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?
No, yuck. Responsible people do what they know needs to be done.
While we haven’t had the need to set strict norms, we all have an understanding of how to stay connected throughout the workday: be available…
We don’t place strict rules, but there’s a common understanding that everyone is usually on from the hours of 9 am to at least 6…
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,…
Yes, we do. This is critical for us. First of all, you need to have a clear agenda with what you want to achieve during the…
No we have not organized retreats and it is likely that we would not do so for at least another year. This partly is explained…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
Yes, they meet in pods on their own, but we meet as a group at least twice a year for some bonding time and project…
We meet with our core team in person twice a year. It is somewhat of a retreat in that we work, and strategize but we…
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…
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…
We measure productivity the same way traditional office workforces measure it – we look at the results. Being a remote workforce truly shouldn’t be a…
It’s not a perfect science; we have had situations where employees were “skating” for a month or so and we did not notice. But, eventually…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Communication is key. We are constantly emailing each other, cc’ing each other on emails to keep everyone up to date on the status of projects,…
Trust and transparency. In order for our team to work together effectively across locations and time zones there must be a very high level of…
Communication and trust are the two most important things – and if you want them, you need to empower your team and give them the…
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Keeping everyone happy and connected, not forgetting people.
Growing larger than 50 people seems hard. It’s hard because you need a layer of managers in there if everyone is going to get individual…
Ensuring that policies and advice given by the company conforms to the cultural and ethical norms of a global workforce. Empathy is required when working…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
We connect virtual assistants (VAs) with other VAs to provide training, integrate VAs in team environments, offer performance feedback, monitor workload and availability to take…
Encourage transparency and company-wide visibility of information on Slack. Stick to good engagement habits such as regular one-on-ones. Consider also using some type of employee…
All of our staff are shareholders and that was very important to us. On top of that we have a transparent culture where all staff…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
We have all of our team members use their own computers, but we provide all the apps necessary.
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…
All gig workers are required to supply their own equipment as a business owner.
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
We do not have a time off limit. However, for it to be worth my while to manage our resources, they have to contribute a minimum…
You can take off whenever you like, but we pay you by the hour. You get one to five weeks of vacation depending on how…
We offer 38 days (including public holidays). Since we have employees all around Europe with different public holidays, everyone on the team gets 38 days…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
We knew that shifting to remote would mean that much of the verbal communication would have to be replaced with documented process. In an ideal…
We heard some small commentary from traditionalists when we started the company as a virtual company, wondering how we could manage remote workers effectively when…
My biggest fear was probably that everyone was just going to goof off and not get any work done with little oversight. This has been…