Remote & Hybrid Work 💻
If you’re working remotely or hybrid, being invisible is the single biggest risk. Out of sight, out of mind — especially for interns.
Being visibly present (without being annoying)
- Post in the team channel daily. A short “starting on X today” and “wrapping up — pushed Y, will pick up Z tomorrow” is enough.
- React to messages. A 👍 or 👀 signals you’re there and paying attention.
- Camera on for team meetings by default. Read the room — some teams don’t, but most do. Better to be the odd one with a camera on than the odd one without.
- Overshare progress, slightly. In-office people are seen working; remote people have to signal it.
Async communication skills
- Write like you’ll be misread, because you will. Add context. Add tone (emoji help, use sparingly).
- Don’t send “hi” and wait for a reply. Just say the thing.
Hi — can you review this by 3pm? [link]is one message, not two. - Timezone-aware: if you’re working across timezones, say when you’ll next be online.
Home setup basics
- Quiet-ish background for meetings (a wall or a plain background is fine).
- Decent audio > decent video — cheap headset with a mic beats laptop mic.
- Test your setup before the meeting starts. Not during.
If you’re hybrid
- Find out which days your team is in. Match them if you can.
- Use office days for the humans — coffee chats, questions, watching how meetings feel. Save deep work for home days.