DIAPER BANK NC-
Working Remotely for DBNC

Like many companies, the idea of having a remote work policy because once every few months someone could say, "Hey, I've got this [reunion|wedding|dealie] that's built around a four-day weekend and is going to take a lot of travel time to get to. I'd like to figure out how to spend some more time with my family. Can I work remotely from my dad's house for a few days?"

Saying "no" seems hard-hearted, but saying "yes" was somewhat problematic. Sometimes people are not as productive as they could've been, usually due to unforeseen circumstances that seem obvious after the fact. We've learned some things about getting productive fast and we'd like to share them with you.

So, it turns out that almost everything we'd recommend to the reunion people applies to people working remotely permanently or for extended stints (hello everyone in 2020). I think this is because the reunion folks were showing high relative fixed costs around getting productive. Regular remote folks have a lot of the same fixed costs, but the ratio was not high enough to be problematic.

So, this document is intended to give you the guidelines for an appropriate remote work environment, whether that environment be your uncle's study or your own. If you learn something while setting up your environment, or while working remotely, that you wish you'd known earlier, please let us know.

Requirements

• Coordinate with your supervisor. As with most things, getting approval from your supervisor, and coordinating what/when/how your position may allow you to work from home, is a must. It may not make sense for every position within our organization to work remotely.

• An internet connection capable of easily handling a Zoom call or Google Hangout. Downstream is usually not the issue. Most basic internet plans are at least 15mbps down, which is no problem. Being able to participate in a video conference usually means at least 5mbps up. A lot of cheap internet service only offers 1mbps up. How do you know if Google Hangouts will work where you’re going? Do a test Google Hangout with a person at the place you are going to be! (Hint: If there’s no one on the other end to do this with, the place you’re going is vacation. Enjoy!)

• Access to the resources you need to work. You will also need to be sure that you can log in to your machine as a local administrator without connecting to the network (this is especially true for Mac users, as Macs do not cache your credentials). If you discover you can't work remotely, you are on an unplanned vacation.

• A dedicated room with a door that closes. You need a place that is as distraction-free as your normal work environment. Again, if you don’t know whether this will exist where you’re going, it’s vacation. The kitchen table of an occupied house is not okay. A guest bedroom is okay. A dedicated basement is better. Going to another address entirely is best.

• Known availability and overlap with your team. Set standard hours and make sure people know them. If you're not going to be working the hours you normally work, over-communicate this to your team in advance and/or in real time (ex: "Going to the gym for an hour"). Nothing makes your WFH look like vacation more than chat messages like "Has anyone seen X?" "When is X getting online?" "Can someone else take this bug? X isn't responding." Try not to pop in and out. Work sustained sessions with only a few extended interruptions (e.g., lunch, dog walking, gym, light-saber fight with your nephew).

Suggestions for Short Stint Remote

• Have a deliverable. This frees you from having to assert your productivity while away. If you have something you can point to as a product of your time away, it answers the very basic question of whether this was beneficial/productive time for you and the company.

• Boundaries. The people you’re going to be around might not understand that the requirements for productivity during this time are actually higher (see below). Don’t worry. Your in-laws/parents will be impressed by your work ethic!

• Team Awareness. You don't have to advertise your absence to the entire company, but we do want the people who are looking for you to know where you are. Make sure your team and the people you work with regularly know where you are.

• Check in. When you return, check in with your team lead about your time working remotely.

• Overcommunicate and Overdeliver. At our company it’s sort of assumed that everyone’s working steadily and diligently. In the absence of new information, the assumption is that you’re producing. When you step outside the warehouse work environment, you should flip that burden of proof. The burden is on you to show that you’re being productive. Is that because we don’t trust you? No. It’s because a few normal ways of staying involved (face time, informal chats, lunch) have been removed. You still have stuff like chat, Zoom, email, weekly check-ins and team meetings, project deliverables, etc. Be a little paranoid for this time about showing your work. It will help you feel good about your time, and us feel good about granting it.