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?
We are generally very flexible with working hours and sensitive to everyone working in different time zones. People need to collaborate on which working hours…
We have daily standups in Slack and standards for answering customer support tickets, but other than that, we haven’t had to set any other rules…
Not officially, but it’s polite and helpful for us all when we respond quickly – usually 24hrs or less.
Do you organize remote team retreats?
Yes, we go to a company off-site twice a year. The off-site is a mixture of team sessions, presentations, working together, team activities, and hanging…
Twice a year we organize a team work retreat. We just returned from a week in Lake Tahoe, CA. Our retreats aren’t really “vacations for…
We had our first company retreat less than a year ago in the Catskills when we were 12 people. I wouldn’t want to have a…
Do your remote team members meet in person?
Our home-based team members are often separated by hundreds of miles. We rely on technology to bring our people together and harness the power of…
Some of our team members happen to live nearby, so we meet up once a month or so for lunch or coffee. Many of our…
We host weekly meetups for all remote workers living in or visiting the Portland area — and anyone we’re working with is invited to join…
How do you measure the productivity of remote workers?
We don’t- the culture around productivity is the same for both office and remote- get things done.
We give our remote workers a lot of freedom. Every order placed through Scribendi has an accompanying deadline selected by the client from the available…
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…
What elements are key to successful working relationships with remote teams?
Clear tasks, responsibilities, and deliverables.
It really isn’t that different than in a traditional office environment. Employees that know expectations and plans, have access to the tools and resources they…
Feedback, coaching and one-on-ones are absolutely critical to a good relationship with employees. Whenever I see something good or bad, I call that team member…
What is the hardest part about managing a remote workforce?
The hardest part about managing a remote workforce is the propensity for terse communication. Often times, people are chatting, trying to quickly accomplish something or…
The toughest part about managing a remote workforce is making sure everyone feels connected to the team and culture of Appirio. We work very hard…
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,…
How do you keep remote employees engaged and feeling part of the bigger picture?
While we aren’t big on meetings, we do have a regularly scheduled Monday meeting where we go over any admin items and talk about the…
We do this in lots of ways that aren’t too different than if we were all in the same office. We have company-wide, all-hands meetings;…
We have a monthly newsletter called Yours Virtually and the team takes turns to write in it from their perspective, and to share a little…
What is your BYOD policy for remote workers?
All of our IT infrastructure is cloud based. At this point we are totally happy with anyone on the team accessing their work email, for…
We provide everyone with a MacBook, a Bluetooth headset, and any necessary devices or software needed for their home office.
We only require our employees to have a modern computer with a HD webcam and high-speed Internet – we see this as being analogous to…
What is your time off policy for remote workers?
As a mom friendly organization we have a generous time off policy that includes paid sick days and paid family leave.
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…
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We have a fairly standard PTO plan for full-time [A]gents.
What were your biggest fears in managing remote workers?
We did so much research before going remote that we were not too worried about making the change. Once we made the switch, we never…
The biggest fear is definitely running into a situation where you need something from someone, but that person isn’t available or is unresponsive. This obviously…
Not being able to meet some people in person means we have to rely more on references and our gut to gauge a potential hire.…
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