Managing Remotely

There aren’t rigid rules in place for our communication. For example, we do not expect replies on Slack or email within any particular...

We expect our team to be available and responsive during business hours, but we don’t have any strict guidelines around...

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

Socializing and team building is important when we all get together. It isn’t all about productivity and getting work done ...

The biggest thing is to understand what you want to get from the trip. On some trips, we’ve focused...

Yes. We find one place that can host us all. Make sure it’s not in a city, you want everyone...

Every team is different, but at least quarterly.

The full team meets together at least twice a year. There are meetups by various teams based on need and geography throughout the year.

Yes, twice a year we pull every corporate team member together for a few days where we are inspired by guest...

We measure productivity the same way traditional office workforces measure it – we look at the results. Being a remote workforce truly...

How do businesses measure productivity of co-located workers? By how busy they appear to be when you walk by? By whether they enter the...

Strictly speaking, we measure it in their output. What’s most important to us is that the work needed is getting done, and that...

Clear tasks, responsibilities, and deliverables.

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

We set clear expectations from day one. That includes expectations on everyone’s level of communication, when to ask questions (always),...

Creating a healthy balance between trusting our team members to manage their work time and monitoring their activity. We have team...

Working with less experienced people, communicating properly online with other team members, following company policy and standards, understanding goals and vision,...

We’ve had the most success with employees who came into the experience with a realistic understanding of the nature of the job and...

It’s really all about creating intentional communication to ensure everyone is “in the loop.” We also have a Director of...

Talk to them – constantly, consistently, openly. Always make sure they know that they’re part of the team because they each...

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

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

Everyone is free to get their devices from the company, but as far as I know everyone’s just using their own machine.

We do not provide any computers, cell phones, etc. since keeping inventory of items like that would be extremely expensive and difficult to retrieve...

We have no formal vacation policy. It is important that our client’s needs are still met when a team member is away, so...

We have a minimum vacation policy at Buffer where we ask employees to take at least 15 days off every year, in...

We have an open time off policy, which translates to take the time off that you need. We ask each person to discuss time...

We were not afraid.

There is always fear that collaboration is based on face to face contact but it turns out it is not! People...

I used to worry about things not getting done or people not feeling responsible. But so far, our people care and...