Factors improving your chances to succeed in a remote working environment
Understanding what drives successful working from home allows us to recommend actions to effectively reduce negative side-effects from working remote
These areas protect people against negative side-effects from working remote.
Orderliness
Orderliness relates to the degree of structure and tidiness one prefers and indicates how well you are in keeping things structured and disciplined around the house. It is derived from your personality test.
| Pros with being orderly | Challenges not being orderly |
|---|---|
| Being orderly probably means that it comes more naturally for you to keep things structured and disciplined around the house, and typically allows you to build rigid schedules and stick to them. | Not being naturally orderly typically makes you a bit more messy and chaotic, which is great for creativity but can be harmful to your freedom and work performance when working from home. |
Actions to take to reduce the risk of not being orderly:
- Set up a designated workspace with everything you need to work, including your computer, office supplies, and any other necessary tools.
- Create a schedule and stick to it. This can help you stay focused and productive.
- Use tools like calendars, to-do lists, and reminders to stay organized and on top of your tasks.
- Prioritize and organize your work assignments, focusing on the most important and urgent tasks first.
- Minimize distractions, by avoiding multitasking and setting up your work space in a quiet and comfortable location.
- Break down larger projects into smaller tasks and set deadlines for each task.
- Regularly review and update your schedule and to-do list, to ensure that you are making progress on your goals.
- Seek feedback from your colleagues and manager, to understand how you can improve and build trust.
- Try to maintain a balance between work and personal life by creating a defined schedule and sticking to it.
- Establish a clear routine for both work and leisure, by setting specific times for work, breaks, and leisure activities.
Industriousness
Industriousness is a degree of goal-orientation and sense of duty towards tasks or projects, as this trait regulates your tendency to start and engage in new tasks. It also regulates self-motivation and proactive behaviour. This is derived from your personality test.
| Pros being industrious | Challenges not being industrious |
|---|---|
| People with a high score prefer to finish what they start, and you are more likely to pick up new projects and tasks, which will serve you well when there is no direct social feedback available | You might have challenges in keeping you focused and stimulated on work tasks. For people like you, having no in-office or team-interactions is likely to demotivate you or prevent you from starting important tasks. |
Actions to take to increase your self-motivation and proactive behaviour:
- Create a schedule and stick to it. This can help you stay focused and productive.
- Prioritize and organize your work assignments, focusing on the most important and urgent tasks first.
- Break down larger projects into smaller tasks and set deadlines for each task.
- Use tools like calendars, to-do lists, and reminders to stay organized and on top of your tasks.
- Establish a clear routine for both work and leisure, by setting specific times for work, breaks, and leisure activities.
- Minimize distractions, by avoiding multitasking and setting up your work space in a quiet and comfortable location.
- Seek feedback from your colleagues and manager, to understand how you can improve and build trust.
- Take regular breaks, exercise and engage in activities that you enjoy to help increase energy and motivation.
- Seek out opportunities for professional development or learning, to keep yourself motivated and engaged.
- Communicate with your colleagues and manager, to establish clear expectations and goals for your work, and to receive regular feedback on your progress.
Assertivity
Assertiveness regulates your degree of expressiveness in social settings and describes the tendency to take charge and to direct activities of others. It is derived from your personality test.
| Pros being assertive | Challenges not being assertive |
|---|---|
| People with a high degree typically like to take charge and voice their opinions. An increased resilience in this area indicates that you are likely to crave social and often extraverted outlets for most events in life, which is a positive thing to avoid an isolated lifestyle that remote working can mean. | A low degree of assertiveness suggests you might find it difficult to express your opinions, make decisions, and stand up for yourself within a remote work environment. For people like you, working from home might cause you to feel overlooked or “lost in the crowd”. Additionally, a low degree of assertiveness increases your risk of isolation-related burnout caused from remote work. |
Actions to improve your interactions with work colleagues:
- Schedule regular virtual meetings or check-ins with colleagues to maintain social connections and improve communication.
- Take initiative in virtual meetings and actively participate in discussions and projects.
- Prioritize self-care by establishing a routine, taking breaks, and getting regular exercise.
- Make an effort to engage in positive thinking and reframe negative thoughts.
- Seek support from a therapist or counselor, if needed, to help manage any negative thoughts or feelings.
- Seek out opportunities for professional development or learning, to keep yourself motivated and engaged.
- Try to maintain a balance between work and personal life by creating a defined schedule and sticking to it.
- Communicate with your colleagues and manager, to establish clear expectations and goals for your work, and to receive regular feedback on your progress.
- Take the time to reflect on your thoughts and feelings, and try to identify what's causing any negative thoughts or feelings.
- Practice assertive communication, by being clear and direct in your communication with others and standing up for yourself.
Research-driven work environment
People who care about research-driven work often enjoy the process of investigation and deep analysis. They like to get into the content and soak up all information related to a topic before they can start working on it. It is derived from your work values test.
| Pros preferring research-driven work | Challenges not preferring research-driven work |
|---|---|
| High research-drive moves your preference towards investigative and thoroughly analytical work. This indicates that you are more likely to enjoy working on difficult problems than on team-based projects or social events. | If you have a low preference for research-driven work, remote work can make it frustrating to isolate yourself from disturbances and dig your heels in. For people like you, having no in-office or team interactions is very likely to demoralize you. |
Actions to improve your focus on remote work:
- Schedule regular virtual meetings or check-ins with colleagues to maintain social connections and improve communication.
- Prioritize teamwork and collaboration by seeking out opportunities to work on team-based projects.
- Set clear communication boundaries and expectations with your team to reduce uncertainty and confusion.
- Take regular breaks and engage in activities that you enjoy, to help increase energy and motivation.
- Seek out opportunities for professional development or learning, to keep yourself motivated and engaged.
- Seek feedback from your colleagues and manager, to understand how you can improve and build trust.
- Communicate with your colleagues and manager, to establish clear expectations and goals for your work, and to receive regular feedback on your progress.
- Prioritize self-care by establishing a routine, taking breaks, and getting regular exercise.
- Make an effort to engage in positive thinking and reframe negative thoughts.
- Consider working on projects that you are genuinely interested in, to increase motivation and engagement
Performance focused environment
People who care about performance focus often enjoy being in environments where one of the most important things is output and outcome. It is derived from your work values test.
| Pros preferring performance focused environment | Challenges not preferring performance focused environment |
|---|---|
| Increased focus on performance drives you away from the need to collaborate, and indicates that you are far less likely to suffer from isolation and can continue working on your goals from anywhere. | Culturally you find recognizing individual performance less important, this usually means that you prefer to be a team player and look at shared outcomes. For people like you, having no in-office or team-interactions is can cause both exhaustion but also lack of acknowledgement. |
Actions that increase your performance focus:
- Schedule regular virtual meetings or check-ins with colleagues to maintain social connections and improve communication.
- Prioritize teamwork and collaboration by seeking out opportunities to work on team-based projects.
- Set clear communication boundaries and expectations with your team to reduce uncertainty and confusion.
- Prioritize self-care by establishing a routine, taking breaks, and getting regular exercise.
- Communicate with your colleagues and manager, to establish clear expectations and goals for your work, and to receive regular feedback on your progress.
- Seek out opportunities for professional development or learning, to keep yourself motivated and engaged.
- Seek feedback from your colleagues and manager, to understand how you can improve and build trust.
- Make an effort to engage in positive thinking and reframe negative thoughts.
- Seek support from a therapist or counselor, if needed, to help manage any negative thoughts or feelings.
- Consider discussing and creating a team recognition system that fits with your cultural preferences, and make sure to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts and contributions of each team member
Compassion
Compassion is the degree of care one has for others’ well-being and how to show it and is derived from your personality test.
| Pros being compassate | Challenges not being compassate |
|---|---|
| Your personality profile shows you are very compassionate which makes you more aware of negative emotions, prone to practice self-reflection, and to accept negative feedback. Being compassionate is reducing risk for stress and burnout in the sense that they can help you understand the root causes of issues and solve them empathetically. | To prevent negative side effects from working from home, it can be important to really place yourself in the shoes of other people and to refrain from responding to (negative) comments too fast. |
Actions to improve your compassion:
- Practice empathy by trying to understand the perspective and emotions of others, especially when dealing with difficult situations or conflicts.
- Engage in self-reflection by taking the time to think about your own emotions and actions, and how they may be impacting others.
- Seek feedback from colleagues, manager, or mentor, to understand how you can improve and build trust
- Prioritize self-care by establishing a routine, taking breaks, and getting regular exercise.
- Make an effort to engage in positive thinking and reframe negative thoughts.
- Seek support from a therapist or counselor, if needed, to help manage any negative thoughts or feelings.
- Practice active listening and try to understand the needs and concerns of others.
- Communicate clearly and openly with your team, and be open to constructive feedback.
- Try to maintain a balance between work and personal life by creating a defined schedule and sticking to it.
- Seek out opportunities for learning, training and professional development, to improve your skills in understanding and managing emotions and interacting with others