Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Tag: remote work

  • Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

    Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

    Dailyprompt 2079

    The daily word prompt on WordPress caught my attention. I realized that without a computer, my current life would cease to exist.

    I work from home. Without a computer, I wouldn’t have a job. Without any income, I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills or have money for food. I would lose my connection to my coworkers because, without virtual meetings, I wouldn’t see them or communicate with them in any way. (Although I could get on a plane to meet them face-to-face.)

    Life would be very quiet. No more messages via messaging apps. No more emails to reply to. No more rapid communication throughout the day on social media. I wouldn’t be able to share files instantly. 

    A project would no longer be completed in a week or three weeks. It would take several months because files must be packaged in an envelope and sent by post. A document that could be fixed in minutes would need to be retyped from scratch using a typewriter. (Does anyone type letters on a typewriter anymore? Does anyone own a typewriter?)

    Without a computer, I would need a new filing system. I would need Post-it notes and a paper calendar to mark all my appointments and important reminders. Files would need to be printed to be viewed, occupying binders upon binders on a bookshelf, instead of a small USB stick or in the cloud.

    It is amazing how instantaneous and compact life has become because of a computer. I no longer need piles of paper or a bookshelf. Because of my computer, I can communicate instantly with people on the other side of the country or the world. My life without a computer: let’s hope that never happens.

    How different would your life be if you didn’t have a computer?

  • How Technology Has Changed How We Communicate

    How Technology Has Changed How We Communicate

    Repost

    How often have you sent an urgent text and impatiently waited for a reply? Texting etiquette says we should respond within a few hours at most – assuming we didn’t (gasp) forget our phone at home.

    Technology has changed the way we communicate, from the speed of communication to the quality of communication. Gone are the days when recent news became old because it took time to send a letter. We often assume the person we want to communicate with has an email account, mobile, or both.

    Technology has impacted how we communicate with family, friends, and coworkers. Let’s look at some examples of how much we’ve come to rely on tech to communicate with others.

    Messages, Email, and Apps

    How often do you say, “I’ll text you the info?” or “I’ll send you an email?”

    Only one generation ago, sending letters and Christmas cards by post was still trendy. The cost of a stamp was much less than what it is today, and all you had to do was wait a few days to a week for your letter to reach the recipient.

    It also wasn’t that long ago when we used dial-up – that horrid screech on the telephone line – to surf the net. You couldn’t get online privately either – first, you had to tell everyone in the household not to pick up the phone!

    These days, a long letter can be sent overseas by email in minutes and read by the recipient on their phone.

    You can send a voice or text message by any number of options: SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, Instagram, Discord, Messenger, and many more.

    We also have many new social issues that we didn’t have more than a decade ago. Back then, we could “chicken out” and slam the phone when the answering machine clicked on, and we weren’t sure what to say.

    These days, it’s the psychological impact of the Read Receipt. If the other party has read your message but doesn’t reply, does it mean you’re not important, or they don’t care to reply? If you sent the message hours ago, but they didn’t open it, should you send another message in case the message was lost in cyberspace?

    And if you want to get with the times, what do you do if your email or message was opened days ago and you were ghosted?

    These days, we expect a response immediately, within an hour, or at least within twenty-four hours if it’s not urgent. After all, we can answer a question and send information instantaneously.

    We can even video chat a loved one while on a business trip or vacation to another country. Distance and time zones aren’t an issue anymore.

    Communication at Work

    Technology has closed the physical distance between people, work, and talent.

    Previously, you needed a system to keep track of the most recent version of a document. If employee A creates a file and sends it to two others for review, how could employee C and B coordinate feedback?

    With technology like Google Docs, many people from different offices in different cities can work on the same document without worrying about keeping track of which version is the most recent. It also introduces a whole new level of strategy.

    For example, it’s a little more challenging to tell your coworkers that you’re working on the document if you’re not showing as active in the file. It’s also a bit nerve-wracking if you’re writing a sentence and you know someone else is, in a sense, looking over your shoulder.

    Fun moments can arise, such as when I was working on a document and a cursor appeared. A coworker started to type a note addressed to me in the middle of a paragraph. The note was just to say Hello, how are you doing? Then he deleted the sentence.

    The upside of having files in a cloud, of course, is not worrying about what happens if your computer crashes or you need to access the file and keep working from another computer. You have a lot more flexibility.

    The ability to share files has changed the speed of communication. You can save your file and open it again to share in the board room without having to lug around your computer or a USB drive.

    If your talent is not writing or typing, you can record your meeting and have it transcribed into notes afterward. You can also use an app to correct your grammar and spelling. Then a click of a mouse can correct a mistake or rewrite an entire sentence in a second.

    Robot Editors

    With grammar check options and apps such as Grammarly and Hemmingway, one could say that we no longer need writing lessons. We can ask AI such as ChatGPT to finish our writing assignments using perfect grammar. Professional editors may also be out of a job one day because of AI.

    That “one day” won’t be for a while yet, so human editors will still be around. Even if you’re not thinking of hiring a professional editor, you still need to be your own word expert.

    Our smartphones aren’t yet smart enough to be fully trusted with our messages. Autocorrect can create some awkward situations, depending on what word your phone thinks you had in mind. Voice dictation can produce funny results too. I’ve studied some puzzling messages from a manager who said apologetically, “Siri likes to mess with me.”

    Grammar correction options in word processing or email programs are both good and bad. I’m grateful when I can’t remember if an obscure word is spelled with one “r” or two, and I can play around with letters until the program likes what I type.

    It’s also helpful if you’ve had a long day and your editing program kicks in so that you realize you just typed, “I’ll see you at the the meeting.”

    If you can’t remember grammar and punctuation rules, these grammar programs are great. If you’re an editor or a writer with strong grammar, technology can be annoying. You can find yourself fighting with a program that says your sentence is incorrect when your sentence is perfectly fine. You just have to know your grammar rules.

    Living Language

    Where will we be in the future? Will AI take over the job of professional writers? Will AI be a substitute for professional editors? The discussion is here now, yet the future is hard to predict. Any language, including English, is a living language. Professional editors’ forums debate the spelling of a word or a writing style. What wasn’t acceptable three years ago could become correct in five years.

    What we consider conventional or unconventional ways of writing may change ten years from today. Will technology be able to keep up with all the changes and adaptations and write as well as the most talented human? We’ll see.

    Key Takeaways

    Technology has impacted the speed and convenience of communication. The day has already arrived when we can ask AI to write our emails for us. Yet we can still have our fun with autocorrect and grammar check.

    What’s your opinion on the influence of technology on communication? Leave your comment below.

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  • 5 Reasons to Hate Remote Work

    5 Reasons to Hate Remote Work

    If you’ve been following these blog posts, you know I’m a strong advocate of remote work, but it’s not a perfect lifestyle. Like any work situation, there are days when remote work is irritating or totally stressful. So for the moment, at least, let’s look at five reasons to hate remote work.

    1 Getting locked out of the office

    The number one reason to hate remote work is a complete percent reliance on the internet. When your internet is down, it’s like getting locked out of the office and being left in the hallway with nothing to do, especially if your work files are saved on a cloud. You can’t ask the IT person to fix your tech issues – if you work from home, you are the tech person. Tech issues can also make meetings miserable. Your screen can freeze if the internet is slow and you miss out on what someone has just said. Your mic can stop working and you’re speed-typing your thoughts in the group chat. Bad tech = a crappy work day.

    2  Communication issues and isolation

    Remote work is like being locked in a room by yourself. You can’t just wander over to your coworker’s desk for a quick chat. You need to schedule or request a meeting, or message your coworker. In addition, direct messaging creates modern-day office paranoia. Say you just sent a message but your coworker doesn’t reply right away. Are they ignoring you? If hours pass, are they out-of-office or still ignoring you? 

    A whole social aspect of working in an office is missing, such as a festival or special food day. It’s a treat to report to the company cafeteria to celebrate (insert occasion) with (insert special food). If you work from home and want a special lunch, you need to make it yourself (which isn’t as special).

    3 Office furniture and office

    You live where you work, especially if you work in your kitchen. You get the furniture yourself, and pay for it or expense it, but it’s done on your own time, unlike at an office, where you ask and a desk or chair is delivered free to you. It’s the same with stationery. You can’t just raid the supply cupboard. You build up the supply yourself. If the room is too hot or too cold, you’ve got to fix it yourself.

    4 Dealing with misconceptions

    Remote work and work from home allows you more flexibility in your schedule, which is a great benefit. However, people who don’t work from home have misconceptions. Relatives assume that since I’m “home,” it’s okay to interrupt me to have a social conversation or ask if I can run an errand. At a party, a stranger assumed that since I worked from home and I could “work whenever I wanted,” I worked the bare minimum hours. He said that when I realized I had bills to pay, I would start working more hours like regular people. 

    5 Legal and long-lasting implications

    When you work remotely, you communicate with coworkers online through emails or texts. You can’t walk over to your coworker or pick up the phone to chat. In these work set-ups, you join a huddle or have a virtual chat for longer conversations. You send texts for shorter conversations, meaning your communication has a record. You must carefully word your message in case the wrong tone is inferred. Emojis help to show you’re joking or add politeness to a request. But if you’re angry, you need to take a moment and think about what you’ll say because after you calm down, you can’t take your words back.

    Key Takeaways

    Remote work is not for everyone. People who love to socialize may find remote work very isolating. Similarly, people who love collaboration or need a mentor may dislike remote work. Technology can also create frustrations, and some think remote workers don’t work as hard. On the upside, if you enjoy remote work, then you know that these frustrations can be overcome.

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  • 5 Reasons to Love Remote Work

    5 Reasons to Love Remote Work

    Remote work has made it possible to work anywhere, anytime. This work setup is perfect for those who enjoy a flexible work schedule, instead of a rigid 9 to 5 with a set lunch break. You have fewer distractions and you can work when you’re most alert. These aren’t the only reasons to love working from home. Here are five reasons to love working remotely.

    1 Seeing a different side of your coworkers

    You see a whole different side of your coworkers that you wouldn’t if you worked in a traditional office. These virtual meetings can be a great conversation starter with coworkers: What are those books on their bookshelf? How long have they had a cat? Why are there apples in a box for peaches? You also catch some awkward moments, such as talking to your coworker when her arm shoots out to block her husband in his shorts before he walks past the webcam. (True story.) You learn to carry on with the meeting like it’s business as usual.

    2 Increasing your productivity

    Assuming you have an optimal work situation at home, without family members or roommates to distract you at inopportune moments, working from home increases your productivity. You won’t have coworkers wandering past your cubicle to have an unexpected conversation about something you’re not interested in when you’re focused on a task. Instead, conversations with coworkers are scheduled as virtual meetings with set start and end times. During breaks, you can take a few minutes to throw a load of laundry in the wash or vacuum the floor while you brainstorm project ideas.

    3 Maximizing your time and schedule

    Your commute time is just a few minutes, so you’re maximizing your billable hours at work. Compare this schedule to a one-and-a-half-hour, one-way commute to work without pay. Remote work situations may also offer flexible schedules so you can leave work to pick up your kids from school or work on a Saturday so you can go to a medical appointment on a Wednesday morning.  

    4 Relaxing your dress code

    Working from home will save you money on clothes. If you don’t have a meeting that day, you can wear whatever you like, including mismatched clothes or clothes to lounge around the house. You don’t need to plan a business casual outfit or put on your makeup. However, you might dress up for one-to-one meetings or company meetings. Even for an on-screen company meeting, you only need to worry about your appearance from the waist up. (So a crisp shirt with jogging pants and slippers is totally fine.)

    5 Choosing your office location 

    Your remote work office is wherever you want it to be as long as you have a stable internet connection and can concentrate on your work. It can be a home office, kitchen table, corner at a coffee shop, table in your garden, or a hotel room while you’re on a business trip. 

    Key Takeaways 

    Remote work offers many advantages compared to working in person at an office. Five reasons to love remote working include seeing a personal side of your coworkers, decreasing your distractions so you get more accomplished, having a schedule that works for you and your coworkers, a comfortable dress code, and more options for your desk location. Remote work is a trend that started when technology made it possible and will continue for as long as people enjoy the work-from-home lifestyle.

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  • 5 Tips for a Remote Team to Stay Productive and Organized

    5 Tips for a Remote Team to Stay Productive and Organized

    How do you stay productive and organized while working on projects with team members you rarely see in person? Most startup companies I’ve worked with don’t even have an office where team members can meet and discuss their work. Despite this modern-day work challenge, working efficiently as a team is possible. Let’s look at five tips to help your remote team stay productive and organized, even if your team lives in different time zones.

    Tip 1 Establish Clear Communication Channels

    One of the most important tips is clear channels of communication. At the traditional office, you can have an impromptu discussion at the water cooler, pop into a coworker’s cubicle to ask a quick question, or pick up the phone for a brief call. When working with a remote team, you need ways to connect using technology. You can use messaging apps for quick messages, virtual meetings for longer discussions, and project management platforms to track the progress of tasks.

    Regular, scheduled meetings are important to check how people are doing on tasks. Small group or one-on-one meetings are crucial for more opinionated discussions. Impromptu or scheduled one-on-one meetings are the best way to discuss sensitive messages because tone and emotion can be misinterpreted in lengthy texts.

    Project management software and regular updates provide transparency and keep team members on track. Everyone can see the progress of a project, who is responsible for a task, and when the task has started or finished.

    Tip 2 Define Clear Goals and Deadlines

    Clearly defined goals and deadlines provide your remote team with direction and purpose. I’ve worked on teams without clear goals and deadlines. The chaos that ensues can be mentally draining and emotionally frustrating. When all team members understand the team objectives and the timeline for project completion, tasks are prioritized correctly and effectively.

    Clear goals, such as clear priorities for the week, allow the team to see who has too many tasks to juggle, who needs help with a task, and who can take on more tasks. 

    Tip 3 Define the Responsibilities of Each Team Member

    In a remote team, defining each member’s responsibilities prevents confusion and overlapping efforts. One way to do this is by mapping out the flow of work and assigning one team member to be responsible for that task or stage of the project.

    One project I enjoyed was creating Trello cards. Each card was named one stage of the project flow. On each card was a list of tasks for that project stage. Team members moved and added cards with a description of their responsibilities until we mapped out the entire team’s workflow for a typical project. Anytime we had another project to complete, we followed that map as each team member fulfilled their list of responsibilities and tagged the next team member for the next project stage.

    Tip 4 Clarify How Files Should be Organized and Documents Stored

    Remote teams need an efficient way to share files instantly and electronically. Most remote teams share and save information on the cloud. When several people share the same drives (like sharing the same office space) you need to be organized or frustration is guaranteed to occur. 

    You’ll need to standardize ways of naming files and folders. If everyone names files the same way and organizes them the same way in folders, it will be easy to find a file, even if you’ve never worked on it before. 

    Tip 5 Time Management by Coordinating Work Schedules

    Remote teams that have team members located in multiple cities, time zones, or even countries will have a different workflow than an office with team members all starting and ending their work day simultaneously.

    It is important for team members to familiarize themselves with core working hours (times when most of their team is online) and when team members work. For example, if your team member starts work hours before you, consider leaving them a message that will be answered by the time you start your workday. Also, you may need to anticipate questions to ask while they are still online so you can complete your work on your own when they are offline.

    Fun fact: those who live on the west coast will start work as if they are entering a bustling office, with plenty of emails and messages to catch up on. Those on the east coast will start the day with messages and emails that were sent the day before. And on the west coast, it does get a bit quiet and lonely at the end of the day when the team members on the other side of the country has logged off. (A little like staying behind at the office when others have gone home.)

    Key Takeaways

    By implementing these five essential tips, your remote team can achieve greater productivity and organization. Establishing clear communication channels, defining goals and responsibilities, organizing digital files, and managing time effectively are key to an efficient remote team.

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