Last week we shared the basics of managing your remote team. In this week’s blog installment, we will share with you the more practical side of managing a remote workforce. Our co-founders have tried and tested a plethora of different applications, all aimed at helping people connect with each other remotely. Below you can find an overview of their favorites.
Communication
By far, our favorite app to use when it comes to communicating with each other is:
Slack
Some of the definite pros of using it include the possibility of a user adding a status update next to their icon. For example, “Do not disturb”, “Off to lunch” or “Commuting”. This feature allows us to be more aware of what everyone is up to during the day. Also, it helps us know if it’s an appropriate time to chat with them. If they are in a meeting we can wait until they finish. In addition, the channels that you can create help us create a better culture in the company. Setting these up is a good response to the communication that is usually present in office environments. Some of our favorites include: #Random, which is the place we discuss anything and everything we have seen outside of work topics, #Sports, where we can discuss the latest scores in different sports we find interesting and #Appreciation, in which we praise the good work of our colleagues and remind them they are a highly valued part of the team.
Zoom
When it comes to video conferences which we have set up with each other and also with partners all of the time, Zoom has proven to be the best. Some of the features it boosts include screen sharing or remote control of a colleague’s computer, which can be an immense help when it needs to serve as the more traditional IT support function.
Trello
Are you unsure how to organise everyone’s tasks for the day in order for them to be visible and easily accessible by everyone? In a traditional office setting a white board is usually the “it-thing” to have in order to do that. Well Trello has you covered in that department. You can set up as many “boards” as you would like, in order to cover different business operations and you can assign tasks below each of them. That way you achieve a high visibility into who’s doing what each day and you give your employees an already set-up task list in the morning.
Sharing
In a business there is usually a lot of information that different people need access to. For example, these could be files or passwords. We make use of Dropbox and Google Drive to make our files as easily accessible as possible. A big plus of Drive for instance is that you can decide who has access to your files. However, you can also keep some of them stored only for your personal use at the same time.
As you can imagine with all the programs mentioned there are more than a few accounts each person will need to keep track of, and perhaps they would like a different password for each of them. This is where 1 Passw@rd becomes very handy. It is a safe and secure way to store your account information in one place.
A few words on culture
When it comes to organisational culture, I have always liked this quote from Peter Drucker:
Culture eats strategy for breakfast
The way I understand this statement, if you spend the time (and often resources) on creating a favorable culture for everyone involved in your organization, it will more than likely result in more engaged and proactive employees. After all, remote organization or not, your “human resources” are what constitutes your company. With the help of implementing all of the above-mentioned programs, you’ll be off to a good start. Communicating and making your employees feel welcome and part of one team with a common goal. Before we finish this two-part journey into the management of a remote team, I would like to leave you with this valuable advice from our co-founder:
When it comes to your cultural values, you should always assume good intentions. If they’re not instantly replying to a message or a phone call, it does not necessarily mean they are not working!
I hope you are enjoying our content. Send us an email if you have any questions or comments.
Written by Trayana Milcheva. I am the newest addition to the RemoteMore team. I became interested in remote work during my HR studies and am pleased to have the opportunity to work with such aspiring young entrepreneurs.
