Homeworking
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Slack is good, but only if you have it for other functions. It's a "heavy" solution. Great for a team that needs it, terrible for just two people. If this is an ad hoc communications situation (meaning just you and him, not the whole company) then I would look pretty strongly at just using Skype. It's already there and works great and is free.
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I've never used Slack. I just fancy trying it. We currently use WhatsApp when we're out of the office, which is obviously pretty limited but functional.
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Here is my list of having him feel involved:
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Skype have a helpdesk group in skype where everyone on the team can connect with him and discuss issues and goof around (goofing around is important to feeling included).
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Skype is also great for screen sharing and video conferences
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Skype works between multiple platforms at the same time (cell, tablet and desktop)
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We use Screen Connect and multiple people can connect to one machine so that you can see what the other is seeing and work together (if skype is being a PITA).
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Weekly meeting to go over all the important stuff (just cause a remote employee might be left out of the loop little bits here and there).
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@Carnival-Boy said in Homeworking:
I've never used Slack. I just fancy trying it. We currently use WhatsApp when we're out of the office, which is obviously pretty limited but functional.
Not sure that Slack will add anything more to that. Slack isn't bad, but it is a really bulky, heavy system meant for developers and their needs when in dev teams.
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Oh, I see. Not what I imagined.
I really just want a chat system that integrates with our helpdesk ticketing system (Freshdesk) and our project management system (Trello), which I know Slack does.
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Having something that is outside of your helpdesk system, like Skype has major benefits as it is fully supported on all platforms. Easy to transition between desktop and phone. No real change in how you interact with each other no matter where you are. The only issue really is if on a cell sharing a screen kinda sucks due to screen size.
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@Carnival-Boy said in Homeworking:
Oh, I see. Not what I imagined.
I really just want a chat system that integrates with our helpdesk ticketing system (Freshdesk) and our project management system (Trello), which I know Slack does.
Ah, that might be useful. Have not tried to do that. What would integrating with the helpdesk do for you? I'm trying to picture the workflow.
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@Carnival-Boy said in Homeworking:
Oh, I see. Not what I imagined.
I really just want a chat system that integrates with our helpdesk ticketing system (Freshdesk)
FreshDesk, I thought that had inter-agent chat as a feature? Been awhile since I used it.
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I believe it does, but I haven't used it. Note that I'm not just looking at chat between IT staff, I'm looking at using it company wide for users to chat to us. A replacement for them coming in to our office, which they won't be able to do when one us is working from home.
We use Skype already, although I don't use it myself, so I will look at that, but I'm assuming Skype currently lacks the team features of Slack.
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You can setup groups very easily in Skype. We do it all the time.
We have a management team group
Helpdesk group
ScreenConnect migration group
etc. etc. -
Oh and this is normal skype not SfB (that sucks)
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@Carnival-Boy said in Homeworking:
We use Skype already, although I don't use it myself, so I will look at that, but I'm assuming Skype currently lacks the team features of Slack.
How do team features apply with two people?
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I think he is looking for a way for their users to contact them via a chat versus dropping by the office.
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@Carnival-Boy said in Homeworking:
I believe it does, but I haven't used it. Note that I'm not just looking at chat between IT staff, I'm looking at using it company wide for users to chat to us.
Again, FreshDesk
Have a chat window on the support page, this doubles up because if no one is online, they get to fill in a ticket.You want to drive people to as few sources as possible.
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I'll take a look. I suppose it comes down to the fact that I find Freshdesk a bit mediocre. It's ok as a ticketing system, but I'm not sure how much I want to extend it to other areas.
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Why do they walk into your office/workspace now? Seems like a huge waste of time. why not call or email about a problem?
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Because we're awesome and people just like to hang out with us
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@Carnival-Boy said in Homeworking:
Because we're awesome and people just like to hang out with us
LOL - well, with logic like that, what is there to be done
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@Dashrender said in Homeworking:
@Carnival-Boy said in Homeworking:
Because we're awesome and people just like to hang out with us
LOL - well, with logic like that, what is there to be done
I think that the only answer is for the whole team to move to the house with the guy working remotely then!
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Your whole team needs to be aware of the changes and important things can't simply be yelling around the office any more.
You need more than one-on-one chat. Your whole company should already be using some kind of chat, if used for nothing more than "heading to lunch" or "I'll be gone tomorrow" type messages. We only used our Skype for stuff like collecting lunch orders for example, but at least it's there.
Slack has the ability to just "be there" with everybody even if not used much. It can be handy for passing files, screenshots, links, groups and DMs.If Slack is too heavy and email is too whatever and phone texting is too cumbersome, and Skype is too "meh". Then you need something that fits in the middle, like Telegram or What's App.
Telegram is chat but you have desktop, web, and phone clients that can be used. It's not as "big" as Skype or Slack but not as cumbersome as just texting. Plus you don't have the message longevity limits like Slack does. Messages are also encrypted.Trello is really a project-based tool, which can still come in handy for historical purposed. Put meeting notes there, roadmaps, idea boards, upcoming sales information, whatever. Your remote guy can easily take part in projects via Trello and communications via Telegram, Slack, or Skype, and then of course email.
Your remote guy should have access to the other employees as far as chat, so I wouldn't stick with one-on-one messaging. You never know.
Take a look at Telegram's features and compare to Skype and Slack and even Freshdesk. But chat/messaging tools are not the same category as Trello, that's project management and is compared to tools like Producteev and Asana or even Basecamp.
Lastly, you don't have "control" over the remote person's hours and time per se, so you have to change focus to tasks or goals and benchmarks and projects.
Don't think "how do I know how many hours he works"; think "is he getting work done that satisfies employment."
In other words, is he getting satisfactory work done in reasonable time, versus trying to time track which is only a measurement of time, not work. You might even consider going salaried since time-tracking makes less sense with a remote worker. Unless their job is heavily based on particular hours "doing stuff".Good luck!
