“The most talented people aren’t in San Francisco or New York anymore. If you limit your talent pool to one place, you’re probably at a disadvantage,” says Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. For example, since the Corona pandemic, Airbnb workers are allowed to work from anywhere in the world for about 3 months out of the year. This change also means that the company can now recruit talent that is not in the radius of an Airbnb office “and the flexibility in the recruiting process makes us a more diverse company at the same time,” Chesky explains.

With examples like Airbnb and several other large companies, it’s clear that remote work and workplace flexibility have many benefits not only for employees, but also for companies themselves. Nevertheless, the “new work model” has not quite arrived in many offices yet, because what sounds nice and good in theory does not mean that it is just as easy to implement in practice.

At Characters, we have also managed to successfully switch to remote work and are more than happy with it. We would like to share with you the best tips and tricks that not only work for us…

• The right equipment
  
  Probably the most important prerequisite is having the right equipment and the appropriate digital infrastructure. This means that employees should always be equipped with the latest technology and be able to access the company network, information and documents from anywhere. Of course, the equipment can vary from company to company, but basically a laptop/screen, mouse, keyboard and Internet access should always be available to create a smart workplace.
  
  
• Safety first
  
  The issue of data security in the globally networked world is particularly relevant for larger companies. If employees do not work in the local company network, but have to dial in from outside, there are risks that should be taken into account when implementing remote work. It is important that seamless monitoring is possible and that suspicious activities and potential security gaps are reported immediately. If working over a corporate network, employees should also be provided with simple proof of identity to easily work remotely.
  
  
• The best tools
  
  Proper communication and information sharing are key to enabling smooth remote work. To facilitate virtual collaboration, there are a number of tools available, such as project management tools Monday, or Trello, time management tools, such as Harvest, or Moco, or productivity tools, such as ToDoist. At Characters, we use Google’s complete package for collaboration. For example, all employees can access data at any time via Google Drive, or exchange information via Google Chat and stay in touch with customers via video chat using Google Hangouts.
  
  
• A few rules make it possible
  
  Without defined rules, remote work can quickly go wrong. Even if this sounds stupid at first, rules don’t have to be restrictive, but some agreements help to stay in contact and to keep the overview. With larger teams and flexible working hours, for example, it can help to enter absences and to note when employees are not available. At our company, we update each other daily in “Stand Up” to exchange information about processes and discuss tasks. Such calls are particularly helpful in maintaining team dynamics and keeping each other informed. But caution is also required when it comes to the rules, too many regulations can quickly have a restrictive effect on employees and quickly limit the flexibility that is actually made possible by remote work to a minimum. Each company should decide individually and try out which rules and processes work and are necessary, and which rules can well and truly be deleted.

Are you currently looking for the right job or IT specialist for your company? Then get in touch with us. We will be happy to advise you and connect you with the companies or candidates that really suit you!

You might also be interested in….

What remote work is all about
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