You or someone you know is probably working remotely. Given the massive spread of the coronavirus known as Covid-19, millions of people around the world have been forced into self-isolation and other forms of social distancing. The sudden change to the normal flow of everyday life is jarring but there are some significant opportunities to this shift. 

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be sharing our insights on the best practices and psychology of remote work. We’ve been working with partners on four continents and across time zones for years. To help curb the spread of covid-19, we’ve gone remote and so far have seen a spike in our collective productivity. 

We are asking Xische team members to share some of their tips and tricks in this department. After all, who doesn’t love a good list of the best apps and platforms to make your digital life easier? In this edition, we speak with Xische’s managing director Wisam Amid to find out more about his digital approach to work.

Wisam Amid, Managing Director

By Xische Editorial, March 22, 2020

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am the managing director at Xische and oversee operations across our portfolio of companies. I enjoy the process more than the outcome, which means I love building new business. I also love grit and people who have grit. 

Sharing knowledge is a passion of mine. Did I mention that I love the process? Away from business I love to surf and have a deep passion for burgers.  

Describe your daily workflow.

The day starts with going over the 5-7 critical items that need to be tackled. Using a simple to do list, I prioritize them. Trello is the next place where I assign the tasks to the team members so they can prioritise their tasks for the day as well. Team collaboration and chat application Slack is where the rest of the day goes. Switching between channels, actioning items, taking decisions, giving and receiving status updates. Juggling between multiple threads and channels is one way in which I get a lot done. At any given moment, there are decisions to be taken across multiple companies – and all of them are done on Slack.

What’s the last great app you used?

Has to be Slack. There are some apps that you feel good while using. Slack is one of them. The email overload was the initial reason for moving over to Slack, but since then it has become the platform for the company.

What’s your remote working strategy?

Defining the shared objectives on a daily basis. It’s key not to expect people to adapt to remote work overnight but to be involved with them and lead them through it. That’s the rallying part. The way to sustain remote work is with empathy, self-discipline, patience and keeping an eye on the end goal. And all of this happens with over-communication.

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

The document collaboration service called Dropbox. It’s not limited to a phone but can be used on basically every device. Dropbox is the backbone of my data strategy. If you have a great structure and workflow, an app like Dropbox can do wonders for you. Pull up information in under 30 seconds that was filed 10 years ago; collaborate and version control things with ease, and it is a disaster recovery tool. If I lose my phone or break my laptop, I am up and running with almost no down time.

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into. 

Sometimes the ideal purpose takes over the real need of the hour. I’m sure many will identify with this scenario: You have a file that you are working on with your team and multiple versions and edits are being made. You have a copy on your computer or in your downloads folder. You have your own naming convention like Task_Final_FINAL_1_NEW.doc but then it gets lost. 

I think a lot about the process here. As I am working on the file, I am more worried about the file naming convention and where it’s going to be filed. I tend to think micro and the impact it has on the big picture. The middle ground – which is where the work happens, the magic happens is usually overlooked. Balance is the answer here and that is what I am continuously striving to achieve.

What is the key to successful remote working?

Having a remote mindset, irrespective of where you are is definitely the way I feel anyone can be successful at remote working. Empathy plays a huge role as well – if you can understand how the other person sitting hundreds of miles away from you is receiving your information, you’ve won more than half the battle.