ISA has been a remote company since its founding 15 years ago. Our team works remotely from all over the United States: California, Oregon, Illinois, and Michigan. We took some time this morning to record a video session in the hope that our experience and insights might help those who are struggling to quickly adapt to a new working reality. It is short, conversational, and full of tips from remote office pros.
Tips on Remote Work from ISA
Ian
Ian’s workspace and thoughts on working remotely for more than a decade: 01:55
Kelly
Kelly’s workspace: 03:55
Tips on remote work: be aware of your surroundings on video calls! 07:30
Tips on remote work: creating structure and a routine 09:13
Tips on remote work: designated work space 09:45
Tips on remote work: use digital tools to keep track of your thoughts and tasks 10:27
Challenge of remote work: potential interruptions 15:45
Sam
Sam’s workspace: 05:10
Tips on remote work: write down every task 11:00
Tips on remote work: protect your boundaries, and be mindful of others 12:30
Tips on remote work: use a password manager 14:06
Challenge of remote work: make a conscious choice to “leave” work at the end of the day 17:20
ISA Recommended Tools and Platforms
We have made every effort to provide resources with a free option, where possible.
Project Management: Basecamp
At ISA, Basecamp is a central part of our client workflow. We use this platform to connect as a team and with our clients, to host thought-provoking discussions, to share and request documents, to post meeting dates and location/dial-in information, to assign tasks and communicate deadlines, and more.
Unrestricted access is $99 monthly, and teams smaller than 20 needing fewer than three separate projects can make use of the platform’s free option.
Conference Calls: Zoom and UberConference
For video conferencing, our team uses Zoom. Non-video conference calls are typically held via UberConference, a platform that supports dialing in by phone and by computer.
If you organization is Google-based, Google Hangouts may be an effective option. For smaller teams with few video participants, Whereby is a platform that supports private video meeting rooms on its free plan.
Team Communication: Voxer, Slack, and Loom
Informal team communications can get lost in remote work settings. The ISA team has made use of Voxer, a voice memo app, to send quick thoughts and requests. Slack is an option for organizations that prefer a text-based chat, and separate “channels” can be set up to allow conversations to be organized around certain topics or projects.
For occasions where it would be easiest to explain a task or idea by sharing your screen, Loom is a free platform that allows for a screen recording with voiceover that can easily be shared.
Call Scheduling: Calendly and Doodle
Depending on your organization, when you move to a remote work environment, you may notice an increase in time spent scheduling calls and meetings.
Calendly is a tool that syncs your existing calendar (Google, Outlook, iCal, etc.) with any parameters you choose for a certain meeting type. You can then send invitees a link, where they can choose the time that works best for them from your availability. The ISA team uses Calendly to schedule 1:1 calls, like qualitative research interviews.
For group events, we typically use Doodle, a platform that allows users to create a poll with time options to schedule meetings with many participants (like steering committee meetings). Doodle allows us to easily coordinate Ian’s calendar with the varied availability of a large group.
Password Managers
The benefit of password managers like 1Password or LastPass are twofold: they allow for the use of very secure passwords (and the secure sharing of passwords among teams) while also being great timesaving tools - passwords are automatically filled in with just a few keystrokes or clicks, and lost/forgotten passwords are a thing of the past.