Managing Remotely

No. We have an absence management tool so that we can manage every kind of leave request, such as vacation, parental leave, etc.

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.

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…

We will be arranging at least one team retreat this year and will be meeting at several industry events.

We don’t organise retreats, but we do have a ‘visit Melbourne’ subsidy where we reimburse remote workers $1,000 if they wish to visit Melbourne and…

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! Every fall, we gather for our annual “All Hands” meetup with our entire team. We started doing these meetups in 2013, and they have…

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…

Yes, we aim for once a year meetings in person.

We’re only five people, so we’re not yet in a position where we have to measure everyone’s productivity. We estimate how long projects take. Sometimes…

Depends on the roll, but in most cases it becomes very clear who is productive and who isn’t.  For engineers github is key.  

We rely on the outputs from both independent and team work to understand how individual [A]gents are doing. We also are able to evaluate detailed…

Communication and trust are the two most important things – and if you want them, you need to empower your team and give them the…

Well, we only have remote workers, including me. For a 100% distributed team, I’d point to a few key resources: A flexible, instant “virtual office…

Actually having one. A relationship doesn’t mean reading standups in a Slack channel. You have to put in the work to meet regularly with each…

Different laws in various states and keeping on top of that while trying to be fair to the masses. 2. Keeping everyone motivated and energized,…

Making sure people are consistently aligned with the mission.  People can start to lose track as they get heads down on the day to day…

It’s a bit of a tie for me — the two things I struggle with most are satisfying each person’s needs as a remote worker,…

Bitovi has three annual all-company events. We get together as a company three times per year to work together for three to five days each…

We talk all the time. A short, daily all-hands meeting allows everyone to understand the what and the why. We make a point of being…

Every once in awhile, we send treats to all our employees. These can include snacks, wine, team hats, and more. And we’re always sending out…

Team members can use any hardware that they please. After you’ve worked with Doist for six months, you are granted a generous hardware and software…

Everyone does BYOD, mostly because everyone has different preferences and environments that make them most effective, but we will sponsor apps at times.

This is currently under discussion if we should begin allocating a stipend for laptops and such. Currently it is BYOD and we provide the apps.

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…

Everyone gets unlimited time off. If goals are clearly communicated and employees are responsible, we don’t need to babysit with restrictive PTO policies.

We don’t frown on people taking time off, we encourage them to take care of themselves and others. Working hours are flexible and it’s all…

My biggest concern is worrying about the happiness of our team members. It’s easy to tell how someone is feeling in person. Fortunately, we haven’t…

I never had any fears. We’ve been told countless times that at some point we need to get an office and have a headquarters so…

Trust is a big fear and challenge. At the end of the day, as a business owner of a remote team, you aren’t there to…