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 set communication norms by job function. Some team members, like customer service, are connected to the chat system throughout normal business hours. Others, like…
No, we don’t have any rules or communication norms. Certain teams like to do regular calls while others do not. Personally, I dislike scheduled meetings…
We’ve never had to set policies around communication as our employees are very self-motivated and if anything need to log off more often.
Do you organize remote team retreats?
We meetup as an entire team at least twice per year. We call them JarFests. We work hard to plan them in a fun city…
Yes, in-person time is important. For us, the most important part of the retreat is all of the non-work time. We plan a fun activity,…
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…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
Our Remote Team members have an opportunity each year to meet physically together once a year at a Haus. Haus is a Remote Year term…
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…
Yes, we do, and the frequency varies between teams. Some meet quarterly, others annually. We try to bring the whole company together annually for a…
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…
Productivity is easily measured by the output each day. Our platform provides metrics which will show the productivity of individuals and the company. We also…
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…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
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…
Open and frequent communication: It is so important to over-communicate and follow up with team members afterwards to ensure the message was perceived as intended…
The principles of a successful working relationship with remote teammates do not differ that much from any other relationship. You have to be responsive, goal-oriented,…
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Making sure everybody has the same access to information, which is a matter of making information both available and easy to find. We manage this…
You don’t develop such close relationships as you do with people whom you see every day. This can be a positive too though, as productivity…
It is not for everyone. You have to be able to hire effectively and be quick to realize that if it is not a good…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
Our weekly video standups really help here. However, we also do company-wide retreats twice a year to get everyone together face to face.
Our weekly staff meeting, done via Skype, keeps everyone on top of the company’s initiatives.
We encourage everyone to talk about what they’re doing on Slack, and to be transparent about it. For example, a developer can stay in touch…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
People can use whatever device they’d like, as long as they can use the software and apps our team is already on 🙂
As a company we have internal policies that helps us to have key security measures that protects us from any liability concerns that possibly could…
Computers, monitors, peripherals, desks, chairs are provided by Automattic.
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
We are pretty flexible. We allow the majority of our employees to self-schedule, so this helps team members to schedule around things they might otherwise…
We offer 15 paid time-off days per year.
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…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
You try to hire the best people out there but sometimes you simply can’t know if you did the right thing until they start. You…
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…
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…
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