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 don’t and leave it to the individual employees and project teams to determine if there is any specific cadence they want to build around communication.
This varies depending on the team. But at minimum, all emails should be returned by the next business day, and chats replied to as soon…
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…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
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 had our first company retreat less than a year ago in the Catskills when we were 12 people. I wouldn’t want to have a…
Yes! The events count as one form, and they love to meet up for potlucks and meet and greets. We’ve also sponsored two successful trips for…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
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.…
We were meeting together about once or twice a month in person. Now we will probably shoot for about twice a year to get everyone…
Yes! Every fall, we gather for our annual “All Hands” meetup with our entire team. We started doing these meetups in 2013, and they have…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
Since almost all of our communication is through writing, it’s easy to see who is making progress on their goals through updates on the P2s,…
Everyone is responsible for punching above their weight. While the expected is 40 hours a week, everyone is well aware of the work and projects…
We’re pretty hands off here. We still have a startup culture and everyone is working very hard. It hasn’t really been necessary to get too…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Communication and trust are the two most important things – and if you want them, you need to empower your team and give them the…
Communication, communication, communication. Because we must forego some of the natural conversations and interactions that happen when a team is co-located, we emphasize clear and…
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Truly, a distributed company operates with all the same leadership dynamics and laws of physics a traditional, co-located company does. Culture matters first and foremost.…
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Sensing everybody’s mood, level of motivation, identifying issues before they develop. With an on-site team, you get to take advantage of facial expressions, body language,…
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…
At GitHub it’s important to us that we look after our employees. We’re not just in this for short-term productivity, we’re in this for the…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
Clear and precise communication, including town hall meetings, fireside chats, e-learning training sessions, and reward programs reinforcing performance.
We strongly believe that face-time is critical to keeping our remote team happy, engaged and productive. Many of our team members are in sales roles,…
Each team that is working for a client takes responsibility for all the issues: financial stuff, agreements, customer relations, etc. Thanks to our policy, people…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
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…
They can choose their own hardware from the company or can bring their own device.
Employees of Trello are provided with what they need from a technology standpoint to get their jobs done.
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
In short, “take some”. We used to not track days off, but it resulted in some people (mostly US employees) not taking enough time off.…
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…
We have a MANDATORY vacation policy. We realized that an unlimited vacation policy was having the opposite effect – team members weren’t taking the time…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
I had no real fears of managing remote workers, but I always am cautious to ensure I communicate regularly and that my virtual door is…
We were a bit worried about our teachers not feeling a sense of belonging. But it turned out most of our teachers just love us…
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…