RESOURCES FOR (SUDDENLY) REMOTE TEAMS
We are in a strange time. While most of us plan and prepare for many things, planning and preparing for a global pandemic feels like a whole new world.
It’s a fascinating example of the need for leadership agility - the idea that we can plan and prepare, but that we need to be adaptable and willing to shift and change based on what’s happening around us and what’s needed in the moment. Now is certainly a test of our leadership agility.
One example of this need for agility is the sudden shift to remote work. If you or your team are finding yourself navigating these new remote waters, here are some tips and resources that might help along the way.
Acknowledge that there will likely be a learning curve.
Often, building a remote-first culture takes years of conversation, intention, and preparation. Moving to a remote-first culture, suddenly and abruptly, will likely include a few bumps along the way. Name this, and give each other grace along the way. Remember that everyone is likely doing the best they can with what they have on board.
Set clear expectations up front for how you will communicate.
In this new normal, what will be your preferred channels for different types of communication? On many remote-first teams, the tier of communication is as follows:
Slack (or other messaging software) for real-time communication throughout the day
Email for non-urgent, less time-bound communication
Asana, Trello, Notion, Basecamp, or another project management system for managing ongoing projects, tasks, and related updates
Dropbox or Google Drive for file sharing
Zoom (or another video conferencing software) for video calls
In addition to determining what tools you will use, determine how you will use these tools. For example:
Is everyone expected to be on Slack during the entire work day?
During video calls, is everyone expected to have their video turned on?
If so, is there an expectation of business casual (on top) during these video calls?
How will we reach each other for urgent issues and questions during this period?
Establish these expectations and guidelines up front, and be willing to adjust as you go.
Focus on results and outcomes, instead of “being online.”
The potential shadow side of a remote-first culture is a situation in which everyone is continuously connected to Slack, communicating constantly throughout the day, but never getting anything done. Think of this as the tyranny of the urgent; in a Slack-heavy culture, communication can feel constant, urgent, and oppressive - squeezing out time to do higher importance, yet lower urgency work.
Have conversations up front about expectations for “being online,” about response times for Slack or your messaging software, and about how to carve out time for uninterrupted, heads down work time in this new normal of a remote-first structure.
Have conversations about priorities, results, and outcomes. Focus on those - versus focusing on “who is online” and how much someone is contributing to online banter that is happening throughout the day via your messaging software.
Continue to Build Relationships.
Working remotely can feel lonely for some - especially those who are used to going to an office, with colleagues, each day. Find ways to build connection virtually. This might include a slack channel where you collect photos of team pets, a slack channel for ‘virtual coffee’ or non-work related chatter, or other creative ways to stay in touch through texts, calls, or even good old fashioned snail mail.
Some enjoy “virtual office hours” for reducing loneliness that comes with remote work. The idea is - open up a Zoom (or other video conference) video call with a couple of colleagues, check in via video, and then leave your video on while you’re working. This creates time for independent work while creating the feel of working alongside others.
Remember, also, that virtual communication is often easily misinterpreted. It lacks tone of voice, facial expressions, and the nuance that we get when we sit across from someone and have a conversation. Talk about virtual communication styles up front. For example - if you send concise, 3-sentence emails that are sometimes interpreted as being dismissive, talk about this up front. If you struggle to convey your tone in writing, or have a hard time with spelling, name things things directly. Talk about these things up front. Get them out in the open and have conversations. Practice the skill of design - which means setting up relationships, conversations, and ways of engaging ahead of time before jumping right in.
Design questions you might consider for your newly remote environment are:
What’s your virtual communication style?
What are your preferred methods of virtual communication?
How do we want to build relationships and stay connected during this period of virtual work?
How will we catch potential misunderstandings on the spot, so that we don’t let them fester?
What’s your work-from-home situation like? What should I know about you/your environment so that I can best support you virtually?
What do you need from me during this time?
What do I need from you?
How can we make this period as successful, easeful, and productive as possible?
How will we talk through issues that arise?
Acknowledge that Everyone’s “Work from Home” Situation is Different.
Many people don’t have a quiet, serene home office. This means that people might be working from the kitchen table, from the laundry room, or from the basement. Dogs or kids might be present - especially in our current climate as schools and daycares are closing throughout the country.
Working from home assumes a certain level of privilege - that we have a home to work from, with internet and a laptop, and that we have a place to work that is relatively quiet and free of distractions. This is not the case for many people. Acknowledge that everyone is coming from a different place, and that the process will likely be imperfect. Once again, give each other grace.
Consider it an Experiment.
There’s a meme circulating around that says, “I guess we’re about to find out which meetings could’ve been emails after all…”
It’s true. We’re currently being forced to accept that all of these things that feel so important in the context of our everyday whirlwinds might not be so important after all. The meetings are canceled and the world will go on. Our conference is postponed and the world will go on. We can stop going to the office and the world will go on.
From an agile perspective, this is an incredible (albeit unexpected) exercise in piloting remote work, working out the bugs, and then iterating accordingly.
Keep track of the successes, failures, and things to iterate and tweak. Who knows - maybe this will shape the course of your organization’s structure moving forward and make us all happier and more productive in the long-run.
Here are some additional resources as you’re piloting remote-first work with your teams:
Remote - Office Not Required by Jason Fried and David Heinenmeier Hansson. Jason and David are the founders of 37 Signals (the company that created Basecamp) and have been building remote cultures and teams since long before it became popular. Download several free chapters here. If you like their style, you may also enjoy their new book, It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work. It’s all about building a calm company - which feels timely for our current global climate.
Getting Virtual Teams Right by Keith Ferrazi, HBR. In this article, Keith encourages thinking about Right Team, Right Leadership, Right Touch, and Right Technology in order to create a successful remote-first culture.
Making Virtual Teams Work: 10 Basic Principles by Michael Watkins, HBR. This is a great list of straight-forward, practical and tactical tips for making virtual teams work well.
How to Run a Remote Team by Wade Brill, Zapier. Zapier has had a remote-first culture from the beginning. They’ve made it work over years of tremendous growth and are a thought leader when it comes to this topic. While some of the tips in this article are focused on building teams from the beginning, they force us look at our team make-up in a new way. Do we have the right people - who can work autonomously and with high levels of personal ownership and accountability in this new normal?
What Everyone Should Know about Running Remote Meetings by Paul Axtell, HBR. A great list of actionable strategies to make remote meetings run better.
Why Remote Work Thrives in Some Companies and Fails in Others by Sean Graber, HBR. This article urges looking just as much at processes (and modeling these processes at all levels of the organization) as at technology.
A Working From Home Manual in Disguise by Austin Kleon. Preview: “Wear a robe with pockets for your pencil and notebook.” :)
Are you currently in the process of moving to a remote-first culture? Or, have you been doing it for awhile? What’s currently working well for you?
Thank you for reading - stay safe and healthy during these interesting times that we’re in.
With Gratitude,
Sarah
