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?
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We have general guidelines for communication and signaling within our distributed team, but we anchor a lot of communication around daily and weekly synchronous rhythms,…
We do not have explicit communication norms set for our team. In terms of responding to communications, it depends on a number of factors and…
We don’t place strict rules, but there’s a common understanding that everyone is usually on from the hours of 9 am to at least 6…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
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…
We meet once a year and vote for the location that most people want to do. So far, we’ve been to Barcelona, Bulgaria, the Philippines,…
Twice a year we organize a team work retreat. We just returned from a week in Lake Tahoe, CA. Our retreats aren’t really “vacations for…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
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…
Not only do we all meet twice a year in person, we live together in a giant house for a week to work and play.…
This is not a requirement, and due to the global distribution of our team, it is difficult to coordinate. We do use regional industry events…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
We don’t- the culture around productivity is the same for both office and remote- get things done.
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…
I think this is a very important question for all organizations – not just organizations with remote workers. Too often a “flexible workplace” turns into…
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.
First, hire people who fit the model. Not everyone is cut out to work remotely. Next, be very clear with your expectations and provide the…
Feedback, coaching and one-on-ones are absolutely critical to a good relationship with employees. Whenever I see something good or bad, I call that team member…
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
The hardest part of management is keeping everyone on the same page. As I mentioned above, we try to do this weekly, monthly, and quarterly.…
There’s a lot of communication done in an office that you don’t have with a remote team. The unspoken communication is huge, and we just don’t…
Keeping everyone happy and connected, not forgetting people.
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
Our leaders are continual learners in what good leadership truly is. Ultimately, we keep ourselves moored in our mission, the continual development of a warm…
We have a whole team in charge of teacher community in China and the U.S. that keeps our teachers informed through the portal. Emails from…
Our team communicates regularly on Yammer, FlowDock, GitHub, and via email. We have Google Hangouts daily, and often have company-wide updates or individual “Ask Me…
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…
We provide equipment to our remote employees.
We supply all of our employees with the tools they need to get their jobs done. All team members are provided a laptop and an…
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
We have a MANDATORY vacation policy. We realized that an unlimited vacation policy was having the opposite effect – team members weren’t taking the time…
We have an open time off policy, which translates to take the time off that you need. We ask each person to discuss time off…
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.…
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…
There is always fear that collaboration is based on face to face contact but it turns out it is not! People can work on things…
Not being able to express when an issue is truly urgent. This is a problem, but it’s gotten easier the more we all work together.…