12 necessary skills to work with a flexible schedule

You do not like your job? You may like what you do, or like the people you work with, but when you take into account all aspects, you know, that's your job - not what you want for you. Probably the reason why you do not like your job, lies on the surface - the lack of flexible working.

You need a job to earn money and take care of his family, but because of the work you are so busy that you can not spend enough time with loved ones. Or do you have a great job, but you spend two hours every day to get to her. Common situation?

If you want to see their children more frequently than 15 minutes before bedtime, or spend two hours walking with his dog, but not in a traffic jam or driving, you need to change. And if the reason for dissatisfaction with the work is the lack of flexible working, then the means to solve the problem is simple - work with a flexible schedule.

Working with a flexible schedule will allow you to be free in terms of schedules and locations. You decide where and when to work.

There are a few scenarios in which you can organize the work, taking into account their individual wishes:

• Remote (aka telecommuting) work. You are working full time at home.
• Part-time employment. Hours are specified and are subject to change.
• Project work. Specifies deadlines start and deadline. You can not just do the work when and where you want, but take breaks between orders.
• Full time floating clock. For example, two days a week you can work from home.

Remote operation allows you to perform their duties from anywhere: at home, the nearest library, coworking or, according to popular belief, lying in a hammock on the beach. It sounds too good to be true. But there are many inspiring examples of companies and people who have proven that remote work - it is real and productive.

Other optional flexible - you can specify hours of operation. And yes, the employers, which is more important result than your presence from 8:00 to 17:00, much more than it seems.

Flexible schedule - this amazing opportunity. This is an opportunity to spend the morning with their children, and to work when they have been the spouse (a). This is an opportunity to work from Monday to Thursday, and on Friday, along with others, to his own project, or visit parents. This is a chance to catch his breath after the completion of the project - every month, once every six months or a year. After finishing work on the project, you can relax, if finances allow, or be taken over a new one. Nothing can be more interesting diversity.

Flexible schedule helps to achieve a balance between work and beloved least favorite personal life.

If the idea is to choose the working hours, the duration, the workplace - something about what you want, you need to take the next step - to find and get a job with a flexible schedule. And it is not only freedom but also a higher level of responsibility. You want to have a desirable place took it for you? In this case, check the list of required basic skills for flexible working.

The skills of self-organization

Have a free schedule of work - a means to dispose of at their discretion. The chief did not peeking every half an hour out of his office to check out, the manager does not look like every hour, that the timing of delivery of the project coming to an end.

But with freedom comes responsibility. No one controls your every move, you will need to deal with the management itself. Therefore, we must develop the following personal qualities.

1. Sociability

When you are working away from the office or at other times or often change projects, you lose all the "unplanned" Communication: random chatter in the recreation room of the launch of a new project or rumors about the glorious your Colleagues. With flexible hours should be able to establish relations with other employees. You yourself know that if you get along with the team, the work becomes something more than just a salary.

2. The ability to set the framework

Be careful not to go too far. Of course, online job allows you to stay connected 24/7, but no one will want to respond to you even an interesting question, if a notice had awakened him in the middle of the night. Be mindful of the schedule (especially in international teams, do not forget about time zones), be attentive to the personal characteristics of colleagues. For example, the designer quickly respond Telegram, and marketing managers prefer email. Learn to communicate in their style.

3. Independence

And finally, to realize the dream of a free work, you have to be active and energetic. Because it does not matter that you are in another city or in another time zone, your boss and your colleagues you need to be sure that they can rely on you in difficult times. You need to be able to do their work and take responsibility for the results.

Organization skills

When you work independently, you should be sure to keep everything under control. All this for the same reason: to have no secretary or manager, who reminded you that you need to get rid of the chaos in the documents and take the current tasks. Make sure that you own the necessary organizational tools.

4. task manager or an application with a list of tasks

Record all your tasks and keep track of their willingness to deadline - is the key to becoming a successful professional. Your company may offer its tools to solve this problem, but you should be sure that they are suitable for you. Prepare and before you get to work, try a few management tasks in business. You will learn the basics of working with them and get rid of the need to keep all the information in his head.

5. Project Management Software

When it is necessary to go beyond the personal responsibility, need a tool that will help coordinate a team to solve the problem of volume. Most programs for project management works on the same principle as the task managers. But specialized software much more features that allow you to keep everyone informed and to coordinate the schedules of all employees in one place. Popular Asana, JIRA, Basecamp, but the knowledge of any system is useful to you in hiring.

6. cloud storage

In the XXI century virtually any company (a company with a flexible schedule especially) stores information in electronic form, often directly into the cloud storage. Many companies use Google Drive or Dropbox for their business. So learn to use them on his personal computer to the first day there were no problems in order to send files or make a table in the cloud.

Communication skills

On any work it is important to be able to cooperate with other people. When it comes to work with a flexible schedule, your communication skills need to be developed in two ways. You do not see the interlocutor gestures, his facial expressions, do not hear the tone of voice. To some extent, it can replace current tools, so let's talk today about them.

7. Email

Today, e-mail will not surprise anybody. But to work remotely, not enough to know how to get rid of spam or send funny SIFCO (although sometimes funny picture can be handy when you need to get a colleague smile). You need to be able to write clear and concise messagesWhich will help to quickly and effectively communicate your point of view.

8. Work chat

Email - less agile instrument than the gaining popularity workers chats. Services that allow to communicate in group chats - is as private rooms for messaging in your company. You can send a quick message to any: the whole group or individual. Operating chat rooms help to reduce confusion in the chain of emails. Chat - is a virtual place in the cooler, where each appears at least once a day. With it easier to establish contacts with colleagues - and the business and non-formal.

9. Videophone

Another tool for establishing communications in companies with a flexible schedule - video calls, video chat or video conferencing. Surely you use Skype or Google Hangouts. The difference between a normal conversation and work is that in the second case, you should do it professionally. Tidy surroundings, look presentable, get rid of visual noise in the background and focus on the task at hand.

technical skills

The last group of skills in our list, but not the last in importance. To master these skills you do not have to be a guru in programming (if, of course, you want to not be removed by the developer). But all, without exception, need to know the basics of the web and the tools for working with Web content: your position on the list of employers will rise significantly due to this knowledge. The best way to increase your technical skills - to study three proposed fundamental skill.

10. HTML

HTML, it is a hypertext markup language that defines the structure of web pages, websites and even emails. So, if you know what used div tag, or how to put a non-breaking space, you can control the presentation of content. And even if study of you have only a couple of weeks, during which time it is possible to deal with HTML and impose your own site. If you can personally do for yourself the page with the portfolio, even if very simple, this is a plus.

11. CSS

CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets - this is a great addition to HTML. With CSS, you can help make sure that your HTML-document is an impressive sight. For example, with it you can alter fonts, colors, space around the elements... It is a convenient tool to control the appearance of the information.

12. CMS

With the knowledge of HTML and CSS in the arsenal you can surprise a good employer work with CMS - Content Management System. CMS allows companies and organizations to store a variety of data - documents, photos, videos, and so on - which can then be published on the Internet. You've heard of the most popular CMS in the world - WordPress. Learn how to create, edit and publish and do not forget to mention his ability at the interview.

May work with a flexible schedule - this is what you need. But, in addition to professional knowledge, though, you must have a minimum of skills that will help you not only get a place, but also in quality to cope with their responsibilities. Therefore, learn and improve, and you will definitely get your dream job.