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?
It happened organically as a reaction to the work preferences of the first two hires. From then on it just seemed like the natural way…
Well, I think we have a huge advantage of being remote-first or remote only—whatever you call it, remote is natural to us. So, I’d say…
Our remote work policy was not implemented upon any existing system. It is the sole method by which our entire business is built upon.
Can a remote-friendly company have a healthy culture?
Yes definitely, but communication is key. As a group we all understand the culture of the company and what that means, what our core principles…
This takes intention and effort because it is easy to let the days roll by focused on projects and milestones. The team should have a…
Of course! A few things that we do is have team retreats to get together where we all meet in person. This helps bring a…
How do you nurture your company’s culture in a remote work environment?
Annual company retreats, weekly Google hangouts (non-work related), and gif battles on Slack.
I continually advocate the need to communicate, with me and with each other.
Everyone in the company is encouraged to provide ideas, suggestions and contribute to initiatives that they’re interested in and are excited about. Decisions are laid…
What advice would you give to a team considering to go remote?
If you’re going to do it, go all in. Remote doesn’t work well as an option or as a partial solution. Working remotely is a…
You might wonder if this flexibility results in less productivity from our workforce. We’ve actually found this to be the opposite in many cases; when…
Making the transition from office to remote work can be tough. Set-up some clear processes around communication, planning and constantly iterate. Don’t give up on…
What challenges have you encountered building a remote team?
We like to think that we have an advantage since we built the company remotely from the beginning and did not change to working remotely.…
I prefer to think of them as trade offs rather than challenges. Office cultures have plenty of challenges as well and it’s important to remain…
There really haven’t been many challenges to be honest. We’ve loved the entire experience. There are so many perks to remote working that it hasn’t…
What are the most effective tools for remote team communication?
We have: A weekly all hands call. A chat tool like Slack or Hipchat Lots of video conference calls, where we *try* to take notes…
We’re proud “dog-fooders” of our own products– we use Twist exclusively for all team communication, and Todoist to turn our team communication into actionable items.…
We meet in person every three or four months for an all-company meeting where we strategize and work on big projects together in person. Otherwise,…
What has changed about how your remote team operates?
We’ve developed a knowledge base that contains core elements everyone needs to know. Not only do new staff need to study the knowledge base, but…
One of the biggest achievements for Skillcrush is that we have adopted transparent salary tiers where every team member has insight into what their colleagues…
We have gotten smarter about the tools we use, better at documentation and checklists, better at reporting, and we’ve spent more time in-person periodically throughout…
How does your team address different time zone challenges?
Our team works asynchronously and communicates largely via Slack, which keeps us organized across 17 time zones. Keeping an up-to-date shared calendar is also very…
Thankfully this isn’t a big issue, but as our team grows, it will become a challenge. More clearly communicating goals and aligning team members will…
Time zones are always a challenge to address, especially in Remote Year with our global presence. We find that making sure our staff on the…