Remote Work Glossary

Agile

A project management method which is widely used in software development that divides tasks into small ones and ensures regular progress assessments. Agile is an iterative approach to software development that helps teams deliver value to their customers faster.

Agile practices include requirements discovery and solutions improvement through the collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams with their customer(s)/end user(s), adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, continual improvement, and flexible responses to changes in requirements, capacity, and understanding of the problems to be solved.

All-Remote

All-Remote or fully-remote work means working from anywhere or home other than the office, which can be your home, a co-working or other shared space, a private office, or any other place outside of the traditional corporate office.

An all-remote company is one in which there is no physical office or a company office and everybody works from home or a remote location. Famous fully remote companies include GitLab, Basecamp, Upwork, and Zapier and many other companies are shifting from partial-remote to fully-remote companies such as Twitter, Shopify, Square, Dropbox, etc.

Annualised Hours

An annualised hours contract is an employment contract where the employee’s working hours are calculated on an hourly, rather than daily or weekly, basis and those hours are at times stipulated by the employer during the year.

Asynchronous Communication

Asynchronous communication is the type of communication that happens 'out of sync' between two people and not in real-time. As synchronous communication, this type of communication does not require immediate or real-time response. Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Emails are tools used for asynchronous communication.

Asynchronous communication makes it possible for people to respond and act on their own terms. It allows for everyone to be proactive instead of reactive. Asynchronous communication means that employees no longer need break focus to answer unimportant or tedious requests.

Blended Team/Workforce

A team that includes virtual or remote workers and office-going workers. The term “blended workforce” stands for – full-time employees and outsourced talents working side-by-side. It is one of the hottest workplace trends in today's business world. Team members will communicate through video chat and messaging apps, so this type of team requires a lot less face-to-face communication than a traditional team

This allows virtual or remote workers to work remotely, which can reduce office space costs, while the in-office staff are able to be productive when they are in the office. They also have less downtime when they are not working at their desk since they can keep up with work from home without feeling guilty.

Blogger

A team that includes virtual or remote workers and office-going workers. The term “blended workforce” stands for – full-time employees and outsourced talents working side-by-side. It is one of the hottest workplace trends in today's business world. Team members will communicate through video chat and messaging apps, so this type of team requires a lot less face-to-face communication than a traditional team

This allows virtual or remote workers to work remotely, which can reduce office space costs, while the in-office staff are able to be productive when they are in the office. They also have less downtime when they are not working at their desk since they can keep up with work from home without feeling guilty.

Brick-and-Mortar

A type of business that has a physical presence or face-to-face point of contact with customers. It refers to small, independent retail establishments that are run by the owner or family of the owner. Brick-and-mortars have been around for a while and they represent a more personalized shopping experience.In fact, companies like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay enable sellers to reach many global customers without a physical location.

Chat

Chat is one of the most popular features on the internet. With chat, people can talk to each other when working remotely through instant message services like Slack, Zoom and Skype. Chat allows people to interact with each other in an informal way and makes it much easier for them to express their thoughts or feelings that they cannot do during a phone conversation. It also provides a sense of anonymity that makes it easier for people to open up about their thoughts.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is a type of data storage, accessible from anywhere and is available to any device with internet connection.The cloud service provider can provide backup and restore services without the customer’s knowledge. The user can also access the data from different devices such as PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

Cloud Storage can be used for business purposes like sharing files with clients or colleagues, storing archives such as documents, images, videos etc., storing company’s backups or for personal purposes like backing up photos and videos or storing music files etc. Examples of cloud storage providers include Dropbox, Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, and others.

Collaboration Tools

Collaboration tools help in better collaboration with team members. They are available in the form of social media platforms, chat tools, email clients, document sharing platforms, video conferencing, manage projects, create documents, generate and track invoices, and work sith co-workers, such as Slack, Google Docs, Evernote, G Suite, Jira, Zoom, Trello, and Zapier, among others. Integration of said tools equals relief.

Types of Collaboration Tools:

  • Social Media Platforms
  • Chat Tools
  • Email Clients
  • Document Sharing Platforms
  • Video Conferencing

Colocated Environment

"Co-located" literally means "shared location." In contrast to remote work, a colocated work environment is one where people inhabit the same space. A traditional office is a colocated environment. People who prefer colocated environment consider it to be more collaborative, productive and social than remote work. Colocated environments are also more common for people with families or those who want to maintain their social life

Colocated Team

A co-located team is one whose members are all in the same location.

Commute

Remote work is redefining the modern office, and the commute is an important part of the equation. The commute is one of the most stressful parts of any workday when you are going to office but not in the case of remote jobs. It's also a time that’s rarely productive and often wasted which can be easily saved while working remotely.

Compressed Working Week

A compressed working week is one where an employee works the standard 40 hours in a shorter period of time. For example, rather than working 5 days per week and 8-hour everyday, a compressed work week includes 4 workdays with 10-hour shifts each day.

Compliance

Compliance is a set of rules or standards that an organization needs to follow. It’s the same thing as being compliant with law, regulations, or other formal requirements.It is important because it increases the credibility of the business and reduces risk of legal actions against it. The importance of compliance for businesses is that it increases its credibility and reduces risk of legal actions against it.

Conference Call

A conference call is a call or meeting between two or more participants.

Connectivity

It is the ability to connect to or communicate with another computer or computer system. Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology that allows devices such as computers (laptops and desktops), mobile devices (smart phones and wearables), and other equipment (printers and video cameras) to interface with the Internet. Internet connectivity occurs through a wireless router as explained by Cisco.

Consultant

A consultant is a professional also known as Expert, Specialist who provides advice and further purposeful activities in an area of specialization. They offer advice and expertise to organisations to help them improve their business performance in terms of operations, profitability, management, structure and strategy. Although the workload can be heavy, consulting is a sociable profession with plenty of networking opportunities.

Co-workers

Co-workers are people with whom one works, typically someone in a similar role or at a similar level within an organization.

Co-working

Coworking is where people from different companies work together in the same physical location. C

Co-working Space

A place where multiple companies or individuals work together, under thesame roof. Coworking space is an arrangement in which workers of different companies share an office space, allowing cost savings and convenience through the use of common infrastructures, such as equipment, utilities, and receptionist and custodial services, and in some cases refreshments and parcel acceptance services.

Cubicle

A cubicle is a small partitioned-off area of a room, for example one containing a shower or toilet, or a desk in an office. A cubicle is a partially enclosed office workspace that is separated from neighboring workspaces by partitions. Its purpose is to isolate office workers and managers from the sights and noises of an open workspace so that they may concentrate with fewer distractions

Culture

Company culture can be defined as a set of shared values, goals, attitudes and practices that characterize an organization. It's the way people feel about the work they do, the values they believe in, where they see the company going and what they're doing to get it there.

Deep Work

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship

Digital Nomad

Digital nomads are people who are location-independent and use technology to perform their job, living a nomadic lifestyle. Digital nomads work remotely, telecommuting rather than being physically present at a company's headquarters or office.Digital nomads are people who conduct their life in a nomadic manner while engaging in remote work using digital telecommunications technology.

Digital Nomad Visa

Digital nomad visas are travel authorizations that legalize the status of workers kind of like tourist visas, they are easy to obtain which allows them to stay for a long time. The digital nomad visa allows them to work in that country, provided they do so independently and remotely

Digital workspace

A digital workspace is a technology framework that manages and centrally controls the elements of an organization's IT assets including applications, data, and endpoints.

Distance Work

Distance work refers to paid work that is done outside the actual workplace - such as at home, in some other country or when travelling on the train or plane. Distance work generally involves use of technologies and apps such as Zoom, Slack, Jira etc.

Distributed company

A distributed company or remote company is a company whose employees mostly do not work in an office setting, but work from anywhere remotely, using telecommunication. This allows a company to have its employees distributed all over the globe without assigning them to regional work units.

Distributed workforce

A distributed workforce works in a distributed company which includes multiple employees working in different locations, which could be remote offices, headquarters facilities, home offices, or in the field. It does not preclude on-site teams, rather indicates that workers are in multiple locations as opposed to under a single roof.