READ THIS NOW: the 5 habits of highly effective people. Remote working done right by our people at PYNK
Rupert Barksfield | COO/Co-founder
Fessing up
Okay, so I’m gonna come clean straight out of the gate, our Growth Marketeer Zack showed me ShareThrough. Simply enter your blog post headline and you’re given a score on the likelihood of clicks. Being as obsessed with results as I am, I ran the title to this blog through it a few times. The good news is that if you clicked on the title and are reading this — then you’re a good-egg in my book. The bad news is, tools such as these are making it easier to get your attention. Free will?!
The reason for writing this piece in the first place was to share some of the hints and tips I have learnt by running a remote working company or as the kids say a ‘decentralised office’.
I both like and dislike remote working in equal parts. The reality of running a startup these days is that you have to set up remote working in order to save costs and find the best co-workers.
None of this makes working ‘easy’. In fact, I’ve found over the years that not spending time together on a daily basis means you have to work a little harder at keeping the team, culture and vibe of the company together.
By no means have we got it perfect, but we are pretty effective at how we are working right now. So, allow me to show you how we got there.
1) Tools and rules
I suffer from Slack fatigue like everyone else. That being said it is a necessary evil. Whilst other options exist, in the startup-world, every accelerator, community and group has a Slack channel. It makes it easier to switch between groups if you are all on the same tool!
We try to maintain discipline in the way we use Slack at Pynk — with rules automatically sent to new team members joining our channel. We call it ‘Pynk Slackiquette’ and covers things from ‘threading’ messages (a pet bugbear of mine when not done) to ‘courtesy’.
These rules help Slack become more manageable and efficient. It’s all pretty obvious stuff. Do a google search for ‘slack etiquette’ and you’ll soon find some that apply to you and your company. The tool we use to automatically inform our new members is called ‘Greetbot’ and it’s awesome!
One final tip: don’t be afraid to change tools if they aren’t working for the team. We’ve been through three Social Management platforms in as many months — and it’s been well worth the effort.
2) Transparency and Clarity
We tried working with a management hierarchy early on. It didn’t work! In early stage startups, everyone’s the same. After-all, we’re all Pynk on the inside. We are all giving up opportunities, dedicating time and taking on huge risk in order to be a part of this company and make it a success.
While everyone knows who their line manager is, the important thing within our team at Pynk is that we simply have no barriers. You want to know how much the person next to you is being paid? Just ask! It’s likely not much and if you have a problem, you raise it, we discuss, and we move on. It goes way beyond just questions, and we consistently communicate where we are with the company, progress and challenges that lie ahead.
3) It’s good to talk
Talking is super important in startup life and especially when working remotely. Some days, you can feel as if you are on your own and life can get a little lonely. It’s important to keep a little humour when we do get to talk and have some fun, but equally be there when others feel low.
Putting the right meetings in, with the right team members on the call is something we pay a lot of attention to. Since all of our team members are short on time, we regularly review meetings and assess if they are truly adding value. If not, we change the format and who is in attendance. We keep meticulous notes and detailed actions so each team member is clear on their deliverables. And any new members to a meeting can go back through the action points to recap if needed.
4) Share the wins
In a remote team, not only is the talking important, so is keeping everyone up to date at any given time. It’s a constant battle as startups move so quickly. You have to be light on your feet to keep-up. We try, where possible, for all team members to update others on what they are doing and what ‘wins’ they have had however minor.
When you you don’t see each other every day, don’t hear from team members, and don’t have anyone to say ‘yay’ I’ve done this, it can leave you feeling as if the company is not making progress — when in fact, the opposite is true. That’s why it’s so important to consistently update the wider team and share the wins, so everyone feels the company momentum.
5) Focus and Discipline
It’s taken me a week to write this post — and while that might seem a long time, I pride myself at focussing on the things that add most value. And my priority right now is getting shareholder agreements out!
Focus and discipline are most important when running a remote team. The challenge is in allowing the flexibility for different ways of working, and different working patterns throughout the day. Some of our team members keep more traditional working hours (which in start ups is 8am — 8pm!), while others are burning the midnight oil.
We keep this pretty simple internally. As long as you get it done by the time you promise, we don’t mind if you play Warcraft all night and do it in 5 mins before it needs to be delivered, or you’ve gone without sleep. As long as it’s right, and up to scratch that’s fine by us. This runs through our company culture and everyone in the team understands if you don’t deliver as an individual, the team won’t get there. As we say, “‘because none of us are as smart as all of us”.
If you’re working in a startup, I hope you found this article useful. And if you want to find out more about Pynk feel free to slide into our Telegram group.
Rupert Barksfield
Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that this information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by Pynk One Ltd. and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining from making) any investment decisions. Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. When investing, your capital is at risk and you may recover less than the initial investment.
