Remote Work vs In-Office Work. What’s best?
Lessons from someone who played both games
Get the free AI Agent Building Blocks ebook when you subscribe.
You don’t play tennis with the rules of basketball, do you?
Yet you are working remotely with the rules of in-office work. Or vice-versa.
I was a fully remote worker for over a year. That meant I was out of commuting distance and coming only when asked for (2-3 days every 3-6 months)
Then Amazon announced the RTO (Return-To-Office) and I decided to move again and go back to work in-office.
This post is not about arguing one is better than the other.
What I want is for you to find the benefits in your modality of work.
In this post, you’ll learn:
The benefits of each work modality
Practical strategies for both remote and in-office work
The risks of having a hybrid model
Remote work benefits
#1 More focus, less distractions
This impacts the quality of your deliverables. Just because you go deeper in your work, you can deliver better artifacts.
Even if your work depends on others, in big companies, you’ll depend more on people outside your team. Set up a predictable communication approach rather than improvising.
#2 More time in your day
No commute. No time lost finding a meeting room in an office or finding a spot to have lunch.
You can use this extra time for your priorities. For some, it’ll be working on initiatives for your growth. For others, it’ll be personal life.
#3 More flexibility
This depends on your job. Find an agreement on which hours are you expected to be available and overlap with your team.
Many people work their 8 hours in a different schedule than the nine to five. You may pick up your kids from school or go to the gym on a longer lunch break.
Rules of the game of remote work
#1 Manage your visibility
You also manage your visibility working in-office. But remote, it’s twice as important.
People won’t know your progress unless you provide clear standup updates.
Develop the self-awareness to know when you are blocked and apply the strategies in 🦆 Are you blocked? (And how to unblock yourself).
#2 Set expectations on asynchronous messaging
You think you must answer fast so people see you are working and not on the sofa.
That’s exactly the distraction preventing you from focusing.
Batch your communications. The only synchronous communication is meetings.