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# Working Remotely

Arafat Mohamed

Sr. Engineering Manager, HashiCorp Cloud Services

https://linkedin.com/in/arafatm

https://github.com/arafatm

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# Be Kind and Assume Good Intent

Check in with each other as people

Expect people to be distracted

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# Be Kind and Assume Good Intent

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# Communicate

Write down decisions, and share them, publicly

Overcommunicate

Don't expect an immediate answer

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# Communicate

> "Not everything that would have ordinarily been an in-office meeting or
in-office watercooler chat has to now be a Slack DM. Prefer working in public,
and some things can even be emails or whatever other async tech you use. --
Andy

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# Communicate

> "Write s**t down more. Don’t count on someone being able to drop everything
and talk to you for 5 minutes when it could have been an
email/issue/slack/text" -- Aziz

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# Communicate

> "Realize that you will be out of the loop of the things that might be said
near a watercooler, they don't go away, they just may change so find other ways
to stay engaged" -- Sally

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# Communicate

> "Figure out how to contact people in other ways than slack, such as through
the company address book, so that you have more than one avenue of
communication" -- Sally

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# Communicate

> "As a courtesy, provide a link when you reference something. There are myriad services we use. It spares time for the n teammates you may be sharing with." -- Kevin

# Communicate

> "Use emoji. 🥰 They aren't cute optional stickers. They're your most powerful
tool to convey emotion through text. See the difference between "Okay." and
"Okay. 😄"? "Chat literacy" as I've called it is going to be critical to the
success of a remote team and org." -- Mitchell

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# Communicate

> "Discuss and agree on some ground rules with your spouse or partner. Decide
what things can interrupt a closed door or headphones on situation, and also
when working hours are and are not. by talking about it up front you can avoid
misunderstandings or hurt feelings." -- Brandon

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# Home Office

Have a separate office space if you can

Ensure you have decent internet connection and equipment

Invest in an ergonomic setup

Get a standing desk and good chair if you can

Get an ultrawide monitor if you can

I highly recommend facing an open window with plenty of sunlight if you can

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# Home Office

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# Home Office

> "You don’t need a DSLR to make your camera look decent in Zoom. A good
lighting source on your face, proper positioning of the webcam, and framing
yourself properly will do wonders." -- Will

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# Socialize

Annual Company/Team gatherings

Local lunches and social hours

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# Socialize

> "Schedule lunches/coffee outside the house with friends to not sit at home all
the time" -- Will

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# Socialize

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# Socialize

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# Links

http://arafatm.com/presentation-working-remotely

[Mitchell Hashimoto on Twitter: "So, I'm going to thread here what I've been telling many new hires at HashiCorp for years. I'm sure I still have a lot to learn, but here's some tidbits from a guy who built a company with 800+ remote employees (myself included of course) and what that has taught me." / Twitter](https://twitter.com/mitchellh/status/1237540980888199170?lang=en)

[Jason Fried: "REMOTE Livestream Q&A with Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson"](https://www.pscp.tv/w/1MYGNkzzNpXJw)

[REMOTE: Office Not Required | Basecamp](https://basecamp.com/books/remote)

[Zoom games, activities with friends from Jackbox to Netflix Party](https://ftw.usatoday.com/2020/04/zoom-games-friends-jackbox-netflix-party-quarantine)

[Netflix Party](https://www.netflixparty.com/)

[Tabletop Simulator on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/286160/Tabletop_Simulator/)

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