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 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 have clear, written guidance for our team members with regard to how quickly and thoroughly they need to respond to prospective business clients and…
Communication in a virtual environment is absolutely key to building trust. And so for this reason we expect our team to respond to emails, and…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
Yes we sure do! Jungle Camps twice yearly. It is a great way to meet, work, and grow together. It is also a time when…
TIP 1: think about the most important thing you want to accomplish and let that lead your decisions about who attends, what you talk about,…
We will be arranging at least one team retreat this year and will be meeting at several industry events.
Do your remote team members meet in person?
Yes, whenever we can. Typically 3-5 times a year.
Yes, we aim for once a year meetings 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…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
We’re a very results oriented company, but for client services work depending upon the contract type we do track hours and do things that are…
We give our remote workers a lot of freedom. Every order placed through Scribendi has an accompanying deadline selected by the client from the available…
We agree upon targets with measurable results for all our team members, allowing them and us to keep track of their progress. The reality though…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
It is critical to have open communication and no silos. Everyone should be able to communicate with anyone and be open to reply quickly.
Constant communication. This requires the use of text, email, voice, and video communication platforms and shared expectations regarding availability.
As with any successful recipe, there are a number of important ingredients to a successful remote working organisation. These include: Establishing a culture of trust…
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Balancing socializing in a virtual workspace with not working in a silo. When working remotely, it’s so easy to either block out everything and become…
The hardest thing for me is that the tools we use to communicate can contribute and enable an organization-wide urgency addiction that makes it hard…
Not seeing them in person every day. Most people think the hardest part about managing a remote workforce is about productivity. It’s not. We have…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
We invite them on a trip and do fun things together! We also have online events such as “best teaching moments,” contests, etc. to keep…
Our weekly staff meeting, done via Skype, keeps everyone on top of the company’s initiatives.
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?
Team members can use any hardware that they please. After you’ve worked with Doist for six months, you are granted a generous hardware and software…
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…
Because of the type of work our customer care professionals do, they must be logged into a secured workstation to address Card Members’ inquiries. Many…
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.…
20+ vacation days, with unlimited sick days. We also have generous parental leave and benefits.
As a mom friendly organization we have a generous time off policy that includes paid sick days and paid family leave.
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
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…
I never had any fears. We’ve been told countless times that at some point we need to get an office and have a headquarters so…
I’m a first-time people manager and first-time CEO. My fears were (and still are) around leading a team of people. Being remote was never part…