81–90 of 123 posts
I worked remotely for them for two years before they laid off the entire engineering team, me included. My next and current job was remote from the beginning. It was easy to get because by then I had proven that I could be effective remotely.
The easiest way I think is to quit and work as a contractor/freelancer. You can offer your services to your ex-employer and if you actually deliver value there shouldn't be problems to have remote work as a term in the contract. Otherwise you can look out for other customers who accept remote work.
Since then, I've done more freelance and employed work, but I've only accepted remote roles.
Does someone have best practices for remote work from the workers perspective? Example end of day email for work complete. Weekly check in for priority projects.
A private office with a door you can shut is also up there. I actually lease a small office about 1.5 miles from my home. Normally a spare bedroom is sufficient, but we ran out of those in my home.
Keep a normal schedule. It doesn't have to be 9-5, but it needs to have a good amount of overlap with your team.
Have a backup computer and internet connection. (Cellphone tethering qualifies here.)
All that said, there's really no substitute for occasional face time. My company has a lot of remote staff, so we do quarterly gatherings where everyone comes to the same city to work together for a week.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has been my experience thus far as well. It hasn't really mattered how well I could frame productivity or measurable improvements in my quality of life to an immediate manager or team - ultimately if the senior leadership dislikes the idea of remote work, each level beneath them will hesitate to fully embrace it. I've found that companies that promote work-life balance as one of their strengths are the best plac…
Remote work goes against having the best work-life balance. When you walk out the door of the office, work should be over and done with until you return. Taking work home should be impossible. Paid overtime helps greatly. It discourages the employer from trying to get free work out of you. Having a non-zero commute doesn't have to mean commuting for 2 hours in urban traffic. You can pick a location where a tiny commu…
Also I find partial days remote works if your commute isn't so large. Work mornings from home and then afternoons in the office. Justify the work at home by early morning calls/meetings.
Have clear project plans with deliverables. Provide a weekly written update to your boss and other stake holders with the weekly progress.
But I'm not alone in doing this, I might be relatively unique in doing it every single day though.
I bought my plane tickets to Asia for a 6 week trip and I told my boss 2 weeks before my trip that I wasn't happy living in the bay area. I loved my job, but I wanted to live anywhere else.
Rather than fire me / have me quit, he let me start working remotely keeping California time.
I worked at a small startup as the only senior back end engineer. I bought my plane tickets to Asia for a 6 week trip and I told my boss 2 weeks before my trip that I wasn't happy living in the bay area. I loved my job, but I wanted to live anywhere else. Rather than fire me / have me quit, he let me start working remotely keeping California time.
(Of course, someone will cite "The graveyards are full of indispensable men"..)