Remote Work

Internal talk about how to improve remote work

Transcript

1. Remote Work Why it’s cool to work in underpants
2. Agenda •Needs •Employees •Team Leads •Company •Outcomes •Recommendations
3. Needs: Employees •Commitment •Manage priorities •Work autonomously (distraction-free, ownership) •Communication •Write clearly, concise, respectfully •Respect others’ time (e.g. chat talk == shoulder tap, don’t abuse chat mentions) •Report progress: task tracking, dailies… •Don’t go invisible (e.g. salute, notify of going away) •Start meetings on time (or decline in advance)
4. Needs: Team Leads •“Trust if you want trust” •Overcommunication •Keep standup meetings (remote via videoconference) •Frequent one-on-ones •Help others ASAP •Define success based on specific goals (e.g. team KPIs) •Lead by example (e.g. easily contactable, transparent on ongoing work)
5. Needs: Company •Trust •Empowerment •Shared vision •Transparency •No second-class remote citizens (remote-first vs remote-friendly) •Will to learn new collaboration tools •Avoid One-person Teams •Bring whole team together: All-team offsites, events
6. Outcomes •Productivity increases •Collaboration decreases (so encourage it) •Asynchronous flows: Answers often not instant •Global talent market (but remember salaries vary too)
7. Recommendations •“One remote, all remote” •Setup home office space •Define “quiet hours” •Always assume miscommunication over malice •Give context: devlogs, updates, summaries… •Watch out for knowledge silos •Call if something needs quick clarification •Make HQ awesome to work at (so people is eager to go)
8. Recommendations (II) •Reduce meetings (to relevant ones) •Cut out distractions (e.g. do pomodoros) •Set & keep your hours •Have a connection backup (e.g. tether phone data) •Sometimes, nothing beats a physical team meeting •Don’t over abuse communication tools (the fewer the better) •Agree upon core/shared working hours •Share documents or screen to ease explanation/help
9. Recommendations (III) •Agree upon minimal must-use tools (e.g. Zoom, Slack, tmate,...) •Define clearly hardware & software requirements •Headset •Operating system (e.g. no Windows)
10. References •https://www.toptal.com/freelance/how-to-work-remotely-and-still-be-the-best •https://www.helpscout.net/blog/ •http://www.hanselman.com/blog/30TipsForSuccessfulCommunicationAsARemoteWorker.aspx •http://scottberkun.com/2013/remote-work-tips-and-tricks/ (mega list) •Misc notes without source
11. Thank You