When Working From Home, Follow These Tips To Actually Get Things Done

When Working From Home, Follow These Tips To Actually Get Things Done So you sometimes work from home (or maybe all the time) Did you think it would give you MORE TIME?Did you imagine it like this??you could do a whole days work and still finally bake something for the company holiday meet up? Hahahahah. No.Its really more like thisyeah?So, how is it that you can find yurself with less time while working remotely? And more importantly what can be done about it?Dont despair, we deal with work-from-home quandaries all the time at powertofly.com. We have a few suggestions on how you can make your remote time more productive. Work with your manager to platzdeckchen some of these ideas up. The benefits will be felt round the company, and youll be a productivity she-hero.SYSTEMSRequest predictable, recurring meetings??and dont cancel them. Make aya one-on-ones happen, says Robert Duffy, VP of mobile application and API engineering at Time Inc. Especially in a team thats distributed, calend aring becomes somewhat chaotic. Those are times where you learn about your staffyou get to know whats working and whats not working on an individual basis.The more autonomy you are given over your schedule, the more productive youll be. There are a select few hours during the day where engineers have revved up to the flow state and are producing the best code, says Andrew Montalenti, CTO and Co-Founder, Parse.ly. If you interrupt an engineer then, youre disrupting this state and it can take them a while to get back there again.CULTUREGet to know your teammates outside of the (home) office. Encourage social bonding and trust by participating in a strong culture. We work hard to maintain core values (quality over quantity, keep it simple, for parents, by parents, and done is better than perfect), all of which speak to the idea of making your work fit around your family, rather than the other way around, explains Allyson Downey founder and CEO of weeSpring.And just because youre virtua l, doesnt mean you cant have fun celebrating success. We have an end of the week wrappy hour, says Duffy at Time Inc. Everyone dials in and shows off what theyve done for the previous week. Thats a really good bonding activity.PRODUCTIVITYSet expectations. Know what you are accountable for, and strategize to determine what can (or cant) be done each day and week. If you need help or more insight, just ask.Clment Huyghebaert, Director of Engineering at BuzzFeed, agrees collaboration from day one is crucial to success. If the remote worker does not understand the direction/strategy of the company after two to three weeks, it probably means that we didnt include them in our process enough.COMMUNICATIONMake fluid communication a priority. Join a virtual space for you and your team to swap ideas and build connections, whether via Slack, video chat or another easily accessible tool. We make a lot of use of online video conferences, says Duffy at Time Inc. Were looking at getting fixed TV stations with cameras on top of them that people can gather around at our different locations.Real-time communication and tracking tools like JIRA can get you that much closer to email nirvana inbox 0. We use Slack as our primary channel of communication (otherwise, everyones email inboxes would explode), says Downey at weeSpring. We also use Google Hangouts often to talk things through live.Andrea Goulet, CEO of Corgibytes, adds Having a group chat tool (we use Slack) has completely changed the way we do business and is essential for a remote team. It keeps all our conversations out in the open and creates opportunities for team members to connect. Weve been able to use their API along with Lita to build an internal toolthat fetches information for us, such as client budgets, blocked tasks, reminders and more.Finally, its important to be spontaneous and not worry so much about perfection. Welcome experimentation, making mistakes and learning together, advises Dicker at The Washingt on Post. We learn from those mistakes and build a stronger, more sustainable solution because of it.If/when the above doesnt transpire, despite your polite suggestions turning to urgent pleas for change, theres always a new, amazing remote position on the PowerToFly platform to choose from So go ahead, check em out, and apply to a company that will value you AND your time??including oursSenior Data Engineer-Zapier, Inc.Product Manager-Zapier, Inc.Software Developer-BrightOutcome, Inc.Senior Data Science Engineer-AdRollSenior Software Engineer, Real Time Bidding-AdRollLead Product Designer-Salesforce.orgForce.com Developer-Salesforce.orgSecurity Engineer-GitLabService Engineer-GitLabBuild Engineer-GitLabEngagement Manager-ULTRA TestingWomens Entrepreneurship Day Webmaster (Volunteer)Business Development Returnship-PowerToFlyEnterprise Account Executive-PowerToFlySenior Technical Recruiter (Contractor)-PowerToFly One of the biggest challenges in almost all industries today is achieving gender parity. Gender diversity provides huge benefits in the workplace. pWhile some industries have made significant advancements in gender diversity, some industries lag further behind... and the construction industry is well-known for being in the latter category. If someone says, construction workers, youll likely picture a group of men in yellow hard hats analyzing an architects plans or laying bricks on top of a scaffold. And men at work signs only help to reinforce this image.pThis stereotype is rooted in reality. When was the last time you actually spotted a woman on a construction site? Or hired a female plumber or carpenter? Your answer is most likely never. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statisticsreports that only 3.4% of the total of 8.3 million construction employees are women.pBut the construction industry has a lot more to offer than steel-toed boots and hard hats, and it needs women to help advance the industry in this er a of rapid change. Here are 5 reasons why women joining the workforce or looking to make a pivot should consider a career in construction.h21. Fuel Innovation/h2pNot only is diversity the socially and morally right thing to do, but it is also actually an excellent business strategy. pResearch presented in the Harvard Business Reviewshows that diverse teams develop more innovative ideas. This is further supported by a study conducted by Gallupon the performance of gender-diverse teams versus single-gender teams, which found that the difference in backgrounds and perspectives led to better business performance and problem-solving. h22. Capitalize on Demand/h2pThe construction industry is currently experiencing a labor shortage. The industry itself is booming and projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries, with total spending projected to exceed $1.45 trillion in 2023/a. However, most construction companies are unable to meet the rising demand. pAccording to the Associated G eneral Contractors of America/a, more than 80% of contractors are experiencing difficulties filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce.pAnd demand isnt limited to individual contributor roles. Given the industry boom, there are a number of open stable and high-paying roles (any project managers out there?) waiting for the right candidateh23. Leadership Opportunities/h2pAccording to the Bureau of Labor Statistics/a, women compose only 7.7% of the total 1 million managerial positions in construction.br/pBut given the highly collaborative nature of construction work, more women in leadership roles would help drive innovation and enhance productivity.Furthermore, as a woman in construction in a leadership position, youd have the unique opportunity to drive change for the industry and make it a more attractive option for other women.h24. High-Income Potential/h2pSalaries for many skilled positions in construction are on the rise, making a constru ction career a prime choice for women looking for a high-paying job,pThe 2018 Construction Craft Salary Surveyconducted by the National Center for Construction Education and Research revealed that salaries for many skilled craft areas are increasing. Project managers and project supervisors topped the list at $92,523 and $88,355, respectively. The next set of highest-paying jobs include those of combo welders ($71,067), instrumentation technicians ($70,080), pipe welders ($69,222), power line workers ($68,262) and industrial electricians ($67,269). Of the 32 categories of workers in the survey, 19 positions earned an average salary of $60,000 or higher.h25. Sense of accomplishment/h2p The construction industry can give employees a unique sense of achievement. Yes, the job is stressful and the work can be demanding, but nothing beats the feeling of being able to build something from the ground up. pHow many professionals in other industries can point at a school, a hospital, or a sky scraper and say I helped build that?pThe construction industry has a long way to go in combating gender bias and supporting women in the workforce, but given the current demand for workers, theres no better time to pick up a sledgehammer (figurative or literal) and smash the gender stereotypes plaguing the construction industry.