Your essential guide to working from home and staying connected

In today's networked global economy, working from home is no longer a novelty. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies and organizations everywhere are embracing the game-changing benefits of allowing employees to work outside the office, and the results are profound: managers benefit by saving money and resources and by having access to talent outside their zip codes, while employees enjoy greater job opportunities, productivity, independence, and satisfaction—in part from the time saved not commuting. According to one source, 85% of businesses say that productivity increased along with greater flexibility—and 90% of employees say that flexibility boosted their morale.

Working From Home For Dummies, gathers the expertise of multiple industry experts, featuring best of the best content from  Virtual Teams For Dummies, Managing For Dummies, 3E, Company Culture For Dummies, Zoom For Dummies, Microsoft Teams For Dummies, Slack For Dummies, Mindfulness For Dummies, 3E, and Stretching For Dummies, as well as new material from award-winning author Tara Powers on setting expectations and boundaries, and more.

• Set up your workspace
• Stay connected to your team
• Run productive online meetings
• Get in the right headspace

This book is the full guide on how to successfully work with virtual teams, whether you are a team member or a manager.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Working From Home 5

Chapter 1: Setting Up Your Workspace 7

Choosing the Right Spot in Your Home 8

Picking the best room 8

Creating an effective layout 10

Getting All the Equipment You Need 11

Desk and chair 12

Computer and monitor 13

Printer and scanner 14

Internet access 15

Phone service 15

Noise-cancelling headset and camera 15

Storage 16

Organizing Your Work Life (And Keeping It That Way) 16

Time 16

Workspace 17

Paperwork 17

Computers and other devices 18

Books and other reference materials 19

Adding Some Personal Touches 19

Chapter 2: Ensuring Success with Important Work-at-Home Skills and Behaviors 21

Setting Goals and Priorities 22

Starting with goals 23

Deciding on priorities 24

Managing Your Time Well 24

Creating and sticking to a schedule 25

Making to-do lists 27

Conquering procrastination 28

Establishing Routines 29

Being Your Own IT Department 30

Increasing Your Healthy Productivity 31

Watching Out for Distractions 32

Overcoming Isolation 33

Staying Positive and Motivated 34

Putting positivity into practice 35

Understanding personal motivation 37

Being a team player and knowing you matter 38

Making Sure You Still Have a Personal Life 39

Establishing expectations 39

Setting boundaries 39

Chapter 3: Following Virtual Team Meeting Etiquette 41

Checking Your Background 42

Looking Camera Ready 43

Minimizing Noise and Using the Mute Button 44

Speaking Clearly and Making Eye Contact 45

Remembering a Few Important Do’s and Don’ts 46

Engaging in virtual meeting best practices 46

Steering clear of common mistakes 48

Practicing Patience 49

Part 2: Staying in Touch with Slack 51

Chapter 4: Getting Started with Slack 53

Reviewing Slack’s Different Versions 53

Free plan 54

Standard plan 54

Plus plan 55

Enterprise Grid 55

Changing Your Slack Plan 56

Upgrading 56

Downgrading 56

Beginning Your Slack Journey with the Workspace 57

Creating a new Slack workspace 58

Signing in to an existing Slack workspace 59

Accessing your new workspace via a web browser 61

Using the Slack desktop app 62

Using the Slack mobile app 63

Introducing the Slack user interface 63

Summarizing Slack’s Different Roles and Permissions 66

Administrative roles 66

Non-administrative roles 68

Managing member roles 69

Enterprise Grid roles and permissions 72

Starting Your New Workspace off on the Right Foot 73

Expanding your existing workspace 73

Configuring your member profile and key account settings 76

Chapter 5: Targeting Your Communication with Slack Channels 79

Introducing Slack Channels 80

Exploring the Different Types of Slack Channels 81

Public channels 82

Private channels 83

Multi-workspace channels 83

Shared channels 85

Creating Public and Private Channels 86

Creating your first public channel 87

Building an intelligent channel structure 89

Viewing basic channel information 91

Adding Members to Existing Channels 93

Manual additions 93

Default workplace channels 94

Exploring Existing Public Channels 95

Communicating via Slack Channels 97

Posting simple channel messages 97

Understanding channel etiquette 98

Chapter 6: Entering the Wonderful World of Slack Messages 101

Understanding Slack Messages 102

Sending a message 102

Performing basic message actions 104

Formatting your messages 106

Finding people in your workspace to message 108

Editing messages 109

Deleting messages 110

Muting conversations 110

Setting message-specific reminders 111

Saving direct messages and channel messages 112

Pinning direct messages to conversations 113

Creating special types of messages 114

Converting group direct messages into private channels 118

Using threads to create topic-specific containers 118

Sharing in Slack 120

Sharing files 121

Sharing messages 123

Forwarding Email to Slack 125

Communicating Outside of Slack 125

Chapter 7: Staying Informed with Notifications, Statuses, and Feeds 127

Getting Your Arms around Notifications 128

Channel-specific notifications 130

Keyword-specific notifications 133

Direct messages from individuals and groups 134

Missed calls 134

DM reminders 134

Member join and leave messages 135

Threads and notifications 135

Concurrently notifying multiple users 136

Letting Others Know Your Availability 137

Setting your status 137

Viewing your colleagues’ statuses 138

Editing your status 139

Clearing your status 139

Setting yourself to away/active 140

Unplugging with Do Not Disturb mode 140

Configuring Device-Specific Notifications 143

Enabling notifications on mobile devices 143

Understanding when settings collide 144

Finding Other Ways to Stay Current 144

Receiving emails on recent activity 144

Viewing mentions and reactions 145

Part 3: Focusing on Zoom 147

Chapter 8: Getting to Know Zoom’s Suite of Communication Tools 149

Zoom’s Core Services 150

Zoom Meetings & Chat 151

Main features and benefits 151

Plans and costs 152

Add-ons 155

Zoom Video Webinars 156

Main features and benefits 156

Plans and costs 156

Zoom Rooms 157

Main features and benefits 158

Plans and costs 159

Supercharging Zoom Rooms 159

Zoom Phone 161

Main features and benefits 161

Plans and costs 162

Chapter 9: Setting Up Zoom 163

Taking Your First Steps 163

Creating a new Zoom account 164

Modifying your Zoom plan 167

Downloading and installing the Zoom desktop client 170

Signing in to the Zoom desktop client 172

Completing your Zoom profile 174

Getting to know the Zoom user interface 174

Reviewing Zoom Account Management 176

Adding new users to your Zoom account 176

Deactivating existing accounts 178

Deleting existing users from your Zoom account 178

Unlinking users from your Zoom account 179

Unlocking the power of Zoom user groups 180

Discussing the Importance of Zoom Roles 183

Reviewing Zoom’s default roles 183

Creating new user roles 184

Changing an existing user’s role 185

Chapter 10: Connecting with Others via Zoom Meetings 187

Getting Started with Zoom Meetings 188

Reviewing Zoom’s meeting-specific roles 188

Locating your personal Zoom information 189

Augmenting your Zoom meetings 191

Hosting Zoom Meetings 193

Inviting others to your current meeting 195

Planning a future Zoom meeting 197

Letting others in to your current meeting 203

Joining others’ Zoom meetings 205

Putting your best foot forward 207

Performing Mid-Meeting Actions 208

Using virtual backgrounds 208

Managing and interacting with meeting participants 210

Using breakout rooms during meetings 212

Chapter 11: Looking at Zoom Contact Management and Chatting 215

Managing Your Zoom Contacts 216

Adding contacts to your Zoom directory 216

Removing an existing contact from your Meetings & Chat directory 218

Inviting an existing Zoom contact to a new meeting 219

Adding internal contacts to an existing meeting 219

Performing contact-specific actions 220

Understanding User Status in Zoom 221

Getting familiar with Zoom’s status icons 221

Changing your status in Meetings & Chat 223

Staying current with Zoom notifications 225

Chatting in Zoom 226

Exchanging messages with your individual Zoom contacts 226

Holding group chats 227

Creating threads in Zoom 230

Saving message drafts 231

Editing and deleting your messages 232

Referencing other Zoom members in a group discussion 233

Adding some flair to your messages 234

Uploading and sharing files in Zoom 236

Sending screenshots 238

Performing message-specific actions 239

Part 4: Taking Advantage of Microsoft Teams 241

Chapter 12: Navigating Microsoft Teams 243

Downloading, Installing, and Opening Teams 244

On the web 244

On a laptop or desktop computer 245

Taking a Quick Spin around Teams 248

Activity 248

Chat 249

Teams 249

Calendar 249

Calls 250

Files 250

Using Teams across Many Devices and Platforms 251

Chapter 13: Starting Your First Team and Managing Your Settings 253

Creating a New Team 254

Inviting People to Your Team 259

During the team creation process 259

After the team creation process 260

Managing Your Team Settings 261

Managing Your User Settings 264

General 266

Privacy 266

Notifications 267

Devices 267

Permissions 267

Calls 267

Chapter 14: Staying Connected to Others with Channels and Chat 269

Chatting in Teams 270

Sending Messages in Channels 271

Creating a New Channel 273

Configuring a Channel 275

Moving from a Channel to a Chat 279

Starting a private chat 280

Adding multiple people to a chat 281

Giving a chat a title 282

Pinning a chat to the top of the list 282

Sending More than Text When Chatting 283

Adding emojis, GIFs, and stickers 283

Adding a file 284

Reacting to chat messages 286

Chapter 15: Embracing Teams to Make Meetings Better 287

Getting Up to Speed with the Types of Meetings in Teams 287

Viewing Your Calendar in Teams 288

Creating a New Meeting and Inviting People 289

Joining an Existing Meeting 294

Using Teams for Conference Calls 296

Using Teams for Video Calls 297

Part 5: Managing Employees from Home 303

Chapter 16: Introducing the Basics of Managing Virtual Employees 305

Making Room for a New Kind of Employee 306

Preparing to get virtual 307

Understanding changes to the office culture 308

Weighing the pros and cons of telecommuting 309

Managing from a Distance 311

Increasing your interaction 311

Providing long-distance recognition 312

Using the Internet 312

Managing Different Shifts 313

Chapter 17: Transitioning from Old-School Manager to Virtual Team Leader 315

Recognizing Which Leadership Style Works Best 316

Examining what makes virtual team leaders succeed 316

Determining whether you’re a micromanager, coach, or hands-off manager 319

Comparing control-based and trust-based leadership 321

Taking the Opportunity to Grow 323

Pushing the boundaries of culture and C-level expectations 323

Knowing when to manage up 324

Recognizing Common Virtual Team Issues 325

Poor communication 326

Lack of clarity, direction, and priorities 326

Loss of team spirit and morale 327

Lack of trust 327

Lack of social interaction 327

Tech issues 328

Cultural clashes 328

Chapter 18: Adopting Best Practices in Communication 329

Identifying Four Components to Transform Your Communications 330

Looking Closer at Text-Only Communication 332

Examining the pros and cons 332

Using text-only communication effectively 334

Providing Consistent and Frequent Feedback 335

Establishing clear expectations 335

Recognizing the importance of two-way feedback and performance discussions 336

Giving feedback: The how-to 337

Shifting focus from individual accountability to team accountability 338

Establishing Best Practices with Communication Agreements 339

Choosing appropriate communication methods 339

Agreeing on expected response times 342

Setting the rules for handling conflicts 342

Choosing a problem-solving model 343

Agreeing on a process for communicating outside the team 344

Putting together your plan 345

Establishing standards for meeting participation 346

Utilizing the DISC Assessment Tool 346

Part 6: Adding Balance and Peace to Your Work-at-Home Life 349

Chapter 19: Building Trust and Wellness in the Virtual Workplace 351

Building a Connection Culture 352

Being a leader your team wants to follow 352

Getting to know your team members 353

Reaching out and building rapport 354

Focusing On Workplace Wellness 356

Considering wellness best practices 356

Starting your team wellness program 357

Maintaining Healthy Boundaries 358

Chapter 20: Using Mindfulness in Your Daily Life 361

Using Mindfulness at Work 362

Beginning the day mindfully 362

Dropping in with mini meditations 363

Going from reacting to responding 365

Solving problems creatively 367

Practicing mindful working 368

Debunking the multitasking myth 369

Finishing by letting go 369

Living Mindfully in the Digital Age 370

Assessing your level of addiction to technology 370

Using mindfulness to get back in control 372

Using technology to enhance mindful awareness 374

Chapter 21: Stretching during the Workday 375

Step Away from the Desk: Standing Stretches 376

Standing chest stretch 376

Standing abdominal stretch 377

Standing side reach with legs crossed 378

Standing hamstring and calf stretch 380

Standing hip flexor stretch 381

Have a Seat: Stretches for the Professional Desk Jockey 382

Shoulders and neck stretch with circles 383

Chest stretch 384

Seated spinal rotation 385

Seated forward bend 387

Wrist and forearm stretch 387

Seated ankle circles 389

Part 7: The Part of Tens 393

Chapter 22: Ten Predictors of Virtual Team Success 395

Having the Right Technology 395

Hiring the Right Team Leader 396

Hiring the Right Team Members 397

Establishing Clear Team Vision and Values 397

Aligning Team Goals with Company Goals 398

Having a Solid Team Agreement in Place 398

Using a Communication Strategy 398

Agreeing on a Process for Team Workflow 399

Using an Onboarding Strategy for New Team Members 399

Actively Managing Executive Perceptions 400

Chapter 23: Ten Great Slack Tips 401

Respond Promptly to New Users’ Requests, Questions, and Feedback 401

Regularly View Slack Analytics 402

Tread Lightly with New Hires 402

Establish Slack as the Default Medium for Internal Communication 402

Emphasize Slack’s Carrots More than Its Sticks 403

Keep an Eye Out for New Slack Apps 403

Tell Overly Exuberant Slack Members to Tone It Down 403

Publicize Your Status and Availability 403

Try Before You Buy 404

Know When to Turn Slack Off 404

Index 405