How to Work Effectively From Home

Five tips and techniques for making a productive team that's accountable for a shared goal.

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Image credit: filadendron | Getty Images

Randy Garn

VIP CONTRIBUTOR

Investor / Entrepreneur

   

April 10, 2020 4 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Most modern business operations are still dependent on face-to-face interaction. In light of recent events, business leaders everywhere are scrambling to figure out how to effectively manage newly remote teams and ensure that teams are still productive.
In my time as a serial entrepreneur, I've been fortunate to learn lessons that help me adapt to these strange times. For example, one company I'm a partner in, SolutionStream, has an office in Utah but has always had developers, designers and product managers who work across the U.S. Its leadership has had to build and manage remote teams in a way that ensures the team's chemistry, cohesion and accountability. The leaders believe that remote teams can thrive and develop successful and innovative products just as effectively as teams who work together in person. Here are some of the best practices I've learned from them and others about leading and managing a remote team.

Use video communication

Regular face-to-face communication is vital to create a feeling of teamwork and to ensure that people are communicating well, and when you can’t do that in person, technology gives us the next best thing. Phone calls just aren’t the same as a videoconferences. You need to see the whites of each other's eyes. You need to see reactions and facial expressions and emotional impact of words.
And don’t think you can join a video call with your video off, because that just makes it a phone call again. Make face-to-face video communication a priority. These little nuances make all the difference.

Be agile

Agile project management encourages accountability and predictability across a team. SolutionStream's managers use the scrum style of project management, which is a type of agile management.  "Scrum” refers to a tight-knit rugby formation, but the scrum technique just prioritizes compact teams driving toward a common goal. During the project, they use four type of "scrum ceremonies" to check in with the team and remain productive and accountable.
This management style ensures that everyone has clear tasks and an understanding of what everyone o the team is doing. It's especially powerful when it's practiced throughout an organization, even up to the executive level.

Use a variety of collaboration tools

There are so many amazing tools that allow everyone on the team to see the same information and collaborate on it. Here on a few I recommend:

• Miro for white boarding and sticky mapping 
• Stories on Board for user story maps
• Jira for managing day-to-day and overall tasks
• Slack for chatting and written communication
• Google Suite for a wide variety of collaborative work

To make collaborative tools even more effective, use the tools in conjunction with videoconferencing as part of every conversation. Don’t be afraid to experiment and find the tools that work for your group.

Communicate more

Even if you feel like you are communicating like crazy, it probably isn’t enough. One of the biggest challenges for remote teams is misunderstandings and miscommunication. Tools like Slack feel like they are helping us communicate better (and often they do), but the written word can also make it easy to misunderstand intentions.
Typing can also slow the conversation substantially compared to a video conversation. Again, the key to fixing this lies in using videoconferencing tools. Encourage your team to regularly take the conversation off Slack (or other written communication channels) and onto video to ensure clarity of communication.

Fight loneliness 

Isolation and loneliness are real problems for remote workers and teams. As a leader, you need to make sure that people still feel the social connections that come with a work environment. Teamwork, trust, good work relationships and personal interaction can and should be maintained in a digital form.
Your team also needs social interaction with each other to feel camaraderie. Schedule regular online social interactions between your team members, and encourage water-cooler-style conversations. Have virtual lunches or virtual cocktail hours for your teams to let down their guard and communicate more casually.
With all that is happening in the world, use these skills to ensure that your business and your team can be effective and happy while staying safe at a distance.

How to Start Sleeping on Your Back, According to Sleep Experts

written by

BETH KRIETSCH

@BUFFY 

It's hard to beat the blissful feeling of laying down in bed after a long, tiring day. Ah, sweet rest at last. But if you were to hear that some sleep positions may be healthier than others, that might throw a bit of stress in the mix. After all, no one wants to sleep in a position that's going to leave them feeling achy or unrested the next day. The National Sleep Foundation ranks sleeping on your back as the best sleep position since it allows your spine, neck, and head to stay in a neutral position and keeps unwanted pressure off of those areas as you rest. But sleeping on your back isn't actually recommended for everyone—there are some important considerations to keep in mind, like comfort and whether you suffer from certain health conditions.

The Benefits of Sleeping on Your Back

To learn more about the benefits and drawbacks of sleeping on your back, we reached out to a few of the top sleep experts. Here's what they had to say:

Kaliq Chang, a physician and interventional pain management specialist at the Atlantic Spine Center, says sleeping on your back can be an optimal position as long as your spine is aligned in a neutral position. Since alignment is important here, you'll need to keep your neck in a neutral position rather than allowing it to tilt to one side or the other. "The key to restful sleep is keeping the spine in natural alignment," Chang says.

Who Shouldn't Sleep on Their Back?

Before you start making a huge effort to try sleeping on your back, it's important to understand that this sleep position isn't recommended for all people, particularly those with sleep apnea. If you haven't heard of sleep apnea, this is a condition where a person's breathing is interrupted, often repeatedly, while sleeping.

"Back sleeping may worsen snoring or sleep apnea, says Terry Cralle, a registered nurse and sleep expert with the Better Sleep Council. "In people with mild obstructive sleep apnea, symptomatic improvement may be achieved simply by avoiding back sleeping." She adds that people with positional apnea experience the majority of their breathing abnormalities while sleeping on their backs. So if you suffer from positional sleep apnea, back sleeping most likely isn't for you.

Comfort plays a role in deciding which sleep position is best for you, too. Our experts agree that sleeping on your side can be just as healthy as sleeping on your back. Put simply, sleep experts recommend sleep in whatever position is comfortable for you. Though they do advise against sleeping on your stomach, which can lead to neck and back pain. "Stomach sleeping is generally not recommended, as the low back is hyperextended without an easy way to correct it, and the neck is forced to the side," Chang said.

If you're looking to start sleeping on your back, here are some tips and guidance that may help:

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Focus on Making Your Body a Straight Line

The most important thing to remember when training yourself to sleep on your back is to focus on alignment. If you find sleep props like pillows and blankets distracting, just make sure your "head, neck and spinal column stay in one straight line," adds Robbins. For extra motivation, back sleeping may reduce fine lines, as your face isn't pressing into your pillow, allowing for greater absorption of your night cream.

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Use a Firm Matress

Erin Rossi, a Certified Sleep Science Coach and contributor to the Simply Rest blog underscores the importance of finding a fab mattress with the proper amount of density. "If you want to train yourself to sleep on your back, you first have to find the right mattress. If you try to lay flat on a mattress that is too soft, your hips will sink too far down, making it difficult to get comfortable without rolling to your side."

You may find it much easier to sleep on your back if you have a firm mattress rather than a soft one. "On a soft bed, the lower spine can sink unsupported into the bed and cause hyperextension of the lumbar spine," Chang says. The unfortunate result? Lower back pain. Soft mattresses may feel dreamy at first, but you might be surprised to find out how much better you feel after sleeping on a more firm mattress.

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Choose the Right Pillow... It Matters

PAUL STROWGER / GETTY IMAGES

When it comes to pillows, you want to make sure you're keeping your body in proper alignment while adding the right amount of support. "A back sleeper would do well with a pillow that has a concave area for the head to rest," says Robbins. "Also look for a vertical thicker compartment on both lengths of the pillow to support the cervical spine."

On that note, Cralle urges you to think beyond the sleep surface alone. "Pillows and toppers factor in and can augment and enhance comfort and help support your preferred sleep position," she says.

04of 08

Sleep With a Pillow Under Your Knees

Ever wake up with a sore lower back after sleeping on your back? This isn't uncommon—some people experience lower back pain after sleeping on their back. To reduce pressure and stress on your spine, Chang recommends sleeping with a pillow beneath your knees. The University of Rochester Medical Center explains that this can also help support the natural curve in your lower back.

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Use an Adjustable Bed Frame

Using an adjustable bed frame may help keep you on your back, by helping to keep your head or feet elevated throughout the night. "Beds now come with zoned support and lumbar support, which can be very helpful when people are trying to stay on their backs all night," says Carolyn Burke, a certified sleep coach and editor for The Sleep Advisor.

06of 08

Build a PIllow Fort, Seriously

"My position is: the more pillows the better," says Robbins. "Make a pillow fort around you, placing a pillow under your legs." Finally if you’re trying to switch to back sleeping, she advises you look for a pillow with support for the nape of your neck, or your cervical spine.

If you're short a few pillows for making a fort, you can try this crescent-shaped pillow by Moon Pod.

How to Write Irresistible Headlines

How to Write Irresistible Headlines That Entice, Intrigue, and Insist on Being Read!

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” they say.

But unfortunately, we all know that we DO judge books by their cover, literally and figuratively.

And your article’s headline is its “cover.”

If you have a boring cover, it doesn’t matter how scintillating, meaningful, or amazing your content is — few will choose to click on it, and even fewer will actually read it.

In an ideal world, articles would be noticed and read based on their content value, not on their click-bait-y headlines.

But sadly, we do not live in an ideal world.

To give your article a fighting chance, you MUST learn how to write a good headline, using the following tips:

What your headline needs to do

Your headline, obviously, needs to grab attention. There is so much competing stimuli out there, millions of articles published every day, that your article needs a big “look at me!” to attract readers.

But how do you grab readers’ attention?

1. Promise a benefit

People usually don’t read your work because they just want to support you, or admire your amazing way with words.

They read because they want to find out what’s in it for them.

Especially people who read nonfiction articles on sites like Medium.

So tell people what your article offers, right there in the headline.

Does your article teach people how to get rid of foot fungus? Try “3 Fail-Proof Foot Fungus Removal Techniques.”

Or are you trying to help writers who are struggling with writer’s block?

In that case, “5 Ways to Come Up With Ideas When You Have Nothing to Write About” could be the perfect headline for your article.

Don’t try to be mysterious or clever. At least, not at the expense of clearly showing people how your article will help them solve or deal with a real problem in their lives.

I guarantee you that “You Can Control Alcohol Without Willpower or Wretchedness — Here’s How” is going to outperform “Random Inebriated Thoughts on a Rainy Indoor Thursday” any day.

2. Be shareable

The only way to get your article across to a large audience is to 1) post it in a place that gets lots of traffic (ie: Medium is better than your own hosted blog, if you are just starting out), and 2) get people to share it.

The problem is, you can’t really pay people to share your article. (Well, you can try, but it won’t last long, and your bank account will become very, very sad, very, very quickly)

So how do you get people to share your article with their friends?

By crafting a headline that makes them look and/or feel good when they share it.

For instance:

“How to Crush Regret and Recreate Yourself At Any Age” is more likely to be shared among, say middle aged or older folks because they want to be seen as optimistic, powerful people who still have a lot to offer.

(Especially in a youth-focused society where if you haven’t changed the world by your early twenties, you’re old news).

And it’s also encouraging to send something like this to a friend who has confided in you that he/she might be going through a mid-life crisis.

But no one will want to share an article titled “Warning: You‘re Unknowingly Sabotaging Yourself Because of These 3 Things; Here’s How to STOP” because it makes them either a) feel like a failure, or b) feel like they are telling their friends “you’re a failure.” (Yep, lesson learned!)

Then again, a headline like “3 Classic Novels That Have Changed Civilization” could go both ways. On the one hand, someone who shares this type of article on social media could look well-read and highly educated, which can be a good thing.

On the other hand, certain crowds might look at such a person as a pretentious, stuffy buffoon, which would hurt this article’s chances of going viral.

So figure out who you are writing for, how your ideal reader sees him/herself, and what s/he is most likely to want to share with friends. Then design the perfect headline based on what you’ve discovered.

But now that we’ve discussed WHAT your headline needs to do, let’s talk about HOW it does so:

4 Headline formulas that work

1. How-to’s

Remember we talked aboout providing a benefit in the headline, earlier?

Well, the how-to is the most ubiquitous headline formula that clearly promises a benefit.

• “How to Plan the Perfect Vacation in Jamaica,”
• “How to Cure Anxiety,” and
• “How to Use the Ridiculously Powerful Magic of Writing To Transform Your Life and Revolutionize the World”

…will appeal to people who want to a) travel to Jamaica, b) be free from anxiety, and c) use writing to transform themselves and their world, respectively.

Each of these headlines clearly promise a straightforward benefit that readers will come away with after reading the article. There’s no confusion, just an irresistible invitation (to the right audience).

2. Numbered lists

Using numbers in your headline promises that your article is skimmable.

And let’s face it, internet readers skim.

When people are surfing the ‘net, the last thing they want to do is get bogged down by a novel-length article, even if it promises to cure the common cold.

Which means that they like numbers because most likely they already know most of whatever you are promising to help them with, whether it’s how to teach your toddler shoe-tying or how to rid your house of fruit flies.

They’re looking not for all of the USUAL problem-solving methods, they want to see if you have an interesting idea that they haven’t thought of before. No one has time to read all 13 of your Ways to Rid Your Closet of That Awful Mothball Scent…they just need one or two ways.

And if you use a number in your headline, you are promising your audience that your article offers succinct, listed methods from which they can easily find and pick their favorites.

Click!

3. Negative Words

Loss aversion is real, people!

What is loss aversion? It means that to you and I, the pain of loss is usually worse than the joy of gain.

What does that mean when you are crafting your headline?

It means that a headline such as “12 Heinous Hotel Horror Stories” is more likely to get someone’s attention than “How to Have a Lovely Hotel Experience.”

Because while everyone would love to have a “lovely hotel experience,” (whatever that means), they would love even more to avoid losing sleep over cockroaches, leaky sewer pipes, or opportunistic thieves.

So you might notice that a lot of the best-performing headlines like to use words like “Never,” “Avoid ___,” or “___ Doesn’t Work, Here’s How to Actually ___.”

Readers want to know what they are doing wrong (but again, don’t overdo this), they want to know about hidden traps to evade, and above all, they want to know how to mitigate — or completely avoid — loss.

So use that to your advantage when writing your next headline.

4. Power Words

Power words are words that trigger a strong emotion. Some examples of powerful words include:

• Words that evoke negative emotions: Jealousy, Limiting, Toxic, Lose, Addiction
• Words that can evoke positive emotions: Win, Overcome, Triumph, Unstoppable, Empower

Emotions are critical to decision-making (such as the decision readers make about whether or not to click on your headline), so learning which words evoke “click me!” emotions, and how to use those words is a must for writers.

The above are just some examples to get you started. With practice (through reading and writing many headlines), I am sure you can come up with many, many more examples.

Be an ethical writer

Now that you know how to write a good headline, don’t abuse your new powers by enticing people to read cruddy content. In the long run, that kind of strategy is going to end up dumping you on your head in a deserted alley.

Marketing tools are just tools. And just like a hammer can be used to build or destroy, it is up to you whether you use your communication skills to build or destroy.

Some old hands advise newer writers to:

• Start by choosing a headline and then write content to suit the title.
• Spend as much (or more!) time on your headline as (than) you do on your content.

That may work for some, and certainly, you DO need to practice writing headlines to get good at them.

However, I would add a note of caution: in the end, the headline is not the most important part of your article — the content is.

Use proper, helpful formatting and structuring so that you can get your message out to a lot of people, but most importantly:

Make sure you have a message WORTH getting out to a lot of people.

Don’t just write for the sake of getting a lot of eyeballs to view your content. Write so that you can change someone’s life for the better.

That’s the best and really the ONLY true reason to write.

Ready to be a Brilliant Writer?

I’ve created The Brilliant Writer Checklist to help you clarify your message, reach more readers, and change the world with your words.

Get the manifesto here!