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?
We did not implement a remote work policy. Building a distributed company was our intention from the start. Dr. Chris Waters (my co-founder) and I…
It started day 1. We were an early company to be fully remote (6 years ago), so it is just so natural for us now.…
Our remote work policy was not implemented upon any existing system. It is the sole method by which our entire business is built upon.
Can a remote-friendly company have a healthy culture?
Yes, absolutely, but this includes a lot of work. You have to agree on values and hire for attitude, not (only) for skills. An in-depth…
Sure, if you start with it on yourself as a good example, then everyone is doing the same.
Absolutely! It really comes down to a lot of communication and leading the way from the top down in the company. It’s very similar to…
How do you nurture your company’s culture in a remote work environment?
We have a place for business communication, but also places where silly notes and “bonding” is encouraged. We can share baby pictures, recipes, have fun…
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,…
I’ve found that the little things really make a difference. Acknowledging birthdays and work anniversaries on Yammer. Giving a variety of opportunities to get to…
What advice would you give to a team considering to go remote?
The key to a successful remote workforce is in the hiring. You must recruit highly skilled, professional team members who have demonstrated that they can…
For emerging companies, adopt remote from day 1. It’s far easier if everyone is on the same page and have the same freedoms – hiring…
One piece of advice I find myself repeating, because it’s so important, is that if your company has even one person remote then the entire…
What challenges have you encountered building a remote team?
We have a great culture and team and have been growing very fast in the past few years. The biggest challenge is ensuring we keep…
It can sometimes be difficult to accommodate for varying time zones and work schedules within the company. Lots of our employees work as they travel,…
Finding people who are the best in the world at what they do can be challenging. So far we’ve managed to assemble an amazing team…
What are the most effective tools for remote team communication?
A combination of online tools such as email, video conferencing, and real-time messaging apps such as Slack brings everyone together at The Cheat Sheet.
Communication is key on our teams. We use Slack as a central hub for daily communication, with clear channels to help team members know what…
We use a number of communication tools and place an emphasis on over communicating. Our daily internal communication tools includes Slack, email, Google Hangouts, Zoom,…
What has changed about how your remote team operates?
As Trello has grown, we’ve had to implement various other communication tools. For example, we have a weekly “Company Overview” board, where we update projects…
First big thing was the introduction of monthly face to face meetings. Then we introduced open policy for everything, which resulted in opening finances and…
Since we’ve scaled to double our size in a year, some of our processes have needed adjustment. Because there are more people in the team…
How does your team address different time zone challenges?
Currently, all of our remote employees are in the same time zone. We are a 24/7 operation so we do encounter scheduling conflicts with our…
Our entire company is online from 3pm-7pm GMT which means we have a 4-hour window for all hands meetings, daily standups, and the off-hand meeting…
Slack and JIRA—the platform we use to track development tasks—are asynchronous tools, allowing us to manage communication even with different time zones. Of course, sometimes…
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