Working Remotely
140 companies answer 6 questions
Working remotely comes with unique day-to-day challenges. From the initial step of implementing remote policy to nurturing company culture while operating remotely, we ask leading remote companies to share how they approach running their distributed teams from an operational level.
How did you implement a remote work policy?
Remote work is a core part of our culture. It is not a policy.
Founded it from the beginning.
Definitely organically. FlexProfessionals is owned by three moms. We started by working remotely ourselves, when it was just the three of us. Our remote workforce…
Can a remote-friendly company have a healthy culture?
Yes definitely, but communication is key. As a group we all understand the culture of the company and what that means, what our core principles…
This is our #1 priority. As a bootstrapped company we’ve always had a conservative approach to scaling the team– we don’t hire faster than the…
I feel like we have a very healthy company culture, and we’re constantly working to make it better. We do little things sometimes like spend…
How do you nurture your company’s culture in a remote work environment?
There are a number of events and all staff communications that strengthen relationships and ensure we have an engaged, high performing organisations. At any point…
Broadly speaking, our culture is based on the Relationship Care approach to servicing, an ethos that says service is a people business driven by the…
We encourage people to bring their whole selves to their work. We have channels in Slack for people to share their love of games, literature,…
What advice would you give to a team considering to go remote?
Try it, it’s not as scary as it seems! If your company is focussed on outputs and not inputs, then it shouldn’t matter whether your…
It’s not as hard as it sounds. There are definitely obstacles but if you have great, highly accountable and responsible people working for you, where…
The remote environment is not for everyone. If a company wants to implement a 100% remote environment, I would highly recommend speaking to an operations…
What challenges have you encountered building a remote team?
One challenge was developing a project management system to provide clients with information about work that their virtual assistant performed. We ended up developing our own…
One of the biggest challenges of running a remote company for me personally has been to remember to have a life outside of work. I…
Identifying the right fit for the position has been the main challenge. You want someone who is passionate about customer service and is accustomed to call…
What are the most effective tools for remote team communication?
Skype chats – we have tons of chat groups. We have project-based ones for each project, location-based ones for each region (wherever there is a…
Communication is key on our teams. We use Slack as a central hub for daily communication, with clear channels to help team members know what…
In Slack, in our video meetings, and in the notes/comments in Trello. We rarely email each other unless it’s a memo for the entire team…
What has changed about how your remote team operates?
First big thing was the introduction of monthly face to face meetings. Then we introduced open policy for everything, which resulted in opening finances and…
We have much more discipline and structure in place for managing various processes.
As software tools have evolved, we’ve reached for solutions that boost transparency and real-time collaboration.
How does your team address different time zone challenges?
Time zone differences can cause confusion within a remote team. Luckily, while the overall workflow has to be coordinated, the specific tasks for providing our…
Thankfully this isn’t a big issue, but as our team grows, it will become a challenge. More clearly communicating goals and aligning team members will…
This is likely the largest challenge we face as a remote company. I don’t like making people stay up late or get up super early…