Working Remotely
140 companies answer 6 questions
Working remotely comes with unique day-to-day challenges. From the initial step of implementing remote policy to nurturing company culture while operating remotely, we ask leading remote companies to share how they approach running their distributed teams from an operational level.
How did you implement a remote work policy?
Definitely organically. FlexProfessionals is owned by three moms. We started by working remotely ourselves, when it was just the three of us. Our remote workforce…
Organically.
From its inception, Appirio has had one headquarters with the rest of our United States employees working remotely. Globally, we have six offices: Indianapolis, San…
Can a remote-friendly company have a healthy culture?
Definitely. FlexJobs has been a remote company for over 15 years, during which we’ve developed an award-winning culture recognized by Outside, Quartz, Entrepreneur, and many…
This takes intention and effort because it is easy to let the days roll by focused on projects and milestones. The team should have a…
Yes! At Parse.ly, we believe that a distributed team is an asset, not a problem to be managed. It allows for radical transparency about how…
How do you nurture your company’s culture in a remote work environment?
Having fun is a really essential part of the Formstack culture. We rely pretty heavily on weekly team meetings, fun IM chats and, of course,…
(a) At the start of our weekly one-on-one calls, we take a few minutes to talk about something that we are enjoying being involved with…
We make sure to all get together as a company on a regular basis. For example, we have two team members that live out of…
What advice would you give to a team considering to go remote?
Assess if this is the way you would like to drive your company and if the answer is yes—go for it.
The remote environment is not for everyone. If a company wants to implement a 100% remote environment, I would highly recommend speaking to an operations…
You have to embrace remote working fully—you cannot do it as a half measure or this will inevitably lead to a bad experience for everyone.
What challenges have you encountered building a remote team?
Planning around time zones may be our biggest challenge. For example, when two people are working on the same project, one in Australia and the…
Sometimes I take things for granted, that everyone is working happily along. That’s why weekly check-ins are useful so that things are NOT taken for…
Some people are really happier in an office setting. There are now shared offices and places like the HUB for this kind of person to…
What are the most effective tools for remote team communication?
We use Slack all the time. It’s for work, play, water cooler topics, silliness and direct messages. It’s the hub of our culture. We also…
Our internal wiki is at the top of the list. We use it as a virtual watercooler (think sports smack talk and podcast reviews) and…
We use several tools to maintain constant communication throughout the day. Sqwiggle is our on-demand video platform, Attentiv.com offers us a constant stream to communicate…
What has changed about how your remote team operates?
We are using better tools, less email, thank god – less Skype. 🙂 We are a great running team, everyone knows how the other one…
We found quickly that being fully distributed wasn’t going to work well for us. We missed seeing each other in person and the rare times…
We have gotten closer as a team as we grow. We have new technology that connects us instantly and we have grown more as a…
How does your team address different time zone challenges?
We make sure everyone coming on board understands the different time zones. We work together to identify when the majority of workers are available and…
We have a very social and collaborative culture, where we talk about what we’re doing and what we’re up to personally. This tends to solidify…
First, establishing ahead of time when team members will be available. Second, hiring individuals who are willing to be flexible when necessary to coordinate with team members…