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?
We have an overlap policy where we expect everyone to be generally available for conversations and video chats. Remote does not by definition mean time…
We don’t have any policies in place around communication norms for our remote team. We just ask our team to be respectful of others and…
We don’t set specific norms for the sake of creating true flexibility. Once you start putting in rules like this, or even once you start…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
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…
Yes, we do. This is critical for us. First of all, you need to have a clear agenda with what you want to achieve during the…
Once a year we converge on a tropical location for our annual company retreat. (You can find a recap of our 2016 team trip here.)…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
We only do one formal meeting each year, a 4-day annual retreat that tackles some operations-level work, but is mostly for play and social time.…
We do! Twice a year, we gather the team for weeklong retreats, so we can both work together and get to spend quality time getting…
No, not all of them. There’s an industry conference that some of us attend twice per year. The East Coast show is in New York City,…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
At Toggl, we have a result oriented culture and everyone’s productivity is measured by their results. We have small teams working together: back end team,…
We aren’t too formal in this area, but our project management tool keeps track of everyone’s tasks as they are completed. The entire team can…
We have sales and other deliverables which are measurable. I think it more difficult to measure the productivity for roles that don’t have clear deliverables…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Effective communication Understanding Accommodation
Constant communication is a necessary element in maintaining working relationships between all of our employees. Because we work remotely, we’re all in constant communication whether…
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?
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…
Scheduling meetings can be tricky because we cover a lot of timezones and some people may choose to work very early or very late, depending…
The hardest thing is just making sure to stay in touch with everyone and make sure everyone knows that they are part of the team…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
Keep everyone in the loop, whatever it is. Also talk to them about private things and regularly ask how they are doing! Because it is…
Every once in awhile, we send treats to all our employees. These can include snacks, wine, team hats, and more. And we’re always sending out…
Regular communication is key for remote employees to feel a part of the team and remain engaged. We also have recognition programs to recognize compliments…
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…
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…
We don’t have hard-and-fast rules. We expect our team to be adults, and we expect everyone to have a sense of ownership and respect, treating…
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
Take whatever time you need. We’re a ROWE environment.
Each Fog Creek employee gets unlimited sick time and 20 vacation days per year. After being an employee for 3 years, that vacation time bumps…
We focus on the outcomes of work, not on specifics of time off. As mentioned above, we generally have people working too many hours, not…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
We heard some small commentary from traditionalists when we started the company as a virtual company, wondering how we could manage remote workers effectively when…
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…
My biggest fears were around not being able to manage work output, and not having clarity into someone’s projects. For the first 6 months this…