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?
Yes. Employees must respond to communications within an hour.
We do not have specific communication norms. We focus on results and work, not the management of people. If a project is immediate and requires…
This varies depending on the team. But at minimum, all emails should be returned by the next business day, and chats replied to as soon…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
Airbnb works great and really strengthens the team. Understand any dietary restrictions and assist in any way possible getting your team from their house to…
For a remote team, the main focus is actually just to spend time together face-to-face, so plan everything around that. We find a yearly all-team…
In the earlier days when the team was ~15 people, we would gather the whole company together for week-long (Mon-Fri) retreats in different locations 4…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
Our home-based team members are often separated by hundreds of miles. We rely on technology to bring our people together and harness the power of…
We have an annual, weeklong meeting where we all gather to work and play together. We also have occasional mini conferences, during which individual teams…
We get the whole company together for a summit each year, and various teams within the company meet in person at different times throughout the…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
In our line of business, our team’s productivity is measured by our clients’ satisfaction, and so it’s a relatively easy gauge of performance! We have…
We’re lucky to be in the development industry where there is a plethora of tools one can use for tracking, such as project management tools…
Since almost all of our communication is through writing, it’s easy to see who is making progress on their goals through updates on the P2s,…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Being able to measure the output of your employees. Trust.
Open and honest communication at all times, with frequent video calls.
It is critical to have open communication and no silos. Everyone should be able to communicate with anyone and be open to reply quickly.
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Creating a healthy balance between trusting our team members to manage their work time and monitoring their activity. We have team members use time management…
The hardest part about managing a remote workforce is the propensity for terse communication. Often times, people are chatting, trying to quickly accomplish something or…
Keeping everyone happy and connected, not forgetting people.
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
XWP includes every XWPerson in a regional “Homebase” with monthly meetings. We also host regular XWP Live town halls, open to everyone at XWP. XWP…
In addition to promoting local outings and events, our CEO leads biweekly company-wide meetings with the team virtually. During these calls he and other executive…
Our team is very passionate about what they do. We’re just so incredibly busy and the information security space is quite exciting so everyone is…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
Our employees get a laptop for administration work, as well as a display, keyboard, and mouse. The software developers and QA team may have different…
People can use whatever device they’d like, as long as they can use the software and apps our team is already on 🙂
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…
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
In short, “take some”. We used to not track days off, but it resulted in some people (mostly US employees) not taking enough time off.…
When working with a globally remote workforce, it’s important to observe local laws, regulations, and customs. We observe country specific holidays and offer a leave…
Our full-time employees receive four weeks of vacation a year. One of our most prominent core values is work-life balance, so we encourage our teams…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
As is the trend with other remote companies, we worry about workplace culture. It’s a bit harder to foster when you only see one another…
Accountability. The fear that people would simply flake, walk off into the distance, play video games instead of work. Sure they came true. And then…
Never really had a fear, if you fail in managing remote workers, it is not the system causing the failure, it is you.