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?
Our work policies are more organic than formal. Part of the reason we love remote work is because we can work whenever and wherever we…
Initially, we had formal guidelines and documents on the “how to’s” of working remotely. As we have adapted to this virtual/remote office model, the policies…
Our policy isn’t formally written down but everyone knows that as long as they get the assigned work completed and have a degree of time…
Can a remote-friendly company have a healthy culture?
Absolutely! But as with any culture, you have to put a lot of effort into building it in order to have a strong one. Since…
Of course. Culture isn’t only a product of proximity, it’s a product of how you treat your staff. We know from studies that remote companies…
Yes! Within our hiring process, we put a lot of emphasis on the cultural fit of potential employees and therefore have a pool of people…
How do you nurture your company’s culture in a remote work environment?
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…
Our creed includes the statement, “I will communicate as much as possible, because it’s the oxygen of a distributed company.” We communicate through P2s (WordPress.com…
The best thing we do, I think, is our yearly meetup. It’s a very democratic meetup, meaning that we vote on everything—where we want to…
What advice would you give to a team considering to go remote?
Make sure work obligations are completely understood, that communication capabilities and a robust technology infrastructure are fully embedded in the organization, and that you have…
Be accommodating and flexible. You will receive their dedication in return.
You can do your job whenever and wherever you want .. as long as you get your desired results. Working remotely surely brings a lot…
What challenges have you encountered building a remote team?
Developing a high level of trust and collaboration with people who are half-around the world. It’s a challenge, but it’s possible, and as the various…
The biggest challenges are logistical and infrastructure based, much the same as any company, I’d imagine! Unique to us as a distributed company are the…
Time zones are hard. I always say it’s the one problem you can’t solve when working remotely. The best you can do is be understanding…
What are the most effective tools for remote team communication?
Monthly town-halls via zoom Team meet-ups Daily slack
Chat and Skype
We use a variety of technologies that help us communicate. Our virtual office environment, Sococo, enables us to have visibility into who is “in the…
What has changed about how your remote team operates?
We actually started as a fully remote team. So one change was having a “home” office and having some of the staff working together in…
We are more organized now. You have to be extremely organized if you want to go remote because it’s easy to get lost in emails,…
One of the biggest achievements for Skillcrush is that we have adopted transparent salary tiers where every team member has insight into what their colleagues…
How does your team address different time zone challenges?
This is likely the largest challenge we face as a remote company. I don’t like making people stay up late or get up super early…
We have a 24/7 support team to handle communications around the clock. We also have specialized remote workers available to answer questions in the most…
Being in different time zones is an absolute advantage for MustHaveMenus. Most of our engineers are nine hours ahead of the rest of the team.…
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