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?
We make a call about whether a position is virtual as we shape the job description. While the majority of our jobs are flexible location,…
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…
We knew that in order for it to work, everybody in the team had to become “remote” workers and adopt the new mindset. So the…
Can a remote-friendly company have a healthy culture?
Yes! At Parse.ly, we believe that a distributed team is an asset, not a problem to be managed. It allows for radical transparency about how…
Sure, by following a similar transparent process and a welcoming environment nurturing remote teams and rewarding proactiveness, feedback, and criticism. Our CEO and our top…
This all comes down to hiring. It’s critical to hire like-minded folks who genuinely want to work together. For us, we have way too much…
How do you nurture your company’s culture in a remote work environment?
(a) At the start of our weekly one-on-one calls, we take a few minutes to talk about something that we are enjoying being involved with…
We focus on the pillars of our culture: Fun, Action, Communication, Transparency, Trust (FACTT). Fun – Meetups, video chats just to make each other laugh.…
Annual company retreats, weekly Google hangouts (non-work related), and gif battles on Slack.
What advice would you give to a team considering to go remote?
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…
Plan ahead. Get the right communication tools in place. Also consider that working from home might not be right for everyone. For that reason I’ve…
What challenges have you encountered building a remote team?
We’ve been remote workers before Workfrom. We’re pretty well versed in the challenges that face remote teams. Most challenges revolve around easy yet reliable communication,…
We focus very hard on hiring the right individuals and then training them to a high standard. This leads to a large investment of time…
Personality conflicts are particularly difficult to resolve remotely. We’ve found that when a team is having a hard time seeing eye to eye, the only…
What are the most effective tools for remote team communication?
We use several tools to maintain constant communication throughout the day. Sqwiggle is our on-demand video platform, Attentiv.com offers us a constant stream to communicate…
This depends on the team, since each team within GitHub decides how they want to organise and coordinate their communication. Most of our communication is…
Slack. Slack. Did I mention Slack? We use other tools like Skype for communication, but Slack is what we mostly gather around during the day…
What has changed about how your remote team operates?
Our planning process used to be off the cuff, and mostly done in the meeting with the whole team. We’ve moved to a planning process…
We have implemented OKRs because at the beginning everyone just “worked hard” when we were a startup. But as we got older, people burned out,…
As our team has grown we have been slowly shifting from a company of generalists where everyone does a bit of everything to a place…
How does your team address different time zone challenges?
Slack and JIRA—the platform we use to track development tasks—are asynchronous tools, allowing us to manage communication even with different time zones. Of course, sometimes…
Mostly that’s a challenge for our teachers. Class schedules have to revolve around Chinese kids’ lives. In New York time, class slots are open starting…
First, establishing ahead of time when team members will be available. Second, hiring individuals who are willing to be flexible when necessary to coordinate with team members…
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