20 Tips for Working Remotely: A Battle-Tested Guide

20 Tips for Working Remotely: A Battle-Tested Guide

Most companies are terrible at working remotely.

They treat it like a trendy perk or a temporary inconvenience. They buy a dozen new SaaS tools, replicate their broken in-office meetings on Zoom, and then wonder why productivity tanks and their best people burn out.

At Inkbot Design, we’ve been running a remote-first creative agency for over a decade. We learned these lessons the hard way, by failing projects, frustrating clients, and rebuilding our processes from scratch.

This isn't another listicle about “buying a good chair.” This is a battle-tested guide for entrepreneurs and business owners who need to get real work done.

Before we start, let's clear the air. I have a few concerns about the whole “remote work” conversation:

1. The “Pyjama Myth” is Rubbish: The fantasy that remote work is about lounging in bed with a laptop is harmful. High-performance remote work requires more discipline, not less.
2. Tool Fetishism is a Trap: No, another project management tool will not fix your broken process. Your communication is the problem, not the software.
3. “Asynchronous-Only” is a Fantasy: You must have real-time collaboration for creative work. The idea that an entire design project can be run via email comments is a fantasy peddled by people who don't do creative work.
4. Stop Micromanaging-by-Zoom: If you're “checking in” on Slack every 30 minutes or demanding cameras-on for 8-hour calls, you're not a manager. You're a digital babysitter, and you're destroying your team's focus.

With that out of the way, here are 20 practical, real-world tips for making remote work work for your business.

The Foundation: Structure & Boundaries

You can't build a high-performing remote team on a foundation of sand. Structure and boundaries are non-negotiable.

1. Define “Core Overlap Hours”

Forget the 9-to-5. It's an industrial-age relic.

Instead, define “Core Overlap Hours”—a 3-4 hour block each day (e.g., 10 AM to 2 PM) when everyone must be online and available for collaboration.

This gives your team the flexibility remote work promises (for school runs, appointments, or deep work) while guaranteeing the real-time access your business needs for client calls, design reviews, and quick problem-solving.

2. Mandate a Dedicated Workspace

This isn't about interior design. It's about psychology.

You cannot do professional, creative work from your sofa with the TV on. Encourage your team to have a dedicated space—a separate room, a corner of a dining room, anything—that is “the office.”

When they enter that space, they are at work. When they leave it, they are not. This mental “commute” is critical for focus and for preventing burnout.

3. The Hard “Off” Switch (and You Go First)

The most significant danger of remote work isn't distraction; it's burnout. When your home is your office, the “off” switch disappears.

You, the owner, must model this. Set clear working hours and stick to them. Don't send emails at 10 PM. Don't ping your team on Slack on a Sunday.

Use “Schedule Send” in Gmail. Set your Slack status to “Away.” Create a culture where being offline is just as crucial as being online.

4. Stop Treating Employees Like Freelancers (and Vice Versa)

This is a fatal trap for entrepreneurs.

• Trap 1: You hire a full-time, salaried employee but treat them like a disconnected freelancer. You email them a brief and expect magic, offering no cultural onboarding or team integration.
• Trap 2: You hire a specialist freelancer but treat them like an employee. You add them to 20 irrelevant Slack channels, invite them to “all-hands” meetings, and demand instant responses.

These are two different relationships. A full-time remote employee is part of your team. A freelancer is a vendor. Many owners who used to become freelance graphic designers struggle with this—they default to the solo mindset. Define the relationship, set expectations, and manage accordingly.

5. Separate Hardware for Security and Sanity

This is a small cost with a massive ROI.

Don't let your team use their personal laptops for company work. A family computer shared with kids is a security nightmare.

Provide a work-issued laptop. This achieves two things:

1. Security: You control the antivirus, firewalls, and data access. You get the machine (and your data) back when they leave.
2. Sanity: It reinforces the “off” switch. When the work laptop is closed, work is over.

The Engine: Communication & Process

In a remote business, communication isn't part of the job. It is the job. If your communication is broken, your business is broken.

6. Master the “Right Tool, Right Task” Rule

Stop “Tool Fetishism.” Your team doesn't need more tools; they need rules for the ones they have.

Defaulting to the wrong tool burns hours of productivity. A quick question becomes a 30-minute Zoom call. A formal policy gets lost in a Slack channel.

We developed a simple matrix. Steal it.

The Remote Communication Matrix: Right Tool, Right Task

7. Mandate a “Public by Default” Channel

Stop the “DM” (Direct Message) culture. It kills transparency and creates knowledge silos.

If a designer has a question about a project brief, they should ask it in the public project channel (e.g., #project-clientname), not in a DM to you.

Why?

1. Someone else might know the answer.
2. Someone else might have the same question.
3. A new person joining the project can read the history.

Reserve DMs for personal, private, or sensitive conversations. All project work happens in public.

8. Ban “Internal” Email

This is a radical one, but it works.

If the communication is between two people working inside your company, it should not be an email.

• If it's a quick question, it's a Slack/Teams message.
• If it's a task, it belongs in your Project Management tool.
• If it's a file, it belongs in the Project Folder.

Email is for external parties (clients, vendors). This simple rule cleans up inboxes and forces work into the correct, trackable systems.

9. Run the 15-Minute Daily Stand-Up (No Excuses)

For creative and marketing teams, this is non-negotiable. Don't listen to the “asynchronous-only” purists.

Every morning, 15 minutes. Camera on.

Everyone answers three questions:

1. “What did I complete yesterday?”
2. “What am I working on today?”
3. “What am I blocked by?”

This isn't micromanagement. It's a “blocker-removal” session. It surfaces problems fast. It connects the team as humans. And it stops a minor issue from festering for three days.

10. Over-Communicate Context (The ‘Ambiguous Brief' Problem)

This is the lesson that cost us the most.

We once had a designer spend two days on a website mockup. When they presented it, the client was confused, and we were embarrassed. The designer had misinterpreted one ambiguous sentence in the brief.

In an office, I would have walked by their desk, seen the screen, and corrected it in 30 seconds. Remotely, that 30-second fix became two days of wasted work.

The Fix: Over-communicate context.

• Don't just write what you want. Write why you want it.
• “We need a blue button” is a bad brief.
• We need a blue button because the client's main competitor uses red, and our goal is to create brand differentiation. The blue should be our primary brand colour, #004B87.”
• This context allows the designer to make wise decisions without you.

The People: Culture & Management

You can't just manage a remote team. You have to build a remote culture actively.

11. Hire for Remote Work (It's a Skill)

Not everyone is built for remote work.

Some people thrive on the energy of a physical office. Some need constant, in-person supervision.

When hiring, stop just looking at their design portfolio. Actively screen for “remote work skills”:

• Proactive Communication: Do they ask clarifying questions, or just “guess”?
• Time Management: How do they structure their day?
• Self-Discipline: Ask for an example of a long-term project they managed solo.

A B-level designer with excellent remote communication skills is more valuable than an A-level designer you have to babysit.

12. Trust, Then Verify (Focus on Output, Not ‘Status')

Stop worrying if someone's “status” icon is green on Slack. It's a useless metric.

You're a business owner, not a surveillance officer. The only thing that matters is output.

• Did the task get done on time?
• Is the quality high?
• Is the client happy?

Give your team the trust and autonomy to get the work done. If the output slips, then you have a conversation. Managing by “status” just breeds anxiety and “performative work”—people moving their mouse just to look busy.

13. Engineer “Water Cooler” Moments

In an office, culture happens by accident. In a remote team, it must happen on purpose.

You have to “engineer” the spontaneous moments that build relationships.

• A #random Slack Channel: For pet photos, weekend plans, and funny links.
• “Doughnut” Bot: A Slack app randomly pairs two team members for a weekly 15-minute, non-work video call.
• Virtual “Happy Hour”: Once a month, send everyone a small voucher for a drink/food delivery and get on a call with a strict “no work talk” rule.

It sounds forced. It is. But it's better than a team of silent, disconnected robots who will leave your company for a 5% raise because they feel no human connection.

14. Your Remote Onboarding Process Must Be Flawless

This is another hard lesson. You can't onboard a new remote hire by just “emailing them a login.”

A new remote employee is isolated. They can't learn by osmosis. They can't ask the person at the next desk.

Your onboarding process needs to be a structured, 2-week minimum program.

• Day 1: All hardware and logins work perfectly.
• Week 1: Scheduled 1-on-1s with every member of their immediate team.
• A “Buddy” System: Assign them a veteran employee (not their manager) who they can ask “stupid questions.”
• A “Starter Project”: They can own small, low-risk projects from start to finish to learn your process.

15. Standardise Your Tech Stack

Don't let your team fragment onto a dozen different tools.

• Your business is messy if one designer uses Dropbox, another uses Google Drive, and your developer uses WeTransfer. 
• Pick one tool for each function:
  • One for Project Management (e.g., Asana).
  • One for Chat (e.g., Slack).
  • One for File Storage (e.g., Google Workspace).
  • One for Passwords (e.g., 1Password).

Make them mandatory. This “Boring” standardisation is what enables “Exciting” remote creativity.

The Output: Productivity & Performance

Productivity in a remote setting is about clear systems, not “hustle.”

16. Document Everything (The Single Source of Truth)

Your new company motto is: “If it's not written down, it doesn't exist.”

In an office, you can just “ask” someone. Remotely, that “ask” is an interruption that breaks deep work.

Use a tool like Notion, Confluence, or a structured Google Drive to create your company's “Single Source of Truth” (SSOT).

• How to name files.
• How to onboard a client.
• Your brand style guide.
• How to request time off.

This frees you from answering the same questions over and over.

17. The Stanford Study Caveat (Creative Work is Different)

You'll see headlines about a Stanford study showing a 13% productivity increase from remote work.

Look closer. That study was on call centre employees doing rote, data-entry-style work.

For graphic design, brand strategy, and digital marketing, it's more complex. Productivity can increase, but only if you master collaboration. You can't just “leave a designer alone” and expect a brilliant campaign.

You must manage collaboration. This means protecting “Deep Work” time (Tip 18) but also enforcing “Collaborative Time” (Tip 9).

18. Protect “Deep Work” Time

Creative and technical work requires long, uninterrupted blocks of focus.

A developer “in the zone” or a designer deep in a branding concept can be set back hours by a 30-second Slack notification.

Protect this time.

• Encourage your team to block off 2-3 hour “Deep Work” chunks in their calendars.
• Create a “Do Not Disturb” culture. If someone's status is “Focusing,” you do not ping them unless the building is on fire.
• Mandate “No-Meeting Wednesdays” (or any day), when the entire company has a full day free of meetings to get work done.

19. Conduct a “Remote Process Audit”

Anecdote: When we first went fully remote, I mentioned our delivery times increased by 20%. Why? We found bottlenecks we never knew existed.

We were waiting 24 hours for a simple file approval. Briefs were sitting in inboxes.

The Fix: You need to audit your process.

1. Take a recent project (e.g., a logo design or a marketing campaign).
2. Map out every step, from “Client Call” to “Final File Delivery.”
3. Write down who is responsible for each step and what tool is used.
4. Find the “dead time.” Where did it sit? Why?

This is how you find out your brilliant digital marketing services are being bottlenecked by a 3-day-long internal review process. Fix the system, and you fix the speed.

20. Master the Remote Client Presentation

Stop emailing PDFs.

You are a creative business. You are selling high-value ideas. Emailing a PDF of a new brand concept or website design is the laziest, least-effective way to present your work.

It invites the client to open it at 9 PM, alone, and immediately email you a list of revisions.

The Rule: No creative work is ever sent without a live presentation.

• Schedule a 30-minute Zoom call.
• Share your screen.
• Walk them through it.
• Tell the story of the design. Explain why you made the choices you did.
• This controls the narrative, builds professional authority, and lets you handle objections in real-time.

Remote Work is a Discipline, Not a Destination

Working remotely isn't a silver bullet. It's a logistical framework.

If your in-office business was a chaotic mess, your remote business will be an even faster chaotic mess.

But if you embrace it as a discipline—if you build intentional systems, default to transparency, and manage by output—you can make a more productive, profitable, and happier company than you ever could in a physical office.

We've seen businesses waste thousands on inefficient remote setups. Their marketing stalls, brand consistency fails, and top talent walks. If your remote process is bottlenecking your growth, it's time to talk to a team that's been remote-native for a decade.

We build brands and execute digital marketing, all from a battle-tested remote framework.

If you're tired of guessing, let's talk. You can request a quote, and we can audit your current design and marketing process.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)