Ask HN: Advice about transitioning to remote role?
I've been working as a software engineer for just under 7 years, fully on-site but with a remote manager for about half that time. For my next role, I will be fully remote and I'm a bit worried about the transition, particularly when it comes to communicating with future colleagues & also not going stir-crazy from being at home for 40 hours a day.
People say "communication" but the basis of that is stuff like memes, sharing news, gossip. Talk to each other about non-work things and it'll be easier to talk about work things.
Scrum has been a way to force people to communicate, but absolutely don't rely on it. There's all these research that tells us that using AI for essays makes you lazy. But in the same form, if you only talk to colleagues during the enforced scrum meeting slots, the team will find it difficult to communicate.
Ask each other for life advice and all that. Get used to doing it in messages. Somehow people will only talk to their boss about pizza dough in an office but not online, but that's what the #random channel is for.
Over communicate! Write a quick doc on any proposal or design you're working on if it's big enough. Post regular updates about progress, even if others don't.
Change up your environment. I sometimes sit downstairs, upstairs, or at a coffee shop.
I track my time so my family knows where I am in my workday. It is easier to work 2x4 hour blocks but life often times breaks that up a bit so I log my time.
When I started managing and mentoring people and teams who were starting to work remotely 10-15 years ago, I came up with a phrase that I think captures the gist of it, which others have already mentioned here, but can't be overstated:
"Communication is oxygen for remote teams." As always, there are nuances, like the fact that not everyone enjoys remote work settings, and it's not necessarily the best setting for non-engineering teams. You can find a bunch of ideas online for how to adequately communicate.
For me, async + remote engineering teams are the most joyous and exciting setups!
If you'd like more advice, my email is on my profile.
I've been fully remote since 2012, you'll get the hang of it.
My teams have used a lot of slack msgs and slack huddles, lots of zoom meetings so everyone feels pretty connected.
It's great if you can meet up together at least once a year, work out of an office together and go out, grab drinks, eat meals together for team building.
You'll need a routine, exercise, taking breaks, leverage flexible hours, take a trip and work remote from somewhere cool and interesting.
Take breaks to cook a meal, laundry, play guitar for 10 minutes, get outside for a quick walk, enjoy your pets, say hi to your family, have lunch with a friend, you won't go stir crazy.
Being remote is one of my favorite things about my career, I love it.
I wrote up an article trying to answer this early on in the pandemic. I'm not trying to self-promote by sharing this link... but it is a case where the content I wrote a few years back is a direct answer to what you are asking, so I hope this link is taken as intended, just helpful advice:
Most likely you will have to write a lot to communicate effectively what otherwise would be some quick in person chat. Also, is more complicated to be aware of what is going on in general. Non verbal communication is basically non existent and is really important to know the temperature of a meeting, for example.
Also, having a space dedicated solely for work and without distractions goes a long way.
Scrum has been a way to force people to communicate, but absolutely don't rely on it. There's all these research that tells us that using AI for essays makes you lazy. But in the same form, if you only talk to colleagues during the enforced scrum meeting slots, the team will find it difficult to communicate.
Ask each other for life advice and all that. Get used to doing it in messages. Somehow people will only talk to their boss about pizza dough in an office but not online, but that's what the #random channel is for.
Change up your environment. I sometimes sit downstairs, upstairs, or at a coffee shop.
I track my time so my family knows where I am in my workday. It is easier to work 2x4 hour blocks but life often times breaks that up a bit so I log my time.
"Communication is oxygen for remote teams." As always, there are nuances, like the fact that not everyone enjoys remote work settings, and it's not necessarily the best setting for non-engineering teams. You can find a bunch of ideas online for how to adequately communicate.
For me, async + remote engineering teams are the most joyous and exciting setups!
If you'd like more advice, my email is on my profile.
My teams have used a lot of slack msgs and slack huddles, lots of zoom meetings so everyone feels pretty connected.
It's great if you can meet up together at least once a year, work out of an office together and go out, grab drinks, eat meals together for team building.
You'll need a routine, exercise, taking breaks, leverage flexible hours, take a trip and work remote from somewhere cool and interesting.
Take breaks to cook a meal, laundry, play guitar for 10 minutes, get outside for a quick walk, enjoy your pets, say hi to your family, have lunch with a friend, you won't go stir crazy.
Being remote is one of my favorite things about my career, I love it.
Other than that, you'll settle in just fine :)
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/all-those-new-working-from-ho...
Also, having a space dedicated solely for work and without distractions goes a long way.