Managing Remotely

Yes.  Here’s a direct quote from the handout we use:  “Sometimes a quick response is needed to a question.  When this is required, please either…

We do have set parameters that we ask people to follow. The more numbers you put around what people should be doing the better. Clear…

We don’t have protocols per se but everyone seems to get it. The tools are just getting better and better.

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…

No, we did try to do meet-and-greet lunches in various locations. There was little to no interest since those who work remote do this for a…

Yes we do, and they are awesome. My tip would be to keep the work content to a minimum. A brief session on how the…

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.…

Yes, twice a year we pull every corporate team member together for a few days where we are inspired by guest speakers, encouraged by our…

Yes, absolutely.  Face to face communication is vital so we have teams break off and have quarterly offsites.  The Engineering team is going to Punta…

As a fully remote company, we’re results-oriented by necessity. We’ve identified key metrics for most of our team that allow us to see results, and…

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…

Depends on the roll, but in most cases it becomes very clear who is productive and who isn’t.  For engineers github is key.  

Always assuming your coworkers have good intentions. For example, an emoji can be translated in different ways. Knowing your coworkers have good intentions, means you…

Trust is absolutely essential. We are a team of colleagues and hire some of the best talent in the world. If you don’t trust the…

Agree on communication channels and style of communication.

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…

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…

Without the luxury of seeing colleagues each day, it can, at times, take longer to identify issues.  For this reason managers need to see engagement…

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…

While we aren’t big on meetings, we do have a regularly scheduled Monday meeting where we go over any admin items and talk about the…

We make sure all of our employees understand our strategy and core beliefs, so we all know what we’re working to achieve. We also have…

All gig workers are required to supply their own equipment as a business owner.

They have their own devices and can also decide what they want, a pc, a mac or whatsoever. We take care of the tools or…

We have all of our team members use their own computers, but we provide all the apps necessary.

We have a fairly standard PTO plan for full-time [A]gents.

We have a few set major holidays as company holidays and instead give more PTO days for team members to use as they please. Funnily…

Employees earn paid time off.  Consultant level employees begin to accrue PTO after 6 months of employment at the rate of 80 hours per year,…

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…

People being dishonest about the amount of time they are spending working on your project and doing things on the side. There are big brother…

My biggest concern is worrying about the happiness of our team members. It’s easy to tell how someone is feeling in person. Fortunately, we haven’t…