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?
When working, our remote workers must always be in chat and respond as soon as they are able to (not interrupt their engaged call). We…
We have clear, written guidance for our team members with regard to how quickly and thoroughly they need to respond to prospective business clients and…
Communication in a virtual environment is absolutely key to building trust. And so for this reason we expect our team to respond to emails, and…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
Yes we do, and they are awesome. My tip would be to keep the work content to a minimum. A brief session on how the…
Once a year we converge on a tropical location for our annual company retreat. (You can find a recap of our 2016 team trip here.)…
Yes! We organize three all-company events per year. One focused on working together on specific company projects, one focused on training, and another focused on…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
Twice a year, the entire company gathers in a destination travel location for a week. We call these “onsites.” This is our opportunity to look…
Yes we have regular company retreats because we understand that nothing beats face-to-face contact for getting to know people and helping to build trust and…
Yes, we try to meet once or twice per year. Usually we do it in smaller groups as it’s hard to get everyone together since…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
I am very fortunate to have an incredible team of consultants. They are self-starters who work until the job is done. This type of work…
At Toggl, we have a result oriented culture and everyone’s productivity is measured by their results. We have small teams working together: back end team,…
We’ve experimented with OKRs and Squads but they haven’t worked or us. Ultimately, we created our own hybrid of the two systems – goals and…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
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Truly, a distributed company operates with all the same leadership dynamics and laws of physics a traditional, co-located company does. Culture matters first and foremost.…
Open and frequent communication: It is so important to over-communicate and follow up with team members afterwards to ensure the message was perceived as intended…
Effective communication Understanding Accommodation
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
We’ve had the most success with employees who came into the experience with a realistic understanding of the nature of the job and what it’s…
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,…
Scheduling meetings can be tricky because we cover a lot of timezones and some people may choose to work very early or very late, depending…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
Each team that is working for a client takes responsibility for all the issues: financial stuff, agreements, customer relations, etc. Thanks to our policy, people…
We make sure all of our employees understand our strategy and core beliefs, so we all know what we’re working to achieve. We also have…
We have annual team meetings and smaller hit team meetings throughout the year. We do our weekly call, and we use video calls as default.…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
We supply all of our employees with the tools they need to get their jobs done. All team members are provided a laptop and an…
Employees of Trello are provided with what they need from a technology standpoint to get their jobs done.
We offer employees a notable equipment stipend to be used for purchasing company assets when they start ($2,000 for technical production like designers and engineers,…
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
We do not have a time off limit. However, for it to be worth my while to manage our resources, they have to contribute a minimum…
Everyone gets unlimited time off. If goals are clearly communicated and employees are responsible, we don’t need to babysit with restrictive PTO policies.
We have a minimum vacation policy at Buffer where we ask employees to take at least 15 days off every year, in addition to whichever…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
I would say more fear a lack of productivity, lack of communication or engagement, even how to manage potential issues like workers comp claims. In…
We very naively started all being remote, so there were no fears. Here’s a challenge that surprised me: on the same day, I had a…
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…