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?
I receive weekly formal reports from all my consultants and I have a minimum of one conference call per week with each of my staff.…
No. We have an absence management tool so that we can manage every kind of leave request, such as vacation, parental leave, etc.
The only hard routine is our Monday review call where everyone gets together for 90 minutes. As CEO I have scheduled 30 minutes of 1:1…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
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,…
Our best teachers are invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Shanghai every year! This is the best way to allow the teachers to experience…
Once a year we converge on a tropical location for our annual company retreat. (You can find a recap of our 2016 team trip here.)…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
Some of our team members happen to live nearby, so we meet up once a month or so for lunch or coffee. Many of our…
We host weekly meetups for all remote workers living in or visiting the Portland area — and anyone we’re working with is invited to join…
Every team is different, but at least quarterly.
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
Through our annual review process. We simply ask, 1) What were your key accomplishments? 2) What lessons did you learn? 3) What are your top…
Quality of work completed Customer satisfaction Ability to meet deadlines Results Feedback from the business/360 Reviews Performance Reviews Objective Setting
Productivity is measured by team leaders on each team, and it depends on the nature of the team. For example, support teams are measured by…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Andrew Montalenti, Parse.ly co-founder and CTO, has said: “The biggest thing missing from fully distributed teams is true face-to-face communication. There are a lot of…
The right mindset. You have to stop thinking in “office hours” and forget all about witnessing physical presence. You have to understand that you all now…
Constant communication. This requires the use of text, email, voice, and video communication platforms and shared expectations regarding availability.
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Building rapport with new coworkers can be difficult when you don’t get the casual social interactions you often get for free when everyone is in…
Scheduling meetings can be tricky because we cover a lot of timezones and some people may choose to work very early or very late, depending…
Managing a remote work force isn’t terribly hard as long as your rapport with your remote employees is strong. Doing the initial work during onboarding…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
It’s really all about creating intentional communication to ensure everyone is “in the loop.” We also have a Director of Employee Happiness whose job it…
We have annual team meetings and smaller hit team meetings throughout the year. We do our weekly call, and we use video calls as default.…
Clear and precise communication, including town hall meetings, fireside chats, e-learning training sessions, and reward programs reinforcing performance.
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
We tend to equip people with a strong Mac so they can be effective wherever they are.
We don’t have hard-and-fast rules. We expect our team to be adults, and we expect everyone to have a sense of ownership and respect, treating…
We provide devices and tools for everyone but all our work lives in the cloud. This makes it easy to provision new or additional devices.…
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
We ask that everyone let their team members know about any planned time off with as much advance notice as possible. There’s not limit, but…
Unlimited paid vacation. Many team members travel and work on the go, mixing the two. But we wholeheartedly encourage and support all team members to…
Everyone has a set amount of days per year that they can use as they like.
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
My biggest fears were around not being able to manage work output, and not having clarity into someone’s projects. For the first 6 months this…
When we started out, especially when we had to grow and hire new people, my biggest fear was that they’d not work hard and would…
My biggest fear is that I do not always know what employees feel. When I make an update, what do they think? Sure, they give…