What Online Skills you Need to Start Working from Home
Remote jobs have become more popular since the Covid-19 pandemic. Jobs in the tech industry, in particular, have almost completely become remote. However, many jobs in many other sectors are now remote too. You do require tech skills to successfully do remote work, even if you work in another industry. There are several steps to finding your dream remote job. The first one is ensuring you have various fundamental skills for the role, which add to your experience.
The following are the top four must-have tech skills necessary for remote work:
1.Project Management
Working remotely is different from working in an office because, in the latter, it is easier to know what you should be working on and when the task is due. Other employees in the office may be working on the same project next to you, or there may be weekly meetings discussing approaching deadlines.
When doing remote work, you have to hold yourself accountable, which is why managing your projects is such an important skill. Project management is all virtual when working remotely.
You will need to use virtual project management tools such as Trello, Zoho, Asana, Monday, or Notion. Knowing how to use these virtual tools will help you stay organized and be vigilant about meeting the project’s deadlines, two qualities remote employers want.
Therefore, you should get some experience and be good at using project management tools. It will make you a more attractive remote work candidate than the competition.
2. Collaboration Via Virtual Tools
Remote work does not mean you are off working by yourself all the time. Successful project completion requires collaboration with team members, which is why virtual collaboration is a necessary skill for remote work.
You will need to know how to use virtual communication tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Skype and Zoom. If you are the team leader, you may have to regulate these virtual meetings and collaboration sessions so they are efficient and productive.
Project management tools are also crucial because you will use them to share files with your coworkers when doing a project. It makes things much easier as you can receive instant feedback via the tools.
Virtual collaboration is different from face-to-face communication and hence requires a slightly different skill set. Practice is key to ensuring collaboration for remote work projects is effective.
3. Communicating Virtually
A significant challenge that remote jobs face is communicating across different time zones. It will hence involve communicating with a diverse group, all from different backgrounds, which is challenging.
Therefore, to be successful at remote work, you need to be a master of virtual communication. One thing you and your team must be good at is talking ‘out-of-sync’ or not in real-time.
You and your team should be able to communicate effectively even when messages may take hours to receive a response. Such communication is essential for remote teams on different timelines and schedules because it allows team members to focus on their work and communicate when it is most productive.
Communicating virtually means writing clear and detailed written messages, and leaving voice notes or video messages among team members. When virtual communication is done well, it saves time and improves teamwork.
4. Video Conferencing
Even when doing remote work, getting face time with your employees or team members is still very necessary. Therefore, video conferencing and setting up virtual calls should be a skill in your repertoire.
A simple virtual meeting has many benefits for conveying messages to team members, motivating people, and sharing weekly, monthly, and yearly objectives. The meetings can also be crucial when urgency is vital, and you need everyone on the same page.
You will need the requisite tech equipment and skills to ensure your video conferences are effective and do not encounter technical difficulties or any other disruptions. As with many other skills, the key to success in video conferencing, is practice.
The four skills above are non-negotiable if you are working remotely. The level of skills will depend on the project, team size, and objectives. However, with the four skills above, you have an excellent foundation for most remote jobs.