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.
We are starting to implement this a little more as we grow. We have a lot of de-facto standards just from having done this for…
There are very tight guidelines for communication around classes, and we expect immediate communication if there’s any reason a teacher needs to cancel a class—we…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
Airbnb works great and really strengthens the team. Understand any dietary restrictions and assist in any way possible getting your team from their house to…
In the earlier days when the team was ~15 people, we would gather the whole company together for week-long (Mon-Fri) retreats in different locations 4…
We will be arranging at least one team retreat this year and will be meeting at several industry events.
Do your remote team members meet in person?
We are proponents of team projects so no one person is out there working on their own. With onsite Customer engagements, we’re afforded great opportunities…
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.…
Yes, our teams meet 1-2 times a year as a team and work together, somewhere in the world. Then, we have the entire company get…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
I am very fortunate to have an incredible team of consultants. They are self-starters who work until the job is done. This type of work…
We’re a very results oriented company, but for client services work depending upon the contract type we do track hours and do things that are…
We use a productivity-tracking tool called Worksmart, which helps managers and their team members assess how team members spend their time. Worksmart has a variety…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Weekly calls are important, as is setting and communicating realistic and exciting goals.
Feedback, coaching and one-on-ones are absolutely critical to a good relationship with employees. Whenever I see something good or bad, I call that team member…
Clear expectations are critical for remote workers. Training a remote worker is different than training an in-house worker; it is doubly important to be clear…
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,…
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…
Ensuring that there is a common understanding of practices and procedures to help everything run smoothly.
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
We make our communication better by having daily calls and hangouts between team members. We get the entire team together at the GitLab summit once…
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…
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…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
Our employees get a laptop for administration work, as well as a display, keyboard, and mouse. The software developers and QA team may have different…
Everyone gets the latest device they need to be as successful in their work as possible, along with any device needed to perform their job…
Every new hire is given the appropriate tools to do their job well: a new MacBook and external monitor, as well as a stipend to…
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
Take whatever time you need. We’re a ROWE environment.
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…
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…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
That it would be harder than it actually is. In fact, the management problems are the same regardless of location.
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…
Never really had a fear, if you fail in managing remote workers, it is not the system causing the failure, it is you.