Anyone that has worked with the talonX team for a while may have realized that we are not always in the office or maybe you haven’t noticed because it hasn’t affected our clients at all.
The web design and marketing field are (obviously) highly creative. The team here is constantly collaborating and have created an environment where we are always chatting, joking, and developing concepts. Collaboration may be a necessary ingredient for our success, but without our work-from-home days, it would start to get in the way of our productivity.
We hire skilled and passionate graphic designers, web developers, and marketing experts. How do they all manage to work seamlessly together, on-site or off? Communications is key. When we are working remotely, that means having a great instant messaging system.
Chat a lot
Working off-site is a great way for our staff to focus and get their work done with minimal interruptions, yet when you work from home you still need to chat with each other. Having a killer instant messaging system is one of the most important tools you should have in your remote working toolbox.
The talonX team has a love on for Slack. It is super easy to use because it was created to help teams work better. You can chat, upload files to each other, it is super easy to sign up for and even better, you can enable a random gif generator that tends to offer a lol or two throughout the day.
Not only does having Slack help us chat with each other throughout the day, it also helps keep the team feeling alive and feel less isolated at home.
Project Management
Slack is great for instant communication, but a solid project management software will help keep everyone on track and organized. We love Trello to keep everything orderly. You can separate each project by name, genre, level of completion, and staff member working on it. You can also upload files and tag people.
Even better, you can integrate it with Slack to have your Trello notifications pop up in one place. We love it when everything blends and works together seamlessly.
Workspace
Get out of your pyjamas! That’s not to say you have to be in a full suit with your hair done, but putting on some casual clothes will help get you in the right groove.
Having a dedicated workspace is going to help you get down to business. Finding that comfortable spot to work at help you get into the right mind frame. Your bed is not a good place for work. It’s going to prevent you from feeling productive and lull you into the occasional nap when you should be working. Fun fact, working in your bedroom can actually give you insomnia because it changes the use of your room; it makes it a place to work in not a place to sleep, which will wreak havoc on your sleeping patterns and become more difficult to shut your mind off.
Covfefe
As tempting as it may be to power through and get ALL of the work done, take breaks. Get up, let the dog out, have a coffee and make yourself some brain food. It will keep you going and actually increase your mental clarity.