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?
There are very tight guidelines for communication around classes, and we expect immediate communication if there’s any reason a teacher needs to cancel a class—we…
We expect our team to be available and responsive during business hours, but we don’t have any strict guidelines around response times. If a team…
The norms generally depend on the role, but we do have some. Editors are expected to respond to submitted work within 2 business days. Customer…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
We organize retreats and offsites about once per quarter. A couple tips: choose a great venue for your company retreat and, of course, use the…
We do organize a company-wide trip twice a year. This gives everyone a chance to mingle and meet face to face. It also encourages the…
At our team meetings, we do organize loads of stuff, which are fun and supports team building. Most of the time we are away for…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
The full team meets together at least twice a year. There are meetups by various teams based on need and geography throughout the year.
We have monthly meetings in person. The idea is to meet, to connect and get motivated for the next month. Moreover we have a bigger…
Yes, we usually kick-off a project in house – so we’ll fly folks in for that. Also, we host an annual retreat every year for…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
Weekly updates are detailed reports we receive every Friday that outline what each team member accomplished during the week and their focus for next week.…
It depends on what they are doing. We have two people that handle support emails. It’s very easy to run reports and see their activity.…
Here, we might distinguish ourselves from other remote companies. We pay everyone by the hour. Everyone is using a time tracker. Unfortunately, we experience that…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
First, hire people who fit the model. Not everyone is cut out to work remotely. Next, be very clear with your expectations and provide the…
Open Communication – no blame games: The best way to overcome problems is to discuss them openly. Try to work towards a solution and avoid blaming…
Constant communication. This requires the use of text, email, voice, and video communication platforms and shared expectations regarding availability.
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Sensing everybody’s mood, level of motivation, identifying issues before they develop. With an on-site team, you get to take advantage of facial expressions, body language,…
The biggest challenge is to find people who will fit into our culture and are ready to work hard for a great cause.
Always the communication. This is this the hardest part for any workforce; remote just amplifies the stakes.
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
We have weekly all-hands meetings that we conduct via video chat. This gives everyone a chance to hear what’s going on in the company and…
XWP includes every XWPerson in a regional “Homebase” with monthly meetings. We also host regular XWP Live town halls, open to everyone at XWP. XWP…
Bitovi has three annual all-company events. We get together as a company three times per year to work together for three to five days each…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
We provide a monthly stipend for these sorts of things via a prepaid debit (Pex card) and we offer to front-load it on hire if…
Every team member is provided with a laptop and can then use their own mobile phone with the company paying up to $150 of the…
Every person in the company is responsible for their own laptop and phone. This hasn’t been a hinderance on hiring at all.
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
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.…
We have a MANDATORY vacation policy. We realized that an unlimited vacation policy was having the opposite effect – team members weren’t taking the time…
Employees start with two weeks of paid vacation. We also accommodate employees with school age children by letting them take extra unpaid time off over…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
Our biggest fear was that if we weren’t sitting right next to employees, it would be hard to ensure they are executing at the level…
My biggest fear is that one day I’ll wake up and simply be too frustrated that I don’t get to physically hang out with other…
We heard some small commentary from traditionalists when we started the company as a virtual company, wondering how we could manage remote workers effectively when…