and Product Capability

    Rapidly design, deliver and evolve exceptional products and experiences

    Partnerships

    Leveraging our network of trusted partners to amplify the outcomes we deliver for our clients

Go to overview
  • Automotive
  • Cleantech, Energy and Utilities
  • Financial Services and Insurance
  • Healthcare
  • Media and Publishing
  • Not-for-profit
  • Public Sector
  • Retail and E-commerce
  • Travel and Transport
Go to overview

Featured

  • Technology

    An in-depth exploration of enterprise technology and engineering excellence

  • Business

    Keep up to date with the latest business and industry insights for digital leaders

  • Culture

    The place for career-building content and tips, and our view on social justice and inclusivity

Digital Publications and Tools

  • Technology Radar

    An opinionated guide to technology frontiers

  • Perspectives

    A publication for digital leaders

  • Digital Fluency Model

    A model for prioritizing the digital capabilities needed to navigate uncertainty

  • Decoder

    The business execs' A-Z guide to technology

All Insights

  • Articles

    Expert insights to help your business grow

  • Blogs

    Personal perspectives from ThoughtWorkers around the globe

  • Books

    Explore our extensive library

  • Podcasts

    Captivating conversations on the latest in business and tech

Go to overview
  • Application process

    What to expect as you interview with us

  • Grads and career changers

    Start your tech career on the right foot

  • Search jobs

    Find open positions in your region

  • Stay connected

    Sign up for our monthly newsletter

Go to overview
  • Conferences and Events
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • News
  • Open Source
  • Our Leaders
  • Social Change
  • Español
  • Português
  • Deutsch
  • 中文
ThoughtWorksMenu
  • Close   ✕
  • What we do
  • Who we work with
  • Insights
  • Careers
  • About
  • Contact
  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Engineering Culture, Delivery Mindset

    Embrace a modern approach to software development and deliver value faster

  • Experience Design and Product Capability

    Rapidly design, deliver and evolve exceptional products and experiences

  • Frictionless Operating Model

    Improve your organization's ability to respond to change

  • Intelligence-Driven Decision Making

    Leverage your data assets to unlock new sources of value

  • Partnerships

    Leveraging our network of trusted partners to amplify the outcomes we deliver for our clients

  • Platform Strategy

    Create adaptable technology platforms that move with your business strategy

  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Automotive
  • Cleantech, Energy and Utilities
  • Financial Services and Insurance
  • Healthcare
  • Media and Publishing
  • Not-for-profit
  • Public Sector
  • Retail and E-commerce
  • Travel and Transport
  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Featured

  • Technology

    An in-depth exploration of enterprise technology and engineering excellence

  • Business

    Keep up to date with the latest business and industry insights for digital leaders

  • Culture

    The place for career-building content and tips, and our view on social justice and inclusivity

  • Digital Publications and Tools

  • Technology Radar

    An opinionated guide to technology frontiers

  • Perspectives

    A publication for digital leaders

  • Digital Fluency Model

    A model for prioritizing the digital capabilities needed to navigate uncertainty

  • Decoder

    The business execs' A-Z guide to technology

  • All Insights

  • Articles

    Expert insights to help your business grow

  • Blogs

    Personal perspectives from ThoughtWorkers around the globe

  • Books

    Explore our extensive library

  • Podcasts

    Captivating conversations on the latest in business and tech

  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Application process

    What to expect as you interview with us

  • Grads and career changers

    Start your tech career on the right foot

  • Search jobs

    Find open positions in your region

  • Stay connected

    Sign up for our monthly newsletter

  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Conferences and Events
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • News
  • Open Source
  • Our Leaders
  • Social Change
Blogs
Select a topic
View all topicsClose
Technology 
Agile Project Management Cloud Continuous Delivery  Data Science & Engineering Defending the Free Internet Evolutionary Architecture Experience Design IoT Languages, Tools & Frameworks Legacy Modernization Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence Microservices Platforms Security Software Testing Technology Strategy 
Business 
Financial Services Global Health Innovation Retail  Transformation 
Careers 
Career Hacks Diversity & Inclusion Social Change 
Blogs

Topics

Choose a topic
  • Technology
    Technology
  • Technology Overview
  • Agile Project Management
  • Cloud
  • Continuous Delivery
  • Data Science & Engineering
  • Defending the Free Internet
  • Evolutionary Architecture
  • Experience Design
  • IoT
  • Languages, Tools & Frameworks
  • Legacy Modernization
  • Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence
  • Microservices
  • Platforms
  • Security
  • Software Testing
  • Technology Strategy
  • Business
    Business
  • Business Overview
  • Financial Services
  • Global Health
  • Innovation
  • Retail
  • Transformation
  • Careers
    Careers
  • Careers Overview
  • Career Hacks
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Social Change
Career HacksSan FranciscoCareers

9 Amazing Strategies for Working Remotely

Jennifer  Quraishi Jennifer  Quraishi

Published: May 26, 2015

Here at ThoughtWorks and Mingle, we have several team members who work remotely, most notably our support engineer Sarah out of Austin, and our UX lead Jamie from Philadelphia. We also have many global colleagues. Here are some strategies we’ve learned about how to stay in the loop when you’re part of a co-located or global team.

Standup

Sign on first thing
​
First thing to do for the day: sign into Slack, turn on your “available” IM status in gmail or other IM platforms. Fire up the Skype and keep it on. In short, make yourself approachable.

Make sure your video/audio software works
Whether it’s Fuze (pain to sign in) or Google Hangouts (buggy) or Skype, make sure your network is fast enough to handle it. This is your lifeline to the rest of the team: don’t lose it! For increased interaction, we sometimes keep our big screen office TV on all day while streaming live to our Austin office: spontaneous chats can happen virtually and organically, and just seeing your coworkers more helps create a stronger connection.

Audio is notoriously capricious during video conferencing: try some test calls with a friendly coworker to make sure both of you have the best possible set-up.
For calls, at least in the US, landlines still have the best connection and sometimes best audio quality depending on what other tools you use. If you frequently have trouble with calls on your cell, you might consider getting a cheap landline. As an added bonus, emergency calls made on landlines are often responded to faster than those made on cell phones.

Keep meetings brief and with fewer participants
This will cut down on possible software glitches or dropped calls. Plus, who doesn’t love a shorter meeting?

The fewer in the meeting, the better!
 

Schedule one-on-ones with team members
You may not be able to make the team lunch, but you can still ensure you’ve not missed anything by scheduling weekly (or daily) one-on-one catch-ups with individual team members. Meetings are great for getting a broad sense of what’s going on, but one-on-ones will give you the details you need.

Ping fearlessly
Ping people without hesitation, as long as their time zone isn’t wildly different from yours. If they’re truly unavailable, the worst they will do is ignore your communication for a while. Assume that an “available” status is accurate, and keep emails short and sweet to increase return rates. If you want more transparency, you can try a browser extension like MailCheck for Chrome that will confirm your email was received and will tell you when and if someone has read it. Extensions like this can also schedule your emails to sent at pre-determined times: so if you want your colleague in Chennai to get your email at the beginning of their day, you can make it happen.

Be kind when it comes to time-zones
No one wants a meeting at 6 a.m. or a video conference at 10 p.m. And yet, sometimes they have to happen. Encourage the office to think flexibly: could a recording be made of the meeting for you to view later? Can you call in audio-only so that you can stay in your pajamas?


 

Share your calendar
Sharing your calendar with co-workers can give them a better idea of the best times to reach you, and allows you to carve out “no meetings” blocks of time to really drill down into larger projects. Sharing calendars can also help make you aware of other teams’ local or cultural holidays and plan accordingly.

Engage in person when you can…
If your company has a few events a year where everyone attends, make sure you’re there. Check out conferences where you could spend some face-time with colleagues. If you are part of a remote team, visit other offices periodically to make connections and experience the local office culture. Or, your team can send an ‘ambassador’ from your office to work there for a few months to bring back insights.

…and socialize from afar when you can’t
Join the office fantasy football league. Donate to the charity they work with. Send your coworkers the occasional personal email, or tweet them. Be a person with a personality as much as you can, as long as it doesn’t become your main interaction with them. If you’re more technically-minded, you can even request to become a telepresence robot and roll around the office on your own.

Ready to shape the future of tech?

Join our team of passionate and bright technologists.

Join us
  • What we do
  • Who we work with
  • Insights
  • Careers
  • About
  • Contact

WeChat

×
QR code to ThoughtWorks China WeChat subscription account

Media and analyst relations | Privacy policy | Modern Slavery statement ThoughtWorks| Accessibility | © 2021 ThoughtWorks, Inc.