How is Squared Away a Fully Remote Company?
Working from Home
Working from home with a team that’s in the office can be isolating. The in-office team has its community, and it’s common that the “wfh” or Work from Home crew will be left out of casual conversation and interaction. For a few days, this isn’t concerning. After a period of weeks to months, this can altogether go someone feeling like their not part of the “tribe.” These bonds are essential for teams to thrive and businesses to grow. With a little creativity and getting comfortable with tools, you will find it is a great way to do business.
Encrypted Video Meetings
Many tools can bridge the in-office to the fully-remote gap. Two of the most popular, and free, tools include Zoom and Loom. Communication is the basis of human interaction. Zoom is a video calling platform, so you can look your teammates in the eye as you discuss topics, and it allows the potential for screen sharing. Even better? You can hand over (approve) your teammate to control your screen from their computer while on a call. Real-time collaboration from all corners of the world, on a fully secure and encrypted video calling platform.
Show Don’t Tell
Loom is a video-sharing platform that allows the user to take a real-time video, with voice instructions, of how to handle an issue a teammate is facing. Where Loom goes one step further than other video platforms, is they show a video of the user in the top right corner of the screen. As the user is taking a video and explaining a process to a teammate, Loom includes a video of the user’s face as they speak to their teammates. When you tell someone how to do something, the chances are, there will be multiple different outcomes.
Take our team’s example, where we were each given the same set of instructions (spoken by the voice of a teammate) on how to fold and rip a piece of paper. There were over fifty teammates on this call, and there was not a single duplicate that resulted: fifty teammates and fifty different results from paper tearing.
Can you imagine how differently instructions can be taken with a more complex task, even if the instructions felt simple? Leverage Loom videos to help your team be efficient in their work and increase productivity. We love saving our Loom videos in our team’s Google Drive, so there’s easy reference later. One five-minute Loom video has saved us hours of re-explaining a process within our organization. They are incredibly helpful for our newer teammates that are joining after our team has already learned methods, and they make great resources for long-term teammates.
50 Teammates, 50 different results, 1 set of instructions #squaredawaylife
Are Work Phones a Thing of the Past?
Slack pulls in to provide a separate, reliable space for consistent communication between teammates. It’s as efficient as text messaging, feels similar to AIM Instant Messaging (for those who remember the AOL days), but takes it one step further with its ease of use between messaging multiple people in a channel, sharing files and collaborating with teammates online. Even better, there’s no dial-up connection, and it performs as quickly as text messaging.
We love that there is a work-life integration without infringing on your side of your phone or computer (your text messages are free from work so you can focus on friends and family). Slack and similar platforms have reduced a need for work phones and have made people more mobile. File sharing on your phone or iPad instead of carrying your laptop around. Need to run to the grocery store or go to a Doctor’s appointment? Never fear, Slack has you covered. You won’t miss a meaningful conversation or announcement, and you can still separate your work life from your home life, all on one device.
A quick Slack reminder of our team’s all-hands meeting.
Over-communicating
When communicating in a remote environment, remember the importance of speaking clearly and effectively. Text-base communication does not have a tone (email, text message, Slack message, etc.). If you are thinking twice about sending an email (concerns that it may be misinterpreted), speak over a video call, or at the very least over a phone call. Whenever possible, get on a video call. The likelihood of having someone’s full attention drastically increases, and you can effectively communicate with them through direct eye contact.
Culture and Dynamics
If you’re in a fully remote environment, your team likely won’t see you every day. If life happens and you are having personal or family issues, communicate about it. Honesty and vulnerability go a long way in building effective communication and trust. If you rely on your team, they will likely do the same in return. Unit cohesion creates well-integrated, successful teams. Getting to know one another on a vulnerable level strengthens these bonds.
Meditation apps and health/wellness are other vital areas of focus when working remotely. My lunch breaks are commonly 30-minute spin bike rides accompanied by a quick microwave of the food I prepped (or a grab and go frozen meal/protein shake if I’m on limited time). There are many days where I work through lunch and take my dog for a walk during a break between meetings in the afternoons. Meditating each morning before starting in on my workday is a large part of how stress stays low. The Calm app is a beneficial tool, as moving to remote work, or waiting to hear back from someone while working online can be stressful when there are important decisions that need to be made. Structure your days, so they work for you. Being fully remote has significant benefits, where you can time block and structure your days in ways that allow you to get the most out of your life while remaining a productive member of the team.
How is Squared Away fully remote?
Squared Away grew to 90+ teammates by relying on Slack and Zoom as our two communication tools. Google Suite (docs, sheets, calendar, and email) is our primary work system. We do everything online.
When I tell friends and family that I work with a fully remote team, with no “home base” or “central office,” they look at me like I’m either crazy or working for an overseas scam artist. Neither of these are true. I never thought twice about it until I was questioned about how it works? I immediately said, “what do you mean, how does it work? We meet on video call regularly, we are all talking on Slack throughout the workday, we constantly collaborate on Docs and Sheets, and we can all be trusted to handle our work.” Looking back, it is incredible how much we’ve done with two tools: Slack and Zoom.
Realistically, we can’t continue with only those two; we’re currently integrating Front, Pipedrive and Delighted, but to hit $1 million in sales by using free tools? That is incredible.
It Can Be Done
I share all of this information to encourage entrepreneurs and founders to keep it simple. Tools are fantastic if they serve a purpose. If you’re a hiker, you’ll know what I mean when I say you need to “pair down” your business and focus on the core necessities. You need to communicate, sell, and serve. The lower the cost, the more money you have to add to your bottom line. Free tools can be a massive asset to your company, such as Zoom or Slack, that you can upgrade over time.
#SquaredAwayLife
My Favorite part of remote work and #squaredawaylife? The mountains are my office, as is the beach, the road, different parts of the U.S. and anywhere I want to be. I haven’t missed a beat with my kiddos and family thanks to the beauty of remote work.
Not Sponsored
This article is not sponsored or backed by Slack, Zoom or any of the other tools Squared Away uses. We are sharing tools that work for us and allow us to be a remote-first team.
Squared Away is comprised of military spouses who are your trusted assistants. We help CEOs, VCs, executives, and startup teams get their time back. US-based. #SquaredAwayLife #ChiefExecutiveAssistant
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Ready to get Squared Away? Email Michelle@gosquaredaway.com.
