Managing Remotely
140 companies answer 6 questions
Managing a remote or distributed team successfully requires good support, planning, and communication. Whether deciding if and how to get the team to meet in person or defining the line between vacation and flexible work, the management of a remote team has differences from managing traditional on-site teams. In our Managing Remotely section we ask top remote companies how they keep their teams running smoothly from thousands of miles away.
Do you have remote communication protocols for your remote workers?
No. We have an absence management tool so that we can manage every kind of leave request, such as vacation, parental leave, etc.
No, yuck. Responsible people do what they know needs to be done.
Within a global team, expectations are much closer to a 24-hour response time to chat-based communications, and meetings are scheduled well in advance and coordinated…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
Yes, in-person time is important. For us, the most important part of the retreat is all of the non-work time. We plan a fun activity,…
Logistics are a pain, but the outcome is always worth it. Just allow plenty of time for planning and be frank with everyone that it…
Socializing and team building is important when we all get together. It isn’t all about productivity and getting work done (which we do throughout the…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
We are proponents of team projects so no one person is out there working on their own. With onsite Customer engagements, we’re afforded great opportunities…
Some of our team members happen to live nearby, so we meet up once a month or so for lunch or coffee. Many of our…
We meet at various times throughout the year at conferences and retreats. The schedule is constantly evolving based on team needs, but the one constant…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
We don’t actively measure anything like work output. Everyone is quite honest about their flow and usually it’s quite clear from the amount of product…
It’s not a perfect science; we have had situations where employees were “skating” for a month or so and we did not notice. But, eventually…
For each new project, we have a lead designer and 1+ team members that create proposals and timelines that match up with client expectations. We…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Communication, community, and transparency. Without those three things, your relationships with remote workers will fail.
Open communication, honest & constructive feedback and open mindedness + accountability
An empathetic understanding of one another’s roles, expertise, and workflow. Over-communication in Slack or on video chat. Honesty, vulnerability, coaching, and feedback.
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
We’ve had the most success with employees who came into the experience with a realistic understanding of the nature of the job and what it’s…
When you cease seeing a person all day, every day, you have to develop new ways to determine if they are present and working hard.…
It’s about making sure there is enough time to actually support staff, and that there are effective processes around what we expect our managers to…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
It’s really all about creating intentional communication to ensure everyone is “in the loop.” We also have a Director of Employee Happiness whose job it…
We do this in lots of ways that aren’t too different than if we were all in the same office. We have company-wide, all-hands meetings;…
We talk all the time. A short, daily all-hands meeting allows everyone to understand the what and the why. We make a point of being…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
Everyone gets the latest device they need to be as successful in their work as possible, along with any device needed to perform their job…
Every person in the company is responsible for their own laptop and phone. This hasn’t been a hinderance on hiring at all.
We only require our employees to have a modern computer with a HD webcam and high-speed Internet – we see this as being analogous to…
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
Employees start with two weeks of paid vacation. We also accommodate employees with school age children by letting them take extra unpaid time off over…
We don’t track time off but expect people to take roughly 4 weeks vacation. Most of our team doesn’t have set hours so it’s really…
Our PTO/VTO is generous and flexible. Our full-time employees get five VTO days/year (Volunteer Time Off), as well as 15 days PTO (personal time off),…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
I think my biggest fears are when we lose touch with someone. Every once in a while, someone will just “disappear” – they don’t answer…
Not many fears that I can think of. Really just accountability and showing up, but I don’t feel that’s any more of an issue than…
We were a bit worried about our teachers not feeling a sense of belonging. But it turned out most of our teachers just love us…
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