Remote Work Etiquette

1. Introduction: Hi, it can be a real challenge to behave properly when interacting with others in a remote work environment. The shift towards remote work has redefined some of the rules we followed when we relied primarily on face-to-face interactions. But there have been few attempts to establish a framework for proper remote work etiquette. This course takes on that challenge and it aims to provide you with the foundational knowledge you need to communicate more effectively and to build strong relationships with your colleagues. After completing this course, you'll have a good understanding of how the basic principles of business etiquette apply to remote workers and of how to apply the key rules associated with different communication methods such as teleconferencing, e-mail, instant messaging, and voice calls. I'm Dragos, and I'll guide you through this interesting and, at times, surprising learning journey. I'm a trainer and an instructional designer. I had been working remotely for eight years at the time when I started developing this course, so I've had a lot of hands-on experience with the concepts I'm about to share with you. In 2014, when I first started working remotely for a technology company, there was a consensus among my colleagues, all of whom were working from home, that we should not disclose our remote working condition to customers. I remember being on a call with a colleague who pretended to get up from his desk and walk over to his supervisor, while another colleague dismissed his cat's meowing as an unfortunate side effect of his having to work from home for the day, due to construction work being done at the office. It's amazing how much this mentality has shifted. Back in 2014, there was a real concern that a fully remote company won't be taken seriously. Today, that same company I mentioned before became a market leader in its segment and is proud of its fully remote legacy. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a trend that was already growing steadily. Remote work was initially for those who could do their jobs from anywhere, but it eventually became a requirement for those with no place to go outside their own home. Inevitably, this resulted in thousands of articles, studies, books and videos on how to remain productive while working from home and on the benefits and drawbacks of remote work. This course doesn't intend to add to the myriad of productivity tips or to the list of benefits of working remotely. Its goal is to direct your attention to the polite rules of behavior in a remote work context, a topic that has been surprisingly overlooked in the two years of remote work prominence. I personally feel that there isn't enough information around this topic, and a lot of people struggle to observe even the most basic rules and guidelines for working from home or from anywhere. At no time was this more apparent than when I interviewed a candidate for the team I was managing at the time, and he showed up for his interview in a black tank top. As you can probably guess, I would have much rather prefer to see him in his shirt. So I decided to do something to help fill this knowledge gap. Hopefully, it will benefit the candidate who fail to make a first good impression during his interview, as well as many others seeking to build an advance their careers while working remotely. My suggested approach is that we all take a step back to see the big picture and not get lost among the thousands of how-to guides by productivity gurus. We just need to understand some often neglected, common sense rules, that should be guiding our behavior while working remotely, and then expand on them to cover the most common issues and scenarios. Let's get to it. 2. Defining Etiquette: I feel that we can't really kick off this course without having a clear definition of what etiquette is. Merriam Webster's Dictionary defines etiquette as "the rules indicating the proper and polite way to behave". Etiquette comprises of a set of rules and guidelines that dictate how an individual should behave in certain groups. Of course, we wouldn't be talking about remote work at all, were it not for the Internet. The unprecedented multitude of means of interaction that the internet has provided for its users determined the development of a specific culture for this environment. Internet developed its own norms, values, and rules, and adopted English as its main language. Remote working functions within the boundaries of this culture. Remote work etiquette is, at least partially, a subdivision of business etiquette, which in turn is part of a much broader social etiquette. Social etiquette can differ from one culture or country to another, while business etiquette tends to be multicultural in nature. The 19th edition of Emily Post's Etiquette: Manners For a New World, a reference for proper behavior since the 19th century, specifies that etiquette has four main features. First, it is fluid and not constricted to a strict set of rules. Tima and space influence how people behave and etiquette is adapted to these two dimensions. Secondly, etiquette is for everybody, not just for elites. That's because good manners cost nothing. Thirdly, it is current. The guidelines of etiquette are not based on history or tradition; even though the principles are timeless, guidelines adapt constantly as society changes. Lastly, it is unpretentious. Polite people don't patronize others. The key element of etiquette is that it regulates human actions so that they are considerate towards other members of society. Etiquette was developed in the spirit of being mindful to how other persons in a group understand things and relate to one another. Since the Internet developed its own culture, it also had to develop its own etiquette. Thus, a new term was coined: Netiquette. Netiquette is defined as the rules of etiquette that apply when communicating over computer networks, especially the Internet. The guidelines of netiquette are directed towards the specific realities of communicating over the internet, such as the eye-straining backlight of computer screens, the excess of information, or the speed with which written communication unfolds. We can therefore conclude that remote work etiquette lies between business etiquette and Netiquette. A quick Google search on this topic we'll return quite a few articles and videos, mostly in the form of unstructured quick tips. One of the ambitions of this course is to provide a framework for remote work etiquette, one that's structured around four different communication methods and their specific uses and requirements. We'll explore these in greater detail in the subsequent sections of the course. But, at the end of the day, why should you care about remote work etiquette? Why are polite rules of behavior important to your work? Is it just to make you look good? Or is there a deeper meaning to all of this? The simple answer is that, when we act with respect for others, we increase the chances of leveraging the power of groups and teams to achieve our end results. More specifically, you should care about remote work etiquette because some of the old rules just don't work in a remote environment. And there are new rules and guidelines to consider. If you want to be an effective communicator, get people to like you and ultimately become more effective in everything you do. 3. The Current State of Remote Work: Before we can talk about remote work etiquette, we need to better understand what qualifies as remote work. The context creates the rules and etiquette is all about rules and guidelines. Here's a simple definition. Remote work, which is also called telecommuting or telework, is an agreement between a company and its employees, that allows for work to be done from anywhere outside the company's offices. The official definition available from the US Office for personnel management states that remote work is a "work flexibility arrangement under which an employee performs the duties and responsibilities of such employee's position, and other authorized activities, from an approved work site other than the location from which the employee would otherwise work. Remote working is a viable option for companies across many industries and for a wide variety of job roles. It does, however, require that work can be done online or on a local device. Let's look at some facts about remote work, so we can better grasp the concept. According to Global Workplace Analytics, remote work grew 216% between 2005 and 2019. However, it was still marred by controversy, most notably in 2013 when Yahoo! announced that they were dismantling their remote work program. A few years later in 2017, they were followed by IBM, one of the pioneers of telecommuting. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about the most significant advancement of remote work. According to Statista.com, before the COVID-19 pandemic, 17% of US employees worked from home five days or more per week. That share surged to 45% during the pandemic. Remote working went mainstream, as millions of people who had previously never been exposed to this way of working hard to figure out how to get their jobs done from their living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, or garages. In early 2022, as the pandemic started to subside, a lot of people returned to the office, but the outlook for remote work looks positive. It seems that a lot more companies will offer this working arrangement than they did before the pandemic. Now, there's an interesting distinction between working remotely and working from home. While the two terms have often been used interchangeably, we should acknowledge that remote working is not restricted to working from one home. Let's not forget about beaches, hotels, cafes, or co-working spaces. Not long ago, the idea of remote work was still largely associated with the image of a creative professional typing away on their laptop from a tropical beach, by choice, more than it was with that of working from your living room with your toddler, banging pots against the furniture in the background, for lack of better options. While the pandemic forced a lot of people into becoming involuntary remote workers, the future of remote work seems geared towards positioning this working arrangement as a benefit, rather than as an unwanted temporary situation. Remote workers shape their own work environments, so they can establish their space in a way that works best for their needs. Well, at least within available possibilities. Why is this important in understanding remote work etiquette? Well, simply put, there are different etiquette guidelines for people who choose to work from home, or another remote location, than for those who work from home because they have no choice. The etiquette rules we'll discuss in subsequent sections of this course assume that most people who work remotely do so by choice. The old rules of business etiquette still apply, but there's a nuance to them, and some new rules are born from these assumptions about the future of remote work. 4. Work Time vs. Personal Space: Remote works rise to prominence has caused an unprecedented overlap between our personal and professional lives. In the on-premises world, you spend your time working in a dedicated work space. These two dimensions of work were perfectly aligned. Typical day starts with you leaving home or your personal space, jumping into a commute, then reaching your place of work, which is usually designed to keep you focused on doing your job while avoiding personal distractions. The old rules of business etiquette are rooted in the on-premises world paradigm, so they make no clear distinction between work time and work space. Remote work etiquette needs to factor in the added complexity of work taking place in a personal space. This causes a shift in how we set our physical and psychological boundaries. Some remote work companies encouraged their employees to simply tune out all their personal matters while they're on the clock. That may seem like a reasonable request, considering you're getting paid for the time you spend working regardless of your location. But the human mind simply doesn't work like that. We are apparently primed to behave in certain ways, in specific environments. Or in other words, our office habits will always be different from the habits we form at home. Two studies published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in 2012 reveal that habits are influenced by location much more than they are by current goals. So even if you must meet a tight deadline for putting together a complex report, you may still turn on the TV to watch an episode of your favorite show, so long as it's right in front of you. Granted, this is an extreme example and most people working from home are usually more disciplined than that. But avoiding such distractions still comes with considerable effort. There's plenty of research to support the theory that we assign habits to a particular location. If you're primarily getting remote work done from your kitchen, you will likely gain a few pounds by having the fridge at arm's length. This was probably the most common bad habit people noticed while working from home during the pandemic, with many emerging in need of a new word, rope. If you're in the habit of keeping your house tidy, you may be distracted by those clothes that were carelessly thrown on one of the living room chairs. And stop working for a few minutes to make things right. It's beyond the scope of this course to discuss the principles behind designing your environment to change bad habits, or to enforce good ones. I'm also not going to go into the debate over how productive we can be while working from home. Given these considerations, there are multiple resources out there. If you want to do a deeper dive into this, and they're just a Google search away. The reason I'm bringing this up in the context of remote work etiquette is to highlight an important fact. When you interact with someone working from home, you are to some extent entering their personal space. This is true even if the interaction takes place during working hours. We're never 100% detached from our surroundings. And just like people have different habits when they work from home as opposed to from when they worked from an office. They also have different expectations of people who enter their personal space, albeit virtually and during working hours. 5. Communication Methods: Etiquette is ultimately about communication, and remote work etiquette boils down to four primary communication methods, which occur with the support of multiple technology-based communication tools. First, we have teleconferencing, an umbrella term used to describe any electronically mediated audio or audio visual connection. It's usually used between more than two geographically dispersed participants. Teleconferencing can be split up into conference calls, which are voice only interactions over phone systems or teleconferencing software; then we have video conferences, where participants also share their webcams; and finally, there's web-based conferences, that are primarily focused on imparting information through screen-sharing. E-mail, in full electronic mail, refers to messages sent through a network between different digital devices, such as computers or smartphones. It is currently, and has been for quite a while, one of the most widely used communication methods. It is a form of written communication, though it can incorporate graphics, sounds, and even videos, either as in-body messages or as attachments. Next, we have instant messaging, which refers to any type of communication over the Internet that occurs in real time. We're going to extend the classic definition of instant messaging to include online chat, including chat rooms with multiple participants and text messaging, since today's options for multiple device support for SMS makes the overall experience very similar to that of using an instant messaging client. And of course, we can't leave out voice calling, or the act of speaking to another individual through a telephone or a device that's connected to the Internet. There are technically two different categories of voice calls. We have phone calls which happened over land lines or over mobile networks, and voice over IP calls which use the Internet to send and receive voice data. As far as etiquette goes, there's very little difference between the two. Before we go any further, we need to make the distinction between communication methods and communication tools. As we have just seen, communication methods have evolved with the rise and popularization of the Internet, to the point where you can now take your entire communication online. There are multiple software tools that facilitate communication through each of these communication methods. For example, software such as Zoom, Webex or GoToMeeting are specifically designed for all forms of teleconferencing, but they also support instant messaging, and you can use them for voice calls as well. On the other hand, you can hold a conference call on Slack or Microsoft Teams, which are primarily used for chat or voice calling. There are even tools that help you aggregate all of your written communication, so your emails and instant messages will all show in one place. So when we talk about etiquette, it's not about the communication tools, but more about the communication method you choose. And as you're about to see, there are different rules that apply for when you want to use Slack for a voice call, teleconference, or sending an instant message. To better understand when and how we can use each of the four main communication methods, w'll categorize them on two axis. The first is their primary focus, which is to either address issues as soon as possible or to build relationships. And the second is their expected response time. Ultimately, the purpose of consolidating relationships is that of addressing more complex issues that can only be tackled through the synergy of multiple teams or individuals. For items that address issues, the main consideration is how easily they can be referenced later. It takes five seconds to find the keyword in a message thread or in your inbox, but nobody is going to sit through a two hour recording of a conference call when they need to act quickly. The assumption behind this classification is that, in a remote environment, people mostly work on their tasks individually and use meetings to validate their work and to outline next steps. There are, of course, many exceptions to this rule, and you could have a team of developers that needs to jump on a conference call to collectively complete a task. But even in those cases, the relationship consolidation aspect is still very much present. More people working remotely means a wider geographical distribution. Having your team members halfway around the world is now a common occurrence, a fact that has brought the term asynchronous work to the mainstream. Asynchronous work describes a working arrangement that doesn't require all members of a team or all people working on a project to be available at the same time. It's been around for a while, mostly used by big corporations, but it wasn't as common as it became during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Asynchronous work relies heavily on the communication methods we listed in the "Address Issues" category. When you're based in Europe, you can work with someone based in Australia, though it's less likely you'll make work friends there. 6. Form vs. Content: How do you decide what's the right channel for your remote work communication? That's probably the first question you should ask yourself when thinking about etiquette rules. For example, it might not be a great idea to send out confidential information via email, which is notoriously unsecure, or to send bad news through an instant message. We should look at remote work etiquette through the lens of the age-old distinction between form and content. Put simply, content is what's communicated and form is how information is shared. The content of communication determines the appropriate communication method. Let's look at some common examples. If you need to share bad news or sensitive information, this should be done through a voice or a video call. Pre-pandemic business etiquette advised us to share such information face-to-face. But in the absence of that option, this is the next best thing for having a direct and private interaction with another person. As for confidential information that is best conveyed over a voice call, particularly if you don't want to have a written record of it. The absence of a physical workspace doesn't exclude the possibility of having personal conversations mostly unrelated to work with coworkers during break time. These are great to help people get to know each other better and can be good for morale. The water cooler talk has moved to instant messaging, especially since, as we'll see, this method lends itself to informal communication more readily than any other. If your message doesn't require a reply or any type of action from its recipients. Such as when you want to share a status update for a task or a project, email is the way to go. But remote work communication isn't all about imparting information. Sometimes you need to reach a decision that requires collaboration. So you need to jump on a voice call or a video conference. Other times you need to work with others through an issue. If that's the case, you should select your communication channel based on urgency and complexity. Instant messaging and voice calls are both good options for resolving quick and urgent issues. While conference calls are the way to go if you need to address complex issues that involve multiple people. Finally, if you're just looking to build or improve relationships with other team members, such as through team-building activities, which are not completely gone in the remote world, or by having regular check-in calls. That's something you can only achieve through teleconferencing, or more specifically, through videoconferencing or web-based conferencing. This covers the basics of content. The main takeaway here is that you need to think about what you want to communicate, then select the proper channel for it. On the flip side, we have form with three different levels of formality, which are typically associated with the English language, but that can be extended to nonverbal communication as well. The formal communication style is characterized by longer and more complex sentences. The use of less common words and the complete absence of idioms, deck speak and contractions. It's used for official reports, contracts, or academic articles. The only communication method that lends itself to formal communication in the remote world is email. Receiving a formal message via instant messaging would seem downright silly. You might think that teleconferencing can also provide a channel for formal communication in some exceptional circumstances, but remote working sort of took away that privilege from this particular communication method. You'll find out more about this in our section dedicated to teleconferencing. For now, let's move on and discuss the next level of formality, which is semiformal idioms, phrasal verbs and contractions are okay but not tech speak or slang. It's the type of language you use for your day-to-day interactions with colleagues. And it was widely adopted by organizations way before remote work became so significant. In the world of remote working, semi-formal communication reigns supreme. It even expanded into areas that were formerly held by formal communications such as making official request within organizations or vertical communication between managers and their teams. Finally, in formal communication isn't really something to talk about in the context of business etiquette. Proper grammar is not of great concern. Slang and phrasal verbs are used frequently as our reductions when speaking. It's used exclusively for interacting with friends. These levels of formality extend from written and spoken language into physical appearance. Video calls and video conferences are the only ways to interact visually with others in the remote world, although you can only see them from the waist up. This brought about a unique formal tap in formal bottom dress code. If you're absolutely sure you're not going to have to stand up during a video call, then you can take a chance and where your shorts and fluffy slippers to that monthly management meeting. But I wouldn't really recommend it. 7. Rules for Teleconferencing: You might remember BBC that, which is how Professor Robert Kelly became known after his live interview was brutally interrupted by his two children. In an unprecedented public display of the perils of working from home is interview occurred in 2017 when working from home wasn't aware as common as it became a few years later. The video went viral and an interesting thing happened. Millions of people found it amusing, not embarrassing. The image is travel the world and the professor and his family became famous overnight. What's more, they brought to awareness the distinction between personal space and office space. In my opinion, this event marked a turning point in work-from-home etiquette. Domestic disruptions, though not desirable, became acceptable. They can even be used to add some humor and unwind meetings. Today, some people bring their kids to video conferences on purpose. The key to understanding teleconferencing etiquette in remote work context is to acknowledge that it aims to replace face-to-face communication. Zoom, one of the leading teleconferencing platforms. So an increase of 500% in user traffic when the COVID-19 pandemic hitting 2020. Even in a hybrid environment, most meetings are being held via teleconferencing software. Most calendars now allow you to check the availability of coworkers so you can send meeting invitations when you know people will be available. When you are invited to a meeting, always RSVP, so that the other participants can schedule the topics around your availability. For conference calls, which are voice only interactions over a phone or a conferencing system. The rules are pretty simple and they also apply to the other two forms of teleconferencing, namely videoconferencing and web-based conferencing. A conference call requires focused attention in a remote environment. That means it always needs to be scheduled in advance. Hello participants to manage their work environment and avoid any potential noise or interruptions. Telling people they need to jump on a call in five-minutes is just asking for trouble. The distractions associated with working from a personal space are very real and needs to be considered when small or large groups of people get together to discuss business-related issues. On the flip side, if you are afforded enough time to prepare, you should use it to minimize distractions and the risk of interruptions. Maybe you'd like to work on your tasks from the yard or the balcony. That's not an appropriate environment for taking a conference call given that you have no control over noise. Or maybe you have your kids with you in your living room while you work, in which case you should consider moving to a different room, provided of course, that your kids still have proper supervision. Just like with in-person meetings, conference calls should always have a clear agenda. This will allow everyone who is invited to the call to determine what topics are of interest and whether or not they need to attend. Time is also an important consideration. As opposed to an in-person meeting. There is no physical location you need to get to. So being late to a conference call isn't acceptable from an etiquette standpoint, the same logic dictates that you need to stick to the initially scheduled time and not cause conference calls to run over. This can only be done as an exception when you need to reach a critical decision or work through an important issue. And you must always get the confirmation of all participants that they can extend your stay on the call for a clearly defined period. If there are any persons on the coal whom you haven't officially met, you should introduce herself at the very beginning. What's more? You should always say her name before speaking as other participants may not recognize your voice. In fact, I've attended multiple conference calls where the wrong person was a managed for something. They never said. You can never control your environment completely. So noise can become a distraction during a conference call. Whether it's your children testing their new drum set, your cat, knocking over a vase, or your neighbors remodeling initiative. The only thing you can do to prevent them from interrupting your call is to place yourself on mute when you're not talking. This will undoubtedly lead you to forgetting to unmute yourself at some point during the call. But it's a much easier issue to deal with than any of the disruptions that we just mentioned. Okay, let's now build on this set of rules for conference calls by including the visual element. Video conferences are the closest thing to a face-to-face interaction between remote workers. And they add the all important nonverbal component to communication. However, a lot of studies showed that it does come with added stress and fatigue. A Stanford University study identified four primary reasons why video calls cause fatigue. Firstly, there's an extended and unnatural amount of indirect eye contact. When talking to participants on a video conference, your advice to look into the camera, which creates the sensation of eye contact. But in a face-to-face setting, the people direct their attention to whomever is speaking. On a video conference. Everyone is looking at everyone else. Even if you're not a speaker, you get the same amount of attention and implicitly the same level of stress. Furthermore, most video conference participants share close-ups of their faces that are unnatural and invasive. Creating the type of discomfort associated with someone entering your personal space. Secondly, seeing yourself constantly in real time is energy draining? When we see our reflection in the mirror, we tend to be more critical of ourselves. If you're video conferencing system comes with an option to disable your own camera view. You should use it. Next, video conference calls reduce our ability to move. We're constrained by the limits of the video frame, so we can get up and walk around things that are quite normal during a face-to-face meeting. Finally, the non-verbal aspect causes higher cognitive load when we're on a video call. Processing nonverbal communication happens unconsciously in a face-to-face setting, but it requires intentional cognitive effort if you're on a video call. Now, all of this considered, the clear takeaway is that not every interaction has to be a video conference. Since video conferences are taxing and even a bit invasive, the polite thing to do is to only use these communication method when there's a real added benefit. Such as when you need to leverage the power of a team or a group to solve a problem. Or when you need to discuss a sensitive topic. Some companies and managers, mainly those new to remote work, will feel like they must check in to see if their teams are actually working at their desks. So they use video conferences as a way to check in on their team members. Based on everything we know about videoconferencing and how it causes fatigue. We can say that such a practice is counterproductive. There's dedicated software for monitoring your Team's activity if you need to use it. On the other end of the spectrum, we have meetings that are hijacked by people's need for live human interaction, where time is wasted on small, dark and idle gossip without any consideration for the meeting agenda. This type of interaction is important in a remote environment as it replaces the fame that much mist, water cooler talk. However, it should not eat into your productive time. It's best to set time aside specifically for socialization goals. If there's the key takeaway from all of this, is that when it comes to video conferences, less is more. When you do have to jump on a video conference, these are the things to look out for. First, your general appearance sends an important nonverbal message when you're speaking to someone for the first time. It also sets the stage for the first impression, which is more important than you may think as it influences people's attitudes towards you. Make sure you are well-groomed and your face looks just as it would when you're having an in-person meeting. In other words, put your best face on display. Also, dress like you would for the office. It's your call if you want to take the chance and where your gym shorts with your shirt or blazer. But it's risky. You may need to get up from your desk and then your picture. It could become yet another work-from-home mean. But what good is it to put on your best face and dress for the office? If nobody can see that, makes sure your face is properly lit, either sitting opposite window or by using artificial lighting. Should do that. Do your best to raise your webcam at eye level so you look directly into the camera and not downwards. Taking a video conference call from your mobile phone is almost always a bad idea. Another good way of helping people focus on your face is not giving them anything to focus on in the background. The best way you can do that is by ensuring there isn't any movement back there. So your fish tank, your hamster cage, or a kitchen where other members of your household make their way every five-minutes are not the best options. Even static elements such as an open bedroom door and unmade bed or your child's pile of stuffed animals can be distracting. Keep it as simple and clean as possible. Remember, you want other corporate disciplines to focus on you. Some people go above and beyond in getting their background to look interesting. Showcasing elaborate interior design decisions or unimpressive library. In fact, I remember reading that book sales reached new peaks during the COVID-19 pandemic. And what's most interesting is that people were picking up books based on the color of their covers or jackets rather than by their content. The fact is that your background doesn't make you seem smarter or more interesting during a conference call. It's what you say and how you say that matters. If you can't accommodate any of these suggestions, then and only then you can use the built-in background blurring or replacement option. Many conferencing systems now come with having an unnatural background can be distracting, as CAN having happier phase disappear while you're speaking. Because this technology isn't quite at the point where you can get away with replacing your background and pretending to be somewhere else. Last but not least, make sure you sound good so that other people can make out what you're saying without any effort. Many studies point to audio quality being more important than the image in the video. The average duration of a video call is around 45 minutes. If you know you're going to be spending much of your time talking, consider using a dedicated headset, purpose-built for conference calls. Your laptop's built-in microphone will almost never live up to the task as it will pick up echo and background noise, both of which interfere with getting your message across. Also, ear buds and over your headphones that come with a microphone aren't usually a good option. A lot of people turn to them for convenience. But the microphone's on these things were designed for quick phone calls, not for 30 minute presentations. The main problem is that they also pick up a lot of background noise and your voice doesn't come across as clearly as it would if you were using a dedicated headset. Remember, etiquette is about being polite and you can safely assume it's impolite to replay the clouds attentional capacity by making it difficult for them to hear you. After covering the basic rules for conference calls and video conferences, we should address the web-based conferences or those that revolve around screen-sharing. Ideally, you'd be running on a dual monitor setup when you know you have to share your screen often. That way you can keep one of your screen is clean and free from any sort of digital clutter. The wallpaper choice is also important. Big something neutral and non-distracting. A photo of your family is lovely, but it's inappropriate to share in a business environment. The same goes for references to your favorite movies, sports team or what have you. None of these belong on a screen that will be shared with colleagues or customers. If you're in the habit of keeping confidential information on your desktop, such as passwords on a digital post-it note. You should reconsider that choice for a lot of different reasons. But especially if you are at risk of exposing confidential information during a web-based conference. Also disabled any pop-up notifications for email or instant messaging when you're sharing your screen. You never know who might message you and what about. Finally, make sure that your zoom level allows other participants to the web-based conference to properly see the content you're sharing. Don't assume that everyone is watching the call on a 32 inch for K monitor. This covers everything you need to know about teleconferencing etiquette. As a parting thought, I want to add a small but significant item to take into consideration. Don't mention where you're working from unless you are asked, of course, while some people working remotely are free of any responsibilities and can login to conference calls from exotic beaches. Others must work through the sound of their furniture being destroyed by overactive children, while laundry and dishes pile up to the sky is not polite to brag about what benefits you get out of working remotely because they're not the same for everyone. Just something to keep in mind. 8. Rules for Email: Despite being over 50 years old, email is still most prominent form of business communication. A lot of people predicted emails demise caused by the rise of social media. But all the facts suggests that e-mail is here to stay. Here are some recent numbers. There are 7.9 billion email accounts and more than 4.2 billion users, and almost all of them check their e-mail daily. Over 3 million emails are sent each second and that number is projected to grow in the near future. Email probably survive the Thames by social media to overthrow it as the most used form of written communication by becoming mobile friendly. The latest stats available at the time this course was published place mobile open rates at 42% of all the emails. In other words, nearly half of e-mails are now read on a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet. These numbers include private messages, but email has always been one of the most significant communication methods in the business environment. The shift towards remote work has helped the male gain even more ground. You may be familiar with the saying, this meeting should have been an e-mail. As we've just learned in the previous section of the course, remote meetings are held exclusively through teleconferencing. And when it comes to teleconferencing, less is more. So email to cover topics such as shearing complex information to a group of people if no action is required. Remote workers prefer email because it promotes work from home collaboration by making it easier to talk to colleagues and customers. Some are introverted, shy, or just aren't used to talking to people on the phone. It's a known fact that millennials prefer written communication and Gen Z is and are now entering the workforce in full swing. You have a very large category of people who just aren't used to well, talking to other people. I'm not judging this as either a good or a bad thing, but it's a fact that we all need to take into consideration. David Shipley and we'll show the authors of sand, white people email so badly and how to do it better identified six main uses for email. The most frequent use for email is for making requests which appear as a result of needs or wishes. Email has made it a lot easier to ask for things as it likes the unpleasant tension implied by making requests, face-to-face. Request made by e-mail usually get answered through the same channel. Answers confirmed that the message was received and lateral resolution to the request. It's also used to provide information that is or might be of interest to the recipient. These messages usually don't require an answer and are sometimes marked by the FYI acronym, either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message. The fact that the information is written can turn emails into valuable sources that can be kept for future reference. When working remotely. Email is also good communication method for thanking people and for apologizing. It can also be used for socializing through messages that as people, just how they're feeling, sending jokes, funny pictures, or other such things. A very little informational value, but that help consolidate relationships. Now that we have a better understanding of what remote workers use email for, Let's talk about the actual rules for using email. The subject is the first contact, and it makes the difference between the recipient reading or discarding your email. It must be brief and clear with no more than 40 characters so that it doesn't get truncated. A subject such as, it is our pleasure to invite you to the fourth annual edition of the e-mail etiquette conference will only get displayed as it is our pleasure to invite you to the whoever received this e-mail will have no idea what it's about and my dismiss it as unimportant. Some people are in the habit of writing the entire message in the subject field whenever they are in a hurry. Ironically, instead of splitting things up, this practice only manages to slow them down as it makes it very difficult to read. At the other end of the spectrum, we have messages without any subject. These are always a surprise. The only clue as to the possible content is the sender's name. So many such messages remain unread. A subject also has to be clear and specific as possible. Vague subjects such as question or announcement may be brief. What they are now clear enough for the recipient to understand whether about, for example, instead of using just a question, you could write a question regarding the last payment. This is still brief, but it is also specific. Specific subject lines also make it easier to reference the information later as they show up higher in your list of search results. Although it is fully aligned with the semi-formal communication style, email has kept some elements from the structure of letters, including the salutations and closings. The salutations are written on a separate line at the beginning of the message and are followed by a comma. The most used salutations of semi-formal communication, or hello or hi, which are more common to face to face then to written communication. This emphasizes emails, right, as you speak trait. It's also common to just use the first name of the recipient and then get straight to the point. The most common closing for an email is thanks or thank you. More formal closings such as Best regards or sincerely, have recently fallen out of favor with the business grout. In fact, some people only use this type of closing to express dissatisfaction. As far as font goes, most e-mail clients YOU to get very creative. But that doesn't mean you should do it. Simple. Black sans serif fonts are always a safe option. If you need to highlight a section of your message, do it with bolt. All caps are associated with shouting while underline text is commonly associated with hyperlinks. Italic text should be used to highlight words from other languages, jargon, or when citing text. Today, we're all struggling with information overload. Therefore, we don't really read our e-mails carefully most of the time, we just skim through them. That's why it's a bad idea to organize your email as a single block of text. Paragraph spacing gives readers an overview of the main ideas in the texts without them having to read it all. It's also recommended to keep the texts short enough so recipients can see all of it without scrolling. Otherwise they might miss information you placed at the end of your message. Finally, there's the signature. In the remote work world, the email signature block is the closest thing you have to a business card. Its function is to provide useful information about the sender and their position within the company, as well as their contact details. Signatures are usually six lines long and contain the following information. The first and last name, function or position within the company, phone number, email address, company address, and social media links if they're relevant for your company. In terms of form, remote work e-mails are almost always semiformal. That's as easy as ABC. The message has to be accurate to provide sufficient details. It also has to be brief. And to the point written in short sentences that leave out and useless information. And it has to be clear. Messages that don't need any additional clarification are the most effective. So if you have a message that is accurate, brief, and clear, you can rest assured that the writing style is appropriate for email communication. Keeping an e-mail brief doesn't, however, applied to attachments. The message in the body of your email should be brief. But the only criteria and attached file should meet is that of being relevant and accessible to the recipient. Or in other words, make sure that they can open the file format you're attaching. Try to avoid jargon, emoticons or emojis. They could interfere with the C in your ABC. Not everyone is familiar with all the terms and acronyms. You may know. This covers almost everything you need to take into account when sending e-mails while working remotely. But we can complete this section of the course on remote work etiquette without talking about how and when you should reply to emails. There are three ways to interact with the received email, reply, reply all, and forward. The reply function is used for providing a response to receive message. If you are not the only recipient of the email, you should use the reply all function as other people might also be interested in your response. The most common mistake people make is to use the reply function when they should use Reply All leaving some people out of the loop. You may forward an e-mail when you need to inform a third party that was not part of the initial conversation about what's being discussed, you should set a response time of two hours for all e-mails that require your reply. Even if you can't answer the request in this timeframe, you should at least respond by stating the estimated duration for handling the request to wrap up even people working remotely go on vacation, right. When you said you're out of office auto reply. Consider including three items, the interval of absence, your availability during that interval, and an alternative contact. You can live out your vacation destination or how happy that I'm off makes you. 9. Rules for Instant Messaging: Instant messaging is a term used to describe any type of real-time communication through text messages over a computer network. It is usually used interchangeably with online chat. Though the term dates from the 990s, you may be surprised to learn that instant messaging predates the internet. More specifically, it was developed in the mid 1960s. Over the past couple of decades, instant messaging has become increasingly popular with the business grout. As organizations realize the benefits of decreasing unnecessary back-and-forth phone calls and of offering we can clear solutions to issues that would have otherwise remained unnoticed in email inboxes. For people working remotely, they're instant messaging app is likely the first thing they login to when they start their day. Instant messaging is associated with quick responses. Recent research from Google shows that a text message response time exceeding 20 minutes is perceived as rude. That expectation comes from the fact that 95 per cent of text messages will be read within three minutes of being sent. And the average response time for these messages is just a minute-and-a-half. Although the study looked at short message service or SMS, the line between this communication method and instant messaging has become blurred by the rise to prominence of mobile first instant messaging apps, as well as by the ability to receive and reply to text messages on a computer by linking it to your smartphone, regardless of which channel is used to send a text message, the user experience is now very similar, since you can receive SMS and instant messages on either a phone or a computer. If you know that your colleagues can access their instant messages on mobile, only use these communication method during business hours as they may get notified and feel compelled to respond, even outside of business hours. In the remote world, the end of the working day is usually marked by moving from the living room or your apartment or your kitchen. So it's impolite to add to that confusion by blurring even further the lines between work and personal time. Most messages can wait until the next day. And if they're really urgent and time sensitive, then that should be a phone call. If you want to communicate something that's not urgent after the end of the business day, do it via email. The rule for determining if an instant message is the appropriate communication method is to ask yourself if the recipient can respond instantly or if they need to take time to think about the response. If they need to think about it, you may want to send an email or call them instead. Instant messaging is for quick responses. Our expectation for quick answers to instant messages makes it crucial for us to use and respect status messages. Most systems have extended integration options to the point where you can automatically update your status based on your calendar entries. It's best not to message someone if their status shows during the meeting. But if you absolutely have to do it, you obviously should not expect a quick reply. However, make sure you don't abuse this rule by limiting your availability during business hours. Your calendar is not a to-do list. But if you choose to use it for that, don't mark your entire day off as busy. Make sure you are available to take calls, receive instant messages, and attend meetings. Instant messaging is easy. In fact, it's so easy that it's naturally associated with the informal communication style by most people who use it for Business Communication. Deck speak and slang rear their ugly heads often when you're instant messaging your colleagues. It can also become a channel for sharing inappropriate personal information. However, remote workers do need to message about non-business topics to, as this is the best way to form bonds and digital friendships. According to Harvard Business Review, people are more effective and less likely to quit when they work with people they like and have friends in their workplace. Instant messaging is the communication method of choice to address non-business related topics and form these bonds, whether you use instant messaging for business or personal communication, the set of rules were about to outline, qualifies as polite and considerate behavior in almost all circumstances. In terms of communication style, although the formal option is the most readily available, we should aim for semi-formal. For example, let's take the use of emojis. Emojis are pictographs of faces, symbols, and objects that are often used to express emotion in online communication. They're not to be confused with their predecessor emoticons, which are a combination of punctuation marks, letters, and numbers used to create pictorial icons, but hardly anyone uses them these days. The keyword in the definition of emojis is emotion. How much emotion do you want to display in a business conversation? Just like you wouldn't want to be seen throwing a fit in the hallway of an office building. You don't want to be that person filling the chat window with Matt emojis. The same goes for hugs. When is it okay to use a hug emoji in the business conversation? Well, you can use it in the same contexts where you would actually hawk someone if you were talking to them face-to-face in a meeting room. So not at all too often. Some sensible advice regarding what types of images are safe to use in common in business communication comes from Microsoft. The thumbs up or like button can be used to convey understood, Okay, Or we'll do use emojis that symbolize love, laugh, wow, cry, or mad sentiments less often, depending on your team's norms. In other words, don't use emotion emojis when instant messaging remotely, unless you visualize yourself actually making that face or performing that gesture in a live setting. As far as content goes, there are a few simple guidelines that will keep your messages clean and effective. Instant messaging is on the border of informal and semi-formal. So it's not the best method to meet new people. Don't message someone you don't know or haven't previously been introduced to, unless there's no other alternative. An introduction is better than via email. This communication method is supposed to be quick and efficient. Start with a greeting, then get right to the point, preferably in the same line as the message. Don't break your message up into too many lines and only address one topic per exchange. Nothing throws the autofocus more than waiting for someone to type their message after the first being. In terms of the actual content, don't send anything, you wouldn't be comfortable your manager seeing. That goes for messages as well as file-sharing. 10. Rules for Voice Calling: Mobile phones are no longer primarily used for phone calls nowadays, most people prefer texting and instant messaging to calling. Most recent studies in both developed and developing countries showed that people spend more time texting than talking on the phone. Millennials and Gen Z are notoriously partial to texting to the point where they find phone calls annoying with all the alternative options to talk via voice over IP solutions. That term phone call is a little inaccurate. You're probably talking to your colleagues more often over Slack Skype or Teams than on an actual phone. That's why we'll group phone calls and calls that occur over VOIP solutions into a broader category, which we'll name voice calls. A voice call this a voice only one-to-one interaction that occurs in real-time. You've seen the benefits and drawbacks of the other three communication methods in a remote work environment. So you can probably infer where voice calls fit in. Proponents of voice calls claim that spoken conversation accomplishes more in a shorter amount of time. If we look at that statement closely, we may find it's only partially true. Voice calls are great for explaining complex concepts faster. You can check for understanding during a phone call and clarify items immediately. On the other hand, a voice call is counterproductive when it lists multiple concepts that need to be referenced later. For example, if you're laying out the stages of a six month project, that implies dozens of tasks to be performed by five different people. That's a conversation you should be having over e-mail. But if you're just clarifying the expectation for one task associated with that project of voice call, maybe the best way to go. In the world of remote work, voice calls are mainly associated with urgency, maybe more so than in an office environment. An unscheduled voice call is the equivalent of walking to someone's desk and asking them to stop whatever they're doing and listening to your message. This is perfectly fine if you have an actual emergency you need to discuss. But if that's not the case, you should always schedule your coal or at least ask your colleagues about their availability by an instant message before you call them. Each individual's working environment is unique and has its own specific challenges. Some people work in places that are not permissive to voice calling due to noise. Even if the kids are with grandma in the living room, they can still be loud enough to disrupt the phone call. If they're not making any noise, they're probably sleeping and taking a call would wake them up. Or maybe the neighbors are added again with the remodeling. Or you're working from a nice cafe or restaurant today to get away from the noise at home, but the music is too loud to have a voice call. The rising popularity of noise canceling headphones should tell us something about the need to tune out background noise in our daily lives. I think you get the point. In a remote environment, people sometimes need time to prepare to take a voice call by moving to a quieter space, and we should always allow them that opportunity. Let's talk about the human factor for a second. Voice calls are more personal and they demonstrate more attention because they make it harder to multi-task. If you have bad or sensible news to share, a voice call is the best way to do it. An important factor here is the contribution of the tone of voice. Studies have shown that the meaning of any message is derived from three aspects of communication. Body language, or what we do. Words are what we say and the tone of voice, or how we say it. In face-to-face communication, body language, which is also called non-verbal communication, accounts to 55 per cent of all meaning. Words for only seven per cent and donor voice for 38%. A voice call doesn't imply any visual contact. And body language cannot be perceived directly. But body language is absorbed into the tone of voice as most gestures affect the way sounds come out of our mouths. For example, you can easily tell when somebody's running or laying back or smiling or frowning, because these actions affect the person's posture, posture affects the tone of voice. Therefore, in terms of how meaning is derived over a voice call, the tone of voice accounts for about 75 per cent. The words for the remaining 25 per cent don't have voice is made of inflection, pitch, bass, and volume. Inflection refers to the way we emphasize certain words or syllables in order to adjust the meaning of a message. Pitch refers to the frequency of our voice ranging from high to low. Generally speaking, sounds become irritating when the pH is too high and barely perceivable when the pH is too low, you get the point. Base is the number of words spoken over a given period. And loudness is the quality of sound which is measured in correlation with the sound pressure level and can be measured in decibels. The bigger the number of decibels, the louder the volume. As a general rule, avoid extremes at either end of the scale for all of these elements. The fact that you can hear someone's tone of voice makes voice calls more personal than written communication. Give this in mind when, for example, you need to provide negative feedback to someone. If they just read it, it may seem harsh and they may take it personally, even if you're only providing suggestions for improvement. In fact, the same goes for good news or any type of information that's bound to generate some sort of emotion. Your tone of voice can help to maximize the impact of good news and minimize that of bad news. 11. Final Thoughts: We've reached the end of our course on remote work etiquette. Thanks for taking the time to complete it. We started by defining etiquette, which is a dynamic set of rules and guidelines for proper and polite behavior. We went on to describe the remote work environment and its specific challenges as opposed to working from an office and the distinction between work time and personal space. Remote work etiquette should acknowledge and be respectful of the personal space component when formulating rules of proper behavior. After that, we spoke about the four main communication methods for remote work, namely instant messaging, email, teleconferencing, and voice calls. And then we covered the specific rules for each method. This concludes the training or remote work etiquette. I hope you found it useful. Remember, etiquette isn't rigid but constantly evolving to accommodate new situations. If you have any thoughts or suggestions that you think would make a good addition to this course. And don't hesitate to message me about it. Thank you.