Five tips for working remotely from the rest of your team

by Dakota Middleby

In August 2022, I joined Creative Natives and I was so excited to be a part of the team. However, the catch was that I would be the only employee in Queensland and I would be 100% remote. At the time I joined, everyone else was based in Melbourne and Sydney and got to see each other in the office a two days a week. We now also have a team member in the Philippines who understands what it’s like to work remotely from everyone else!

Working remotely while the rest of my team was in the office together was something I had never done before. I had always worked a 9-5 job in the office while surrounded by people, so being completely remote was a bit scary.

In addition to all of this, I had never worked in recruitment before, so not only was it a new style of working, it was a completely new industry. I was a little worried when I first started, and I was constantly thinking about if I could handle being by myself since I couldn’t just tap someone on the shoulder and say “hey, can you help me with this?”.

It took a bit of getting used to, but now I couldn’t be happier! If you find yourself in a similar situation, here’s five tips that really helped me adjust to working remotely from my team.

Join a co-working space

I am naturally a social individual and I crave in-person, social interaction. Thankfully, Creative Natives organised a desk for me in a beautiful co-working space here in Queensland. I’m surrounded by all of these interesting businesses and people, and have the opportunity to connect and socialise with them all. I work three days in my co-working space and two days from home and it’s the perfect balance for me.

Create the right environment at home

It’s something that people have repeated over and over again during COVID and while working from home, but it’s so important! Having the right work environment is key. I’ve got my home office set up so I’m just as comfortable and productive while I’m working from home as I would be in my co-working space. There’s minimal distractions and I’m able to get into the flow with my work.

Chat frequently with a mentor or manager

I chat with my mentor every day. Actually, I have two, and they’re both superstars (shout out to Steph and Charlotte!). Whichever mentor I am working with that day, we always do a quick 15 minute video catch up in the morning, where we discuss wins from the previous day and what the main focus of the day is – it’s a really great way to start work.

Keep connected

It’s harder to feel connected and involved with my colleagues when I’m not part of office chats and banter, so I put in the effort to keep in touch with my colleagues to get that feeling of connection and know what’s going on in their world – both personally (if they’re comfortable chatting about their lives) and professionally. That way I can support them through the highs and lows and vice versa.

Have a personal goal tracker

Every Friday, I fill in my goal tracker and plan for the week ahead. I spend some time thinking about what my week was like and if I had any wins or learnings, I add them in. I also brainstorm some goals for the following week to help keep me on track as I navigate through working remotely.

Dakota fills roles in Account Services and PR, so if you’re looking for a new role (or want to learn more about what it’s like to work remotely from the rest of the team), reach out to Dakota for a chat. You can get in touch her at dakota@creativenatives.com.au.