The Covid pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns pushed businesses worldwide to adopt remote working almost overnight.
Since then, the remote work or telework scenario has evolved to include new trends in remote team management, technology, and the hybrid work environment.
These dynamic changes can be tough to keep up with, even for the best business leaders. Thankfully, there are many remote work articles that can help you understand all aspects of remote work.
In this article, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of some of the best remote work articles to help you out. From remote work management to work life balance and hybrid work environments, these articles cover all the crucial bases.
This article includes:
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Top 25 insightful remote work articles
We’ve compiled this list of some of the best remote work articles to help business leaders navigate the telecommuting work model with ease.
1. An overview on remote work
Before diving into the nuances, let’s take a step back and look at the basics of remote work with these articles:
A. What does fully remote work mean?
Explore the various kinds of remote work arrangements, learn about their advantages and disadvantages, and find out where you can get a remote job.
B. Top remote work stats of 2021 to watch in 2022
Explore the top statistics about remote work in 2021 that employers and employees need to note. This data will help you gain better insights into remote work benefits like increased productivity, improved profitability, and a flexible schedule for employees.
C. 15 experts weigh in on the future of remote work
Read what experts and entrepreneurs like John Gardner (Co-Founder and CEO, Kickoff) and Ben Taylor (Founder, HomeWorkingClub) have to say about the future of work in the remote world.
D. 10 remote work influencers and thought leaders to follow
Over the past few years, thought leaders like Basecamp’s Jason Fried, GitLab’s Darren Murph, and Time Doctor’s Liam Martin have revolutionized the remote work model.
To help you make informed business choices, we’ll look at the strategies of the top 10 remote work leaders in 2021.
E. How to create a remote work plan (plus free sample template)
Team managers require a remote work plan or policy to ensure that their remote employee stays at their productive best.
This article will explore how to build a remote work plan and what to include in it. You can also access a free downloadable remote work plan template to get started.
2. Remote team management tips
With the basics out of the way, you’re probably wondering how a remote manager can manage remote team members effectively.
Here are some articles with tips on remote team management to help you out:
A. 7 deadly sins of remote management (and what to do instead)
Understand the seven critical mistakes of remote management, including not incorporating the right communication channels and not investing in a time tracking tool.
Additionally, explore some useful tips to avoid these mistakes and create an effective remote management plan.
B. 14 expert tips for supporting remote workers
Learn how measures like enforcing a well-structured remote work policy and encouraging team collaboration can help support your remote employees.
Read the complete list with some of the most practical tips and tricks from 14 experts.
C. 5 tips to ensure employee retention of remote workers
A driven remote worker with job satisfaction can make priceless contributions to your company’s success.
This article explores how simple tips like staying on top of your payroll can motivate your remote employees and constantly improve their employee experience.
D. 11practical tips for onboarding and training remote employees
Onboarding and training new hires can be difficult for HR leaders (Human Resource leaders). But these are critical processes for successful remote team management.
Additionally, the current dynamic nature of the workplace has us questioning if these processes should be completely remote. We address these onboarding and training concerns through 11 practical tips from experts.
E. How to ensure data security for remote workers
Data and cybersecurity breaches are affecting businesses across industries.
To help you prevent this, we’re discussing an action plan to promote data security measures like using a VPN and endpoint security solutions amongst your remote employees.
3. Virtual teams and team-building
Working with virtual teams, hosting virtual meetings, and executing virtual team-building can be a whole different ball game from working with on-site teams.
Your virtual team-building efforts must compensate for the lack of face-to-face interactions among remote co-workers.
Here are a few articles to give you some useful insights:
A. 8 virtual team advantages and 6 disadvantages
Explore how virtual teams make way for cost savings and employee retention.
Also, get an overview of the disadvantages of working with virtual teams and effective solutions for each limitation.
B. 150 best virtual team building questions
Virtual team building questions help co-workers bond with one another during virtual meetings.
Check out the various categories of virtual team-building questions you can use in your next meeting, including interesting ice breakers and food-related questions.
C. 63 virtual team building activities remote teams love
Virtual team-building activities can help your team feel like they belong to a community.
Explore 25 carefully designed exercises to bring more social interaction to virtual work and effectively help reduce your employees’ social isolation.
4. Remote work life balance
Working remotely can blur the lines between your employees’ personal and professional lives. This can hamper their productivity and morale.
Here are some articles on remote work life balance to help you avoid such scenarios:
A. Why management must encourage work-life balance in remote work environments
Learn how you can take initiatives like using the right productivity tools and creating a smart work policy to help your employees achieve a better work life balance.
B. How to unplug when working from home
Understand what remote employees can do to unplug after a workday and maintain a healthy work life balance.
Explore how simple tips like setting a start and end time and taking scheduled breaks can help avoid burnout.
5. Remote work technology
Using the right technology can simplify remote work challenges like employee engagement, team collaboration, and employee monitoring.
Here are some articles that explore the right remote work technology in detail:
A. 15 best remote work software and apps
Explore how using the best office software can help your remote workforce operate as a team.
This includes using Time Doctor for productivity monitoring, Calendly for scheduling appointments, Evernote for note-taking, and more.
B. 69 top online collaboration tools for remote teams
We’ve compiled a list of the top online collaboration tools to help your remote workforce address any communication challenges and achieve increased productivity and work efficiency.
This includes video conferencing tools like Zoom, messaging apps like Slack, and documentation tools like Google Docs.
C. Top 10 software to see if remote employees are working
Employee monitoring software can help you track and monitor how much time a remote employee spends on a specific task, project, website, or app. This enables you to understand what they’re up to during work hours.
Explore our list of the top 10 employee monitoring software, including Time Doctor, Toggl, and Harvest, to get started.
D. Top 15 remote desktop monitoring software
Remote desktop monitoring software can help manage networks and monitor how each remote device behaves. On the other hand, an employee monitoring tool enables you to boost employee productivity through basic remote desktop monitoring.
Discover the top 15 monitoring tools under both categories, along with their key features, pricing, and more.
6. Remote jobs and the rising gig economy
Let’s look at two articles that can give you insights into the rise of high-paying remote jobs and the fast-growing trend of hiring an independent gig worker across industries:
A. 8 High paying remote jobs
From freelance writers to project managers, remote jobs now offer high pay scales for several job profiles while still providing the standard benefits of working in a remote setting.
Read this comprehensive list of high-paying remote jobs for more details.
B. The independent contractor vs. employee checklist: Who should you hire?
The growing remote working environment has led to businesses hiring independent contractors, temporary gig workers, and freelance tech workers instead of full-time office workers or employees.
Read this article to understand the advantages and disadvantages of hiring office employees vs. freelancers.
7. Understanding the hybrid work environment
As we prepare ourselves for the world post the Coronavirus outbreak, businesses worldwide are adopting flexible working styles like a hybrid work model. This includes tech companies like Amazon and social media leaders like Facebook.
Here are some top articles that can give you a detailed overview of a hybrid workspace:
A. What is a hybrid office and how does it work?
Find out what makes up a hybrid model while exploring the functions, benefits, and challenges of this work model.
Explore seven practical tips to manage a hybrid workspace, including using project management tools and learning management systems (LMS) to support your employees.
B. What is a hybrid workforce? (benefits, challenges, and strategies)
Understand why large organizations like Google and Twitter have adopted a hybrid workspace.
Additionally, read our take on the communication and cybersecurity issues that arise in a hybrid workspace, along with useful time tracking and data security tools for your hybrid team.
C. Hybrid vs remote work: The guide for evolving organizations
The current pandemic-induced scenario requires your employees to transition to a remote home office or a hybrid work environment.
But which of these two work models trumps the other?
Read this article to understand the structural differences between the two work models, along with their advantages and disadvantages.
D. The risks of hybrid work
While the hybrid work model has great advantages over a strictly on-premises work model, it has some serious limitations, especially compared to a fully remote work model.
Read to find out how a hybrid work model can lead to office politics and social isolation amongst team members.
5 other useful articles on remote work trends
We’ve picked out resourceful remote work articles from some of the most reliable sources on the internet.
Let’s take a quick look at these five useful articles:
A. Office not required – why remote work is here to stay
Understand how a remote work model offers financial benefits like saving on office space costs and a lack of commuting for both the employer and the employee.
Additionally, take a look at how fully remote companies can access a larger talent pool.
B. Why every entrepreneur must work remotely
Owing to technology and internet connectivity, working in a remote setting is now more realistic and accessible for most entrepreneurs.
Read to find out how convenient it is for every entrepreneur to try remote working.
C. Remote work strategies for COVID-19 and beyond
A successful remote work strategy has three key aspects: strategy, remote work policies, and operations. Implementing a permanent remote work model would require you to focus on them all.
Read this article to learn how to build a balanced remote work strategy.
D. The gig Or permanent worker: Who will dominate the post-pandemic workforce?
Read to find out how the gig economy went mainstream in the wake of the pandemic and if it’ll replace a traditionally employed workforce in the near future.
E. Remote work is the new signing bonus
Employees across industries are trading jobs to continue working within a remote work model.
Understand how employee satisfaction is now dependent on remote work and why employees are more enticed to work by the guarantee of flexible work schedules over other incentives.
Wrapping up
Remote work is quickly becoming the new normal across businesses worldwide.
With telework offering employees an opportunity to experience flexible working, companies are witnessing a boost in work productivity, employee satisfaction, and retention.
However, you can’t jump into a completely remote work model without due diligence and brainstorming.
The remote work articles we’ve listed are a great starting point. You can also check out the Time Doctor blog for updates on significant developments in the remote work industry and insights to boost employee productivity.
