Remote-First: Managing Distributed Teams
Building distributed teams are crucial to scaling an organization. It provides a greater pool of talent and can significantly reduce costs. What’s more, “remote-friendly” and “remote first” are fast becoming the standard operating model for tech companies. If an organization is not “remote first” it is much more difficult for it to attract top talent and keep them happy.
However, for remote teams to yield desired results, several factors need to be considered:
- Communications
- Documentation
- Onboarding
- Culture
Team Communication
In an in-office setting, communication is organic and easy. We can convey information to one another on an ad-hoc basis. This is inefficient, but it’s easy to reach out to gain additional context and avoid inertia. The ease of collaboration experienced in an office environment isn’t as readily available to remote workers or distributed teams.
Guidelines and frameworks need to be created and communicated to enable teams and individual productivity in a distributed scenario.
- Async-First Communications
- Outcome-Driven Communications
- Communication Channels
