Creating A Good-Vibe Communication Culture For Remote Teams
Work-from-anywhere policy is now embraced by many tech startups and enterprises. Of course, remote communication and how we can still deliver the goods to our users/customers become more challenging. But worry not. Here’s my take on some cultures we would like to hold on in order to create a positive vibe in our remote team.
Before we get this rolling, we should realize that remote communication has its clear cons compared to the non-virtual communication:
- No tone
A simple “did you do it?” can be easily misinterpreted as bossy and negative if being read by someone who is just having a really bad day. - Disconnection
Of course, texting or even a zoom meeting is different than talking to your peers in the pantry. It’s just, for the lack of a better word, different. - Bad or different assumptions often come uninvited
A bit close to the “no tone”. How often we find a feature-request “create a login button” yet missing proper details. What’s the color? What’s the next screen if login successful? What about the opacity? Any rounded corners? Should we use the blue or the green theme? And so on. When engineers jump in right away, only to find out what they’re coding is actually not what people want, things may get sour.
So, in this article we would like to introduce several things to minimize these effects so that we can communicate with our remote peers better in order to achieve common goals.
0. Trust your team members
I cannot emphasize this enough. I mean, when a team decides to embrace a remote working environment, where you don’t see what your peers are doing, that means we already put the trust in its place. We trust that every single member of our team will hold their responsibility dearly.
So, please avoid things that can make this remote working arrangement toxic, especially the trust-related issues.
Avoid the “constant surveillance” culture such as bring on the camera all the time or introduce some keyboard logger software. I mean, seriously?
Also, please avoid the question “What are you up to now”. Talking behind people’s back “Is he actually working?”. Or even judging people’s work quality by looking at how active they are in the Telegram group, or Slack or whatever you guys are using. Well, not everyone is all-chatty type. Even for many software engineers, coding requires a great deal of concentration. So when they’re quiet, trust them that they are doing their jobs instead.
Of course, a functional, trusting remote team uses good remote work management policies that are based on deliverables and performance. Things such as Kanban board, daily standup (if you’re still using it), pull request review, and so on and I know how to strike and mix all these things are another topic altogether.
But the bottomline for a functional, good-vibe remote team is trust. Ensure that it’s already in its place.
1. Excessive “thank you” is always good
A “thank you” will make your text tone somehow more friendly. Not only that, it shows that you’re appreciative for whatever your peers did, whether revamping a homepage theme color, get a new API ready, or even simply answering your questions. So, please. Say thank you all the time, for (almost) whatever reasons. Thank you!
2. Say the magic word, please!
Well, as our parents always told us when we were kids. “Please” simply gets rid of the bossy, unfriendly tone. Even if you’re the boss, the manager or even the CEO. Could you please just say “please”, please? Remember, this is a team. Not a military camp.
3. Pretend that you know less/Be humble
What I mean by this is by using phrases such as “IMHO” just before voicing your thoughts or by pretending to ask with “Don’t you think”, “Isn’t it..” when voicing your critics.
I know, for some, this will create a rather uncertainty persona. But I beg to differ. Even if we’re the SME of an area, we can still introduce humbleness and avoid bossiness by saying “IMHO” at the beginning of our sentence. If you already established a brand that you’re the expert, “IMHO” will not make your thoughts weigh less. In fact, by being humble, you let them know that you’re still willing to accept other opinions. This creates openness and drives continuous learning not only for ourselves, but also for the rest of the team..
After all, “IMHO” at the beginning or “my 2c” at the end creates a positive culture in the team. But this is my only 2c. =)
4. Write the extra details
Yes, we have this laziness when it comes to state something that is so obvious. Yes, a “delete button” is with a red background. Of course, showing a modal when doing a confirmation is the standard. But it turns out, it will actually much better when even the obvious is clearly stated.
In a remote team, not all people work the same clock as we do. Some of them prefer morning. Some prefer in the late hours.
Imagine if you have an engineer named Jack and a designer named Chuck. Jack prefers the morning hours, while Chuck is comfortable in the late hours.
Then at one early morning for example, Jack asked in JIRA “This delete button, when pressed should we show a confirmation modal?”
Jack waits the whole day and only got a reply from Chuck at 830 PM, “Yes, Bro! As usual, the confirmation modal should be shown before deletion”.
And Jack starts the work the next day. That’s not so productive, isn’t it? And this scenario can be prevented altogether when the obvious is stated in the first place.
I know you guys are usually cool with each other within your team. But when this kind of communication happens all the time, it would take the positive vibe away. So, please… write the extra details. It’s good for all of us.
5. Be honest, always
It’s true that no one from the office can see you besides your Slack or Telegram online status. But please don’t lie.
If we don’t feel like working in the morning, then we can tell our team.
If we have to do our afternoon gym session, then we can tell our team.
If we have to pick up the kids from school, then we can tell our team.
If we want to offer our daily prayers, we can also tell our team.
When a startup embraces a remote working culture, it means they put the trust on their team members (remember?). Even for a simple lie such as, “I’m on it” while you’re actually having dinner with your friends. Yes, you can still catch up in your next available time, but once you lie to your team.. then the trust breaks. Just don’t do it.
Thanks so much for reading until the end.
PS:
Sekolah.mu and all its associates (Karier.mu, Talentics.id) are opening many remote tech positions. And yes, we are an awesome remote team.
Apply now at: https://jobs.talentics.id/sekolahmu?tab=jobs
