.png?width=700&name=Media%20Posts%20(5).png)
Searching for a job and going through the hiring process remotely is strange. It’s more strange, however, to start a job remotely. There is no first day lunch with the team. No tours of the new office or meeting new colleagues. There is no access to paper files and notes from a predecessor, or time to sit down in the office with a boss or teammate to learn. Starting an unfamiliar job with an unfamiliar company, with no face-to-face interaction can be challenging. However, it looks as though remote work and collaboration are here to stay. In a PWC survey, 78% of 669 CEO’s agreed that remote collaboration is here long-term. Therefore, if you plan or anticipate a job change in the foreseeable future, you will need to adapt to a new way of onboarding.
Below are a few tips on how to start and adapt to a new job remotely.
1. Find a space at home to make your workspace: This may seem like an unimportant thing to do; however, it is one of the most important tactics to being successful while working from home. Most people naturally associate their home as a comfortable and relaxing place to be. Therefore, by not creating a dedicated place to work, you will likely find yourself unproductive and lacking motivation due to the strong urge to relax. Focusing on establishing a workspace within your home is the first step to adapting not only to a new job, but work in general.
2. Understand how your new job was impacted by COVID-19: This is an important component since it is all associated with getting to know your company in as many ways as possible. Furthermore, in one way or another, your company has had to adapt to the pandemic, with not all things the same as before. You may be new to the company, but for many employees, day-to-day operations may be fairly new to them as well since their policies and procedures likely changed. Therefore, learning how they work pre-pandemic will help you better understand the company.
3. Learn how your team communicates: Adapting to the people around you may be hard since you are not meeting in person and may miss body language or nuances you simply can’t see through a computer screen. As questions. Understand why and how your team communicates and embrace it. Not only will ongoing, consistent communication keep you connected, it will also prevent you from feeling isolated in this new role while at home.
4. Always ask questions and for clarification: Onboarding remotely is odd. There’s no popping your head over the cubicle or running into the boss’ office to ask a question. That shouldn’t change though in a virtual world! Many companies have adopted digital platforms for communication that allow employees to communicate in real time, and in fact, make it easier to ask a group of people a question with potential for greater response than if you were just asking one in proximity to your desk. You may even have more questions now than you would have if you worked in person. This is normal and warranted because there is a lot more to get used to and learning tasks over video conferencing is not always effective. Ask questions until you are comfortable and satisfied.
5. Set up 1:1 meeting with co-workers or team: Although you will not be seeing your co-workers physically throughout the workday, it is still vital to create connections with
them. Scheduling 1:1 meetings to get to know your team individually will not only help you be successful in your work, you will feel more comfortable asking for mentoring or help. And, it is a great way to increase your network and relationships.
Remote work is not easy. Starting a new job virtually can be even harder. The process of adapting may take extra work; however, you can still be successful in your new position. With the right tools and tips, you will adjust, develop a sense of comfort, and find success. To discover new ways to engage with your team in a remote environment, contact Truvelop’s sales team and request a demo!
