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?
While we haven’t had the need to set strict norms, we all have an understanding of how to stay connected throughout the workday: be available…
We’ve never had to set policies around communication as our employees are very self-motivated and if anything need to log off more often.
We don’t set specific norms for the sake of creating true flexibility. Once you start putting in rules like this, or even once you start…
Do you organize remote team retreats?
Yes, we do. This is critical for us. First of all, you need to have a clear agenda with what you want to achieve during the…
Yes! The events count as one form, and they love to meet up for potlucks and meet and greets. We’ve also sponsored two successful trips for…
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?
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…
The full team meets together at least twice a year. There are meetups by various teams based on need and geography throughout the year.
This is not a requirement, and due to the global distribution of our team, it is difficult to coordinate. We do use regional industry events…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
We measure productivity the same way traditional office workforces measure it – we look at the results. Being a remote workforce truly shouldn’t be a…
We also define goals for each of our employees. These goals are company goals as well as their personal goals. We review these goals on…
We don’t actively measure anything like work output. Everyone is quite honest about their flow and usually it’s quite clear from the amount of product…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Clear expectations are critical for remote workers. Training a remote worker is different than training an in-house worker; it is doubly important to be clear…
If you can, by all means spend a week with new colleagues onsite. That immensely helps in building trust. Ongoing, having regular video calls helps.…
Communication – In the absence of face-to-face conversations, communicating thoroughly, effectively and with respect is the key to working well remotely. Trust – We have…
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
Working from home can be isolating, especially for staff who have never worked remotely or for TNTP before. You have to be proactive about building…
Sometimes remote workers just don’t have that much time for your company. They may have multiple clients, be traveling the world (you never know with…
Ensuring a consistent company culture and keeping everyone feeling connected.
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
At Goodway, we don’t treat our remote employees any differently than if they were in an office setting. They can’t be seen as exceptions or…
In addition to regular team group video conference sessions, as in our daily scrum meetings, we meet as a company once per week which we…
We do weekly planning meetings on Monday, then a recap meeting on Friday. We also do a monthly all hands on Google Hangouts. These are…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
All our team members are welcome to use their own laptops and phones. There are some cases where we provide additional equipment that belongs to…
Our employees get a laptop for administration work, as well as a display, keyboard, and mouse. The software developers and QA team may have different…
Everyone does BYOD, mostly because everyone has different preferences and environments that make them most effective, but we will sponsor apps at times.
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
You can take off whenever you like, but we pay you by the hour. You get one to five weeks of vacation depending on how…
First of all, we have a flexible schedule and the only condition for the remote team members is to have at least some overlapping time…
We’re very loose with time off and people don’t take advantage. We don’t have a formal sick-days policy either—so you can call it unlimited. It’s…
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
I used to worry about things not getting done or people not feeling responsible. But so far, our people care and everything gets done.
Our biggest fear with regards to having a remote workforce was that individuals would feel left out, not engaged, or like they were missing out…
We were not afraid.
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