One of the best things about working from home is all the comfort it brings. There’s no need to agree with your colleagues on temperature or ventilation. No worries about anyone coughing right next to you. No talkative colleague to ruin your focus. No one microwaving fish in the kitchen — well, except yourself, if you want to. Your place, your rules. 

But remote work has its own etiquette, too. Following it is crucial for building trust and ensuring smooth cooperation. 

If you can get your team to adopt the six habits below, you’ll avoid most of the small frictions of working apart. 

Keep your availability clear 

When you work remotely, nobody can see your desk, so make a point of showing that you’re present and available. 

If you have a consistent schedule, make it clear on your calendar. 

If you’ll be offline for a couple of hours, inform your manager about that and leave a quick message in your team channel or simply update your status, e.g., “Out for an appointment, back at 3 PM” — make sure to clear your status once you’re back. 

If you’re using Microsoft Teams, the tool will automatically let others know that you’re in a meeting. 

When a colleague needs you for an urgent matter, it makes a huge difference for them to know when you’ll be back. If you’re away and they have no idea about your schedule, that can quickly escalate into despair. If that happens often, it can hurt trust. Be as transparent and predictable as you can. 

Regularly check for new messages and emails 

You don’t have to answer messages right away, and shouldn’t expect others to respond immediately to your messages either. 

Try to find a middle ground: if you’re doing focus work, you don’t need to drop everything the moment a message arrives, but make a habit of regularly pausing to check your messages — for example, every hour or two, depending on the kind of work you do. If you have several channels, such as Slack, email, Jira updates, etc., check all of them from time to time. 

If your team is distributed across different time zones, make it a habit to start the day by checking messages from colleagues in other time zones. 

Write clearly and communicate proactively 

Share updates without waiting to be asked. Working remotely means writing a lot, from emails to text messages, so you’ll have to put some effort into how you write.

Always communicate with full context. You can use emojis to set the tone if needed. 

If you’re writing an email, lead with the main point, whether it’s a request or a deadline, instead of burying it in a paragraph. 

These days, spell checkers and LLMs make it easier than ever to get emails right. 

Handle time zones with care 

Many remote teams have people distributed across time zones. If that’s the case with yours, remember to always respect your colleagues’ working hours. Avoid sending messages outside the recipient’s working hours unless it’s urgent. 

When scheduling meetings across time zones, name both time zones. Say it’s winter and you’re in Brussels while your colleague is in Tokyo: don’t ask just, “Can we meet at 9 AM?” Instead, ask, “Would 9 AM CET / 5 PM JST work for you?” or “Would 9 AM Brussels time / 5 PM Tokyo time work for you?” Similarly, if you’re in New York and your colleague is in Dubai, ask, “Would 9 AM ET / 6 PM GST work for you?” or “Would 9 AM New York time / 6 PM Dubai time work for you?” 

Use a tool like Google Calendar or Microsoft Teams to schedule the meeting, and the invitation will adapt to the recipient’s time zone. A tool like Time Zone Converter can also help. 

Whenever possible, rotate who takes the inconvenient slot. 

Master online meetings 

Online meetings are a crucial part of remote work. That’s the opportunity remote workers have to brainstorm, plan, or discuss a topic, synchronously and live. 

Take a couple of minutes to prepare for a video meeting: test your camera, microphone, earphones, and connection. Be punctual, just as you would in a physical office. 

You don’t need to dress as you would in the office, but try to look decent and put together. 

Resist the temptation to answer a Slack message or email during a meeting. This is the one moment when the team gets to see you and ‘feel your vibe’. You don’t want to seem disengaged or make them think you’re not paying attention to what they’re sharing. Stay fully present. 

Now, a common debate: camera on or off? As a rule of thumb, keep it on, since it spares you any suspicion from managers. But adapt to the circumstances. In other words: take your cue from the others. If everyone has their camera on, you may want to do the same as them. If you’re talking to a client and they have their camera off, you may want to follow suit. 

If your space doesn’t look work-appropriate, use a background blur tool or background image. Warn your family members or housemates not to walk behind you. Mute yourself unless you’re speaking — the microphone amplifies any background noise. 

Before sharing your screen, close unrelated tabs or anything that could be distracting or, even worse, reveal sensitive information. You can choose to share only the relevant window instead of your whole screen. Remember to click the “stop sharing” button once you’re done. 

If you smoke, smoking during a video meeting is off the table. That cigarette can wait. Don’t eat during a meeting either. 

Be careful with your company’s information 

Some of us work on trains or planes when needed, but then the passengers next to us can see our laptop screens. Depending on what you’re doing, it’s not ideal. A privacy screen can help, and magnetic options are easy to attach and remove. 

If you’re working from a cafe or a co-working space, lock your screen when you step away, and avoid taking calls next to other people — it’s not only inconvenient but also risky, as it could disclose your company’s confidential information. 

Public Wi-Fi is another issue. Avoid sensitive work on open networks or use a VPN. 

Wrapping up 

Most of these tips come down to one idea: give your colleagues the information they would have at an office. Things like a clear status, a message with full context, and a muted microphone take little effort. Together they make a remote team predictable, and that predictability helps build trust. 

The principle of ‘your place, your rules’ still applies, but nobody on the team should be left guessing when you’re available or how to reach you. 

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