The effective abilities to work remotely don’t rely on academic qualification, work experience, seniority, skill sets, status, or expertise. It requires a cultivated mindset to do telework which includes conscious segmentation of work and life, and self-autonomy. This is unlike what you are used to as an on-site worker. 

The pandemic has pushed remote work into the mainstream mode of work. Legit online jobs can be found anywhere, such as on job sites like JEDI Jobs, an online remote job portal. Remote work varies from entry-level work to senior positions and allows career mapping, especially for women as remote jobs for moms are proliferating. 

Remote work can be jarring for those who are used to working in an office. Water coolers are replaced by refill water bottles. Fire drills are now IT tests and a matter of cybersecurity. Your colleagues are only visible on your computer screen. You must use the mute button during meetings and turn on your camera since you’re not heard and seen by default. From Zoom backgrounds to remote team collaborations, digitalization is constant and it can unnerve you. 

Humans have reached this far in civilization and technological advancements through the capability to adapt, innovate, rethink, and reinvent. When the pandemic struck and we couldn’t go to the office due to global nationwide lockdowns, we found a way to work from home. The new normal caught on and after adapting to it, we became comfortable with it. Remote work isn’t going away anytime soon, and more and more workers are going remote. 

What are the merits that remote-first/remote-friendly companies look for when hiring remote workers? 

Merits like adaptability, readjustment, and the fervor to learn encapsulated by a growth mindset are the core abilities remote employers seek when hiring. 

Let’s delve deeper into the encompassing core abilities to gain insights into the makings of a teleworker

1.  You have the ability to work independently

When you work remotely, your superior isn’t physically present to look over your shoulder, and check on your progress regularly. As a remote worker, you must discard that sort of dependence at the workplace – you have to be your own manager at work and monitor your task completion.. Your work is invisible up to submission so you must be accountable for your own work and develop self-autonomy. 

Since remote work is flexible in nature, work hours and task priority are up to you in a more encompassing way than the nine to five on-site work. You must be able to use this greater freedom smartly and not fall into the social loafing trap, especially in remote team collaborations. In working remotely, it’s easy for you to not contribute to the fullest because of the following reasons: 

• Your manager and colleagues are only on screen. 
• You are not used to working alone. 
• You are invisible so you take the opportunity to fade into the background. 
• Your active participation takes a backseat. 
• You are used to sustained supervision. 

A conventional go-back-to-school approach can help you tackle remote work. When you do your homework, your teacher isn’t physically present to play vigilante. It’s nearly the same with remote work – you accomplish your work without relying on anybody but yourself. Of course, you can ask for clearer instructions, update your remote project flow to your team members, and collaborate constantly across asynchronous collaboration platforms in real-time.  

Remote work is more focused on productivity than presenteeism – your presence isn’t as important as your timely tasks’ execution, meeting deadlines, and project completion. With this in mind, Genashtim Pte Ltd, a 100% remote company, implements the Total Flexible Initiative remote work policy. The company’s Founder and CEO, Thomas Ng quipped that he doesn’t mind if an employee works for only an hour in a week, provided they bring deals worth millions. This is what remote employers look for – peak productivity, rather than top presence. To achieve this and be a prized remote worker, you must be an autonomous worker.  

However, remember that punctuality is still a virtue in the remote work realm. Don’t take your “own independent time” to attend meetings. Not only do you disrupt the whole meeting, you also waste your colleagues’ time. Make adjustments to your remote work schedule to accommodate team meetings. You can also ask if the meeting can be held at an earlier or later time lest you have clashing meetings or if you can’t attend the meeting at the set time. This is especially important if you have colleagues from different time zones. 

2.  You are able to avoid or manage distractions

If you are one of the people who want to work from home, you need to understand that home comforts can sometimes distract you from working. Even proper home-to-work segmentations can’t help keep distractions at bay if you don’t have the willpower to follow them. While it’s true that remote work offers a better work-life balance, you still run the risk of abusing that liberty. Hence, you must be more conscious and rein in home temptations so that they don’t affect your work.  

Distractions aren’t limited to the home – digital nomads and people at workcations are equally prone to distractions. If you work from a coffee shop or a coworking space, the novelty and contemporary attributes of such spaces themselves can be distracting. If you’re working while immersing your feet in the Pammukale natural hot springs in Turkey, the grand, exquisite sight can serve as a mighty distraction. To avoid such distractions, you can “sprint”. Sprinting in the remote work world is when you work in high-concentration bursts, whereby you allocate a certain period of time to complete tasks in a highly efficient manner. You can train yourself to sprint and get a lot of high-quality work done in a short span of time. 

Social media is also a major distraction. Since no one is supervising you, you might tell yourself that taking a peek at Facebook won’t do any harm. Before you know it, you’ve spent an hour scrolling down Facebook. To curb this new-age distraction, you can put your phone away or put it on airplane mode. When working on your laptop, don’t open any social media sites in your tabs. 

These are the distraction combating means that you can apply before taking the remote work plunge or to enhance yourself as a remote worker; they also help remote work growth and make you an asset in your remote company/division. 

3.  You must be open to new technology

Technology made remote work possible. Hence, it’s natural that technological advancements will continue to transform remote work indefinitely. As a remote worker, it’s important for you to be receptive to remote work developments in lieu of innovation. 

In every remote role, there are specific tools that are needed for job descriptions like graphic design tools, video making and editing software, and social media posts manager. However, there are tools that are common for all remote workers – these universal tools are predominantly used for the following purposes:  

• Synchronous and asynchronous communication 
• Integrate distributed teams  
• Schedule meetings 
• Time blocking and time management  
• Calendar scheduling and other work facilitating and workflow automation tools 

There are also tools developed internally for specific uses such as leave application. You must be knowledgeable about all these tools to be an efficacious remote worker.  

As a 100% remote company, Genashtim has an absolute reliance on technology to operate as a company. The organization’s in-house and curated Virtual Office Training (VOT) is utilized to onboard new remote employees. The training doesn’t only test employees’ MS tools’ proficiency, it also introduces the company’s remote work culture, work-from-home policy, and best practices. Highly transparent, the VOT serves as a stepping stone for the subsequent remote work norms that await the employee. 

The transition to remote work technology will be easier for a company with a reliable IT department. Genashtim’s IT department, Abled Online provides IT services to clients as well as the remote company’s employees. Besides IT support, they regularly updates staff members about dysfunctional tool features and new technology features. 

Technology remains one of the major challenges of managing remote teams. Genashtim hires retirees and multigenerational gaps exist with the employees who are millennials. But learning is a lifelong process and the senior employees at Genashtim keep learning, not letting their age get the better of them and tackling remote working technology challenges hands-on. This is the befitting approach to remote work no matter your age and background. Unlearning, relearning, and self-learning are imperatives in remote work. With the right attitude to learning and adapting to technology enhanced by a growth mindset, you will find remote work doable, even flowing like it’s your second nature.  

4.  You must be highly self-motivated

Remote work heavily relies on remote workers’ dynamism. The most important dynamic dimension for remote work is high levels of self-motivation. 

Self-motivation in remote work is tied to the ability to work independently. You must be motivated enough to finish tasks and the motivation must come from within. In the world of remote work, external motivation is a sidebar.  

70% of Genashtim’s employees are people with disabilities (PWDs). Beyond the company’s working-at-home policy and procedures, its people’s unfettered self-motivation and determination are taking the company to new heights. Therese Margareth Saranza, a Genashtim employee is a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic but her self-motivation drives her to excel at work.  

Being self-driven and resourceful are necessary traits for remote workers. You must be in tune with telework’s atypical demands and develop the skill to think ahead. Your self-motivation needs to be purpose-oriented as well. To be a coveted remote worker, it’s crucial that you ask yourself the following questions from time to time: 

• Am I contributing positively to my company’s remote work culture? 
• Is my work meaningful and useful to the stakeholders? 
• Am I meeting the collective remote organizational goals, mission, and vision? 
• Am I able to deliver results that align with my remote organization’s purpose? 

Genashtim is a for-profit social enterprise that employs workers from marginalized communities. Therefore, the remote company is inherently different from the rest and self-motivation is integral. Genashtim’s remote employees motivate themselves to make the company raise profits, grow, and employ more workers who aren’t advantageous when it comes to conventional employment opportunities – they grow as the company grows. 

Your self-motivation should also inspire your remote colleagues. Although remote work renders your work literally invisible, with elevated levels of self-motivation, your dedication will shine through the work you do. Let your work and self-initiative speak for you.  

Go ahead and add self-motivation as a skill in your professional resume; it will not only make your resume more appealing and give the impression of being a valuable candidate during your remote job interview, but it will also help you in your remote role. 

5.  You can adapt to new work environments, and even master them

Adaptability is important for a remote worker as remote work is a different ballgame altogether.  

The way you work and your office are not the same as on-site work. It’s your responsibility to maintain your computer, and other gadgets and compensate for fast internet, especially if your company doesn’t have compensation for speedy WiFi in its remote work policy. 

You should be able to cover all individual and collective work demands and use the appropriate tools to handle any telework situation. 

For the highest levels of efficiency and productivity, you must prepare your home office to cater to remote work elements. However, be mindful of work-life segmentation. Blurring the lines between work and personal life can backfire. This is the delicate art of balance – you must know when to unplug. 

Remote work involves the use of computers so cybersecurity is a must. Make sure that your computer is protected and optimized. Let your remote IT team check your computer from time to time to ensure that your computer’s condition ensures optimum performance.    

6.  You have the capacity to coexist and work efficiently in groups.

Genashtim’s employees hail from 25 countries around the world. Naturally, there is high multiculturalism within the company. The key to working in such a diverse and inclusive workforce is acceptance, sensitivity, and respect. 

You also shouldn’t let your distinct culture, background, and nationality get in the way of your remote work, especially during remote team collaboration. When at work, all you should keep in mind is your organization’s remote work culture and align your values with it. The values are often universal and include: 

• Honesty 
• Integrity 
• Accountability 
• Dedication 
• Empathy 

When working in teams, you should pull your weight and contribute your part without hiding behind the remote work veil. If you have ideas, share them with your team members – don’t worry that your suggestions won’t be accepted. What’s important is being heard. 

7.  You are quick to integrate and get onboard your remote company’s corporate culture

For some, remote work is a wilderness that is untamed. Without sufficient integration, remote work will continue to be uncomfortable and difficult to take on. Workflows and project management processes are done differently in the remote work realm and rookie remote workers may struggle. 

Usually, your remote organization facilitates newly hired remote employees’ integration through a “buddy system” within the organization. An employee that has been with the organization long enough to have imbibed the workflows and the remote corporate culture can be assigned to integrate a new employee into the remote enterprise. This also requires effort on your behalf as a remote work amateur. You can latch on quickly by doing the following: 

• Save files and documents that detail workflows and pay special attention to your roles and parts. 
• Take notes and refer to them during task execution in a particular workflow. 
• Cross-check with your buddy if you’re on the right track. 
• Your buddy is there to help you so don’t be shy to ask questions when in doubt. 

Genashtim’s remote corporate culture is very different as its remote employees come from “the forgotten workforce”. Thomas Ng coined the phrase “the forgotten workforce” to refer to untapped human capital existing in marginalized communities. For many of Genashtim’s PWD employees, this is their first employment in a corporate company. They actually helped strengthen Genashtim’s corporate culture by adding meaningful value to it. 

If you’ve been employed in a corporate setting before, getting onboard a remote corporate culture wouldn’t be a problem. Nevertheless, you must be prepared to absorb the novel remote work culture within your corporate remote work organization. 

Final words… 

These tips for starting a remote job can help you only to a certain extent because no remote worker and remote organization are the same. 

There are no definite answers to the question of “What do I need to work remotely?” At the end of the day, you still have idiosyncrasies as to how you work. What you need to do is leverage those idiosyncrasies to suit your remote work attributes. 

Being an effective remote worker ultimately boils down to self-cultivation. 

You can find good remote companies to work for at JEDI Jobs especially if you’re from marginalized communities and have trouble finding jobs in the mainstream employment scene. JEDI Jobs brings legit remote employment opportunities from global remote employers to workers who are sidelined due to commuting challenges, lack of awareness and amenities, and preconceived notions. Register with JEDI Jobs now and be a part of the global remote workforce.