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?

Canonical

As with an office based role, remote workers are required to be available during the working day.  Generally most managers will establish the norms, as…

Ciao Bambino! Inc.

We do have set parameters that we ask people to follow. The more numbers you put around what people should be doing the better. Clear…

Sticker Mule

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…

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Do you organize remote team retreats?

Stack Overflow

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…

RunRepeat

We meet once a year and vote for the location that most people want to do. So far, we’ve been to Barcelona, Bulgaria, the Philippines,…

Timely

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…

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Do your remote team members meet in person?

Eyeo GmbH

Minimum twice a year for summer and Christmas Event

Codebusters, Inc.

Yes, whenever we can. Typically 3-5 times a year.

SimpleTexting

Not yet. Skype and Google hangouts are what we use.

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How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?

WAKA Kickball & Social Sports

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…

ICUC Social

We work with project management tools and have set goals and KPIs. We rely on Asana, a project management tool, to keep track of projects…

Inpsyde GmbH

We are not actively measuring the productivity of our workers, but if someone is being lazy or not concentrated, we will recognize it and have a…

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What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?

Knack

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…

AnswerFirst

Keeping them engaged through regular communication is most important. They should also have a clear expectation of their role and how vitally important it is…

VIPKID

Having very clear guidelines about exactly how to do the work. Documentation—especially training videos and reminder emails—are crucial.

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What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?

1Password

Balancing socializing in a virtual workspace with not working in a silo. When working remotely, it’s so easy to either block out everything and become…

Hubstaff

Sometimes remote workers just don’t have that much time for your company. They may have multiple clients, be traveling the world (you never know with…

Packlane

I’ve only ever managed a remote workforce, so I don’t know whether the challenges are specific to a remote workforce, but velocity of work, building…

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How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?

Five Q

Our leaders are continual learners in what good leadership truly is. Ultimately, we keep ourselves moored in our mission, the continual development of a warm…

OnTheGo Systems

We have different means to make sure our company members feel part of the bigger picture. Everyone is involved in quarterly meetings where we update…

Collage.com

We are in constant communication with members of our team using online communication tools, and it’s very easy to work together and collaborate toward a…

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What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?

Origin Eight

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

Blossom

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.…

Goodway Group

We supply everyone a laptop, which they must use for their day-to-day work.  Phones and tablets are personal and must be password-protected if they are…

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What is your time off policy for remote workers?

FMTC

We have “unlimited time off” for our salary workers. Our rule of thumb is if you’re wondering if you’re taking too much time off, then…

Parse.ly

We offer time-off to our employees with 24-hour notice. We’re an incredibly collaborative and connected team, so this is important mostly to give your co-workers…

GitHub, Inc.

We have an unlimited paid time off policy. As long as people coordinate any leave they take with their teams to make sure the schedule…

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What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?

Batchbook

It can be difficult to connect with co-workers on a personal level when you’re rarely face-to-face. Those personal interactions while waiting for the coffee pot…

Pagely

Not being able to meet some people in person means we have to rely more on references and our gut to gauge a potential hire.…

DataStax

That it would be harder than it actually is. In fact, the management problems are the same regardless of location.

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