I’ve been working full-time remote or partially remote for the last 10 years. I currently work full-time remote at Datadog, which is remote-capable (another term being “remote-friendly”) but predominately office-based. As a remote employee with an office-based employer, you must understand your company’s stance on the subject to know how to approach being remote, ensuring you remain connected, visible, and effective.
This is my short guide to help you excel as a remote worker in this type of setting. While I am writing this for remote workers specifically, this guide can also help office-based employees who want to become more effective and visible.
Prioritize communication: overcommunicate to compensate for the distance
When you’re not physically present in the office, it’s easy to fall off the radar. People may not realize when you’re stuck on a task, need help, or are making progress. The solution is simple: communicate more than you think you need to.
- Frequent updates: Share your progress on projects, key milestones, and blockers. You don’t need to wait for formal meetings to do this; be proactive by sending a quick message or writing regular updates on team collaboration tools.
- Ask questions: Don’t hesitate to clarify instructions or ask for help. In a physical office, you’d be able to turn around and ask a colleague; online, the equivalent is a quick message or email. If you haven’t noticed, there are ample people willing to answer questions or explain how things work. Yes, you have unlimited permission to ask the “dumb” question in the open.
- Be available: Respond relatively quickly to messages and emails, and make sure your team knows your working hours (many tools have settings for this), especially if you’re in different time zones. People should feel they can rely on you to be responsive in your working hours. This also involves keeping your calendar up to date by setting busy blocks for lunches, personal errands or appointments, and heads-down focus time. The key is to keep some space for ad-hoc meetings, treating these just like if someone were to walk over and tap your shoulder. The one caveat is to prioritize face-to-face time over asynchronous communication—don’t chat on your company’s messaging tool while you’re on a video call.
Think of it this way: people should know your personality and hear your voice through the volume of your written word. Writing becomes your voice when you’re remote. The clearer and more frequently you communicate, the more present and engaged you’ll seem to your team.
Embody “presence”
Amy Cuddy, in her book Presence, discusses how projecting confidence and being fully present can have a profound effect on how others perceive you. As a remote worker, you have to be intentional about showing your presence even when you aren’t physically around.
- Camera on for virtual meetings: Body language and facial expressions are key elements of communication that can be lost in remote work. By being visually present, you’re showing up for your team in a way that builds connection and trust. This is a high-density form of communication; don’t dilute it with your camera off or a bad camera or microphone. On backgrounds, either show your workspace unblurred or use a virtual background that portrays some aspect of your personality.
- Maintain eye contact: Remain engaged—don’t look off into the void the entire time. It’s rude to appear uninterested in a one-on-one in-person setting, so don’t do it on video calls either. In a large meeting this is less of an issue, just like in person. Also, make sure your camera is positioned so it makes you appear to be looking at the person and not another screen.
- Speak up: Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in meetings. You want to be perceived as engaged and attentive, even if you’re not leading the meeting. Additional ways to show you’re actively involved are to ask questions and volunteer to summarize the notes. If the majority of people are in-office in the meeting, you will likely also have to talk over someone to be heard. This can feel rude at first, but I promise you’re OK—just be sure you are adding value to the conversation.
- Own your space: Treat your workspace with the same respect you would the office. What is visible is what people will associate you with in your communications. This isn’t to say don’t show your personality, hobbies, or that you have kids, for example, just that you should be intentional with what you show. I don’t recommend the blur effect since using a blank wall is better and less artificial.
Being remote doesn’t mean being disconnected. Maintain the mindset of presence, especially in virtual spaces.
Be outgoing and proactive in building relationships
In an office setting, you might naturally build rapport with colleagues through casual conversations in the cafe, during lunch, walking in the hallways, or sitting next to someone. As a remote worker, you need to put in a little extra effort to build and maintain those same relationships.
- Schedule virtual coffee chats: Set up casual one-on-ones with colleagues, especially those you don’t get to interact with regularly. The goal is to build rapport beyond work topics. These need to be chosen wisely and recurring, so don’t expect this to be a one-and-done.
- Be proactive in team engagement: Take part in team events like a virtual happy hour or a message thread about non-work-related interests. Showing your personality online helps others see you as more than just “the person who works from home.”
- Lead initiatives: If there’s an opportunity to lead or propose team activities (even virtual ones), jump at it. Being involved in team-building initiatives helps you stay visible.
Be present without being annoying: walk the line
It’s crucial to strike a balance in remote communication between borderline annoying, but not annoying. What does this mean? You want to ensure that your presence is always felt, but you never want your communication style to be overwhelming or irritating.
- Consistent but measured communication: Find a rhythm for your check-ins, whether it’s daily or routine across specific timeframes, and keep it consistent. However, don’t send messages for the sake of sending them—ensure they’re meaningful and contribute to the conversation or progress of the project.
- Tailor communication styles: Understand how each team member prefers to communicate. Have you read their “How to work with me” doc? Adapting your approach to each person’s preferences will ensure you’re seen as thoughtful and effective rather than overbearing.
- Clarity and brevity: The clearer and more concise your communication is, the less likely people are to see it as annoying. Make sure your messages are informative and to the point.
Consistency is key. Whether it’s how frequently you check in, how promptly you reply to messages, or how you deliver on deadlines, consistency is how you build trust.
Schedule in-person time
In-person time is very important. Try to be in-person quarterly with your team and peers.
- Prioritize in-person discussions: Travel with a purpose and pre-schedule face-to-face meetings. Cancel or defer all remote meetings that are not critical.
- Save time for casual conversations: Don’t fully book your calendar leave time for spontaneous conversations.
- Arrive early: Grabbing coffee is a great way to catch up and have quality unplanned conversations.
- Save room for dinner: Already have events and dinners planned for the whole week? Great—if not, you’ll often find something planned during those same in-person discussions. Or, organize one with your peers. Sharing non-work conversation over food is a great way to build trust and rapport.
Avoid communication fatigue with structure
Want to avoid feeling Zoom, Slack, or other app fatigue?
- Audit your calendar: You might find you have a recurring meeting that had a purpose at one time but has gone stale. If it’s not useful for either party, drop them or greatly reduce the frequency. This can apply to one-on-ones.
- Find your schedule: For some this involves more frequent short breaks, and for others this is large blocks of focus time. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Leave some breaks between meetings to be off-camera and reset. In most major calendar tools, you can even tweak your meetings to end five to 10 minutes earlier by default.
Final remark
As a remote worker in a predominantly office-based environment, your success can largely depend on how well you communicate, show your personality, and are present in every sense of the word. If you’re interested in learning more about working remotely at Datadog, we’re hiring.
