Your Remote Learning & Development Resources Blog

By Kimberly Bringas, Remote HR Expert

Any opinions expressed within this blog post are those of the author and not necessarily held by Workplaceless itself.

A common misconception about remote work is it doesn’t require anything more than giving an employee remote based tools to do their work. “Here is slack, zoom and a working computer, you’re remote now.”—it’s not quite that simple. In actuality, it’s often overlooked that building a successful remote work environment requires the same level of care, attention and proactiveness as an actual office space. As the former Senior HR Manager at Olark, I worked on converting PeopleOps based programs, processes and policies using a specific remote lens. It was during this time I learned that remote and office environments have the same goal of ultimately wanting engaged and thriving employees, however remote requires different approaches. This is profoundly evident in the area of employee...

We've loved partnering with Acework - a new matching platform connecting vetted talent with remote career opportunities. Hiring remote talent becomes easy, and so does finding the perfect remote job.

We chatted with Angelina Ebeling, Founder & CEO, about "How acework started and how they're transforming remote hiring." 

Q: How is remote hiring different and what should recruiters be aware of when hiring their first remote employees?

A: First of all, hiring remote employees has obvious benefits. They include tapping into a large global talent pool to find the truly best fit for the position. However, remote companies often face a problem regular recruiters can only dream of: they have too many applicants.

I’ve spoken to a lot of HR professionals hiring remotely, and they all say that it costs them so much time to screen applications, resumés and cover letters to find the few candidates they want to even consider for an interview. Zapier for...

Asynchronous (Async) vs Synchronous (Sync) collaboration is one proverbially "hot topic" of remote work, and we're grateful to Tijana Momirov for hopping on to share her expertise in this area. Tijana, has been working fully remote for 10 years, and is the Founder of StartupSetup -- consulting with tech startups designing, developing and launching software products in remote environments.

Any opinions expressed within this blog post are those of the author and not necessarily held by Workplaceless itself.

With the remote work and the gig economy booming, the ways we collaborate have been going through significant transformations in order to respond to the new requirements. By working fully online since 2010, I’ve noticed several phases the remote work collaboration has gone through, and reached some conclusions on how I see it working out for my teams nowadays. 

No office, no problem

In the beginning, we were happy that we could exchange info somehow...

Remote work, telecommute, live/work—whatever you want to call it—the concept isn’t new. Humans have been making their living outside of co-located offices for years. The resurgence of the “workhome” came on slowly, but it’s reached a fever pitch and the writing is on the wall for businesses and job seekers alike; remote work is here to stay.

However, in our mad dash out of the offices, there hasn’t been much time dedicated to addressing the skills needed to be successful at working remotely. Hiring managers the world over find themselves now in situations of back-filling competencies that haven’t been comprehensively considered. Hiring remote workers isn’t just about the bullet points on a resume—there are layers of innate and learned skills that are often difficult to suss out or even control for when hiring and evaluating team members. 

And that’s just the beginning. It’s just as important to understand...

By our friend, Ty Fujimura, CEO of Cantilever.

Any opinions expressed within this blog post are those of the author and not necessarily held by Workplaceless itself.

When was the last time your mind was calm, still, and rested? If you’re like me, your mind is your office. It handles a flurry of inputs each day, from emails and texts to social media at-mentions to school papers and bank statements. It doesn’t take long to feel overwhelmed by the pace and expectations of modern life and work.

People today process more new information per day than ever before. Yet most of us lack a framework for managing this complexity and keeping our commitments. When we can’t keep track of things, we feel more and more overwhelmed, like a debtor desperately trying to pay back a loan while the interest keeps rising. This nagging sense that we’re falling behind makes it harder to achieve the clear headspace necessary to do our best work.

I’ve been there. I’m...

By our partner, Trainual — the modern training manual that helps fast-growing businesses automate their onboarding and training by documenting every process, policy, and procedure in one place.

Any opinions expressed within this blog post are those of the author and not necessarily held by Workplaceless itself.

Remote work is quickly becoming the norm for many companies around the world, but staying in sync while at a distance can be challenging for everyone. Fortunately, there are countless tools that help enable remote work culture and make for a happier, healthier employee. Here are some of our favorites. 

Slack

The pinnacle of any company culture -- the almighty Slack. The beauty of Slack is that it’s not just for remote employees, it’s for everyone. By using a platform that allows for seamless communication between your in-office employees and your remote employees, you’ll keep everyone on the same page and avoid any feelings of...

By Deel, a partner of Workplaceless

Any opinions expressed within the blog are those of the author and not necessarily held by Workplaceless itself.

Hiring remote contractors has become a go-to solution for many companies. The benefits are clear- you can source your talent from across the globe, reduce company costs, and increase efficiency in general. Although this seems to be a popular trend, there are a few things you need to be aware of to stay compliant.

1. Labour laws differ, so should your contracts

When you are working with talent, many aspects need to be taken into account to ensure full compliance with (local) labor laws. Not all the information is easily accessible, so it's worth investing time into it. Most lawyers advise you to hire local lawyers to ensure locally binding contracts. It's crucial to understand the type of relationship you have with your service provider. One of the most common misclassifications occurs when you decide whether the person is...

Disclaimer: The information contained within this article is not a substitute for legal or medical advice from a licensed professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation.

Throughout the past two months, we’ve laid out the health and safety concerns of the remote workforce and some ways to address them. If you’re part of a remote leadership team (HR, CXO, etc), these are the things keeping you up at night. As remote work becomes more mainstream, companies need to get policies in place to keep off-site employees safe. 

Most companies have been kicking this can down the proverbial road, retrofitting policies whenever possible and favoring individual solutions over company-wide standards. The risk with this practice is two-fold: potential legal and/or compliance issues, and missed opportunities for attracting and retaining new talent. Either way, the cost is too great to ignore. 

So when it comes to creating safe and...

By Scott Dawson, Author of The Art of Working Remotely

We're grateful to Scott for sharing his experience especially as we've spent the past two months connecting with our remote community about health and wellness challenges alongside solutions. Scott is passionate about remote communities; he runs the weekly #remotechat on Twitter and is a regular attendee at our Networkplaceless events. Any opinions expressed within this blog post are those of the author and not necessarily held by Workplaceless itself.

If you’ve worked in a traditional office, you may have felt the urge to stay at your desk to appear as productive as possible. Think about the reasons that you’d get up from that position of productivity: to get a drink, grab some food, head to a meeting, stretch your legs, or go to the bathroom.

When you’re working outside the confines of a traditional office, you might feel the same pull to appear as productive as possible. But really,...

First of all, we feel deeply enriched by this remote work community that continues to inspire and challenge us to be better every day. We are grateful for your input!

Last week we came together to specifically network and discuss health, safety and wellness solutions for remote workers and teams. We focused in on the top four categories of challenges discussed during our June Networkplaceless, but of course our conversations delved much deeper into the why, how and what next. With a high percentage of remote leaders joining us last week, we heard some management perspective as to the role leaders and companies play in implementing solutions. 

Here are a few specific solutions that rose to the top during our voting:

• Set aside time for high quality breaks tailored to you, not just to check a box
• Ensure your leadership team models taking deliberate and regular breaks
• Establish non-work team calls/check-ins to encourage interpersonal connection

An...