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 only have our daily team call. We have no policies about communication. We do have an emergency channel for customers, but it’s only needed…
No. “Trust” is a core value of ours and we trust that our team will get the job done and it turns out that they…
We do have some weekly meetings set up, if someone is leaving his work, then he has to tell it in a channel, preferable with…
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…
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…
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…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
We don’t require it, but we do have hubs of team members in New York and Florida, and try to get together and cowork as…
As a whole company we have bi-weekly video calls every other week and we get together in-person 2x a year for all company meetings.
Not yet. Skype and Google hangouts are what we use.
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
As a fully remote company, we’re results-oriented by necessity. We’ve identified key metrics for most of our team that allow us to see results, and…
We’re an Agile organization, so self-examination is built into our workflow very naturally. We set goals, then examine and measure progress, output at regular, discrete…
As an organization, we hire really driven people, set clear and ambitious goals, and check in on them regularly throughout the year, both formally and…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Weekly calls are important, as is setting and communicating realistic and exciting goals.
Communication is one of the biggest ones for us. One of our values is “Communicate with clarity” and it’s vital in having a successful relationship…
Communication is key. I’ve found in a remote environment people actually work harder at communicating because they have to. Especially if you’re dealing with an…
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
The most difficult part is helping your team stay motivated and feel part of a team when they have never met. In the office, a…
It’s harder to have a general “pulse” of your team. You can’t see their body language and moods as much on a day-to-day basis, so…
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…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
It’s really all about creating intentional communication to ensure everyone is “in the loop.” We also have a Director of Employee Happiness whose job it…
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…
Transparency rules our remote working policy: we all must be aware of what is going on. Aside from that, we meet quarterly for a retreat…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
All of our IT infrastructure is cloud based. At this point we are totally happy with anyone on the team accessing their work email, for…
We provide remote workers with a $2,000 per year technology stipend.
All our teachers use their own equipment to connect to our systems. We have dedicated support technicians to help our remote workers 24/7.
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
We don’t track time off but expect people to take roughly 4 weeks vacation. Most of our team doesn’t have set hours so it’s really…
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.…
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We have a fairly standard PTO plan for full-time [A]gents.
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
There is always fear that collaboration is based on face to face contact but it turns out it is not! People can work on things…
My biggest fear is having a team member that is not dedicated and pulling their own weight. This is harder to identify when not working…
We did so much research before going remote that we were not too worried about making the change. Once we made the switch, we never…
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