There\u2019s one key question on the minds of organizations with engineering teams: how to attract and keep top remote development talent. In fact, this is a crucial question for anyone looking to create a successful remote team and enjoy the benefits of\u00a0remote developers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(If you\u2019re not sure if a remote team is a good idea in your case, then don\u2019t hesitate to check out our post comparing\u00a0in-house and remote developers<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most important factor when it comes to securing and maintaining remote talent is\u00a0your organization\u2019s culture<\/em>. Remote developers want to work for companies that provide a stimulating and rewarding work environment… and they avoid companies that don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this short guide, we\u2019ll show you the practical steps you can take to create a remote-friendly culture in your company. This will allow you to attract the best remote developers and prevent them from going to your competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking for top talent fast? See how <\/em>Arc<\/a> can help you:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Find developers, designers, marketers, and more Hire top talent with Arc risk-free \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n First, we’ll discuss the practical company policies you should adopt. These are based upon measures taken by various business leaders who rely on remote teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remote developers value freedom and individual choice. To create a remote-friendly culture you need to promote personal responsibility and autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You do this by focusing less on supervising input (how much the developer is working), and more on actual output (the end result). Micro-managing is definitely a turn-off. Give a little trust, and reap the rewards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to\u00a0Greg Ciotti, Content Marketing Lead at Shopify, \u201cFires only burn when they have room to breathe, and you\u2019ll end up suffocating enthusiasm, motivation, and camaraderie by looming over people all day, every day.\u201d So, make sure you adopt a management style focused on individual responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This translates into logging progress, not effort. Ask your developers to log once per day what they were working on \u2014 and the results. This should be visible to everyone on the team. It will\u00a0promote great virtual collaboration<\/a>\u00a0and keep everyone up to speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, this does not mean abolishing a hierarchy of decision-making. As\u00a0GitLab\u00a0emphasizes, \u201cYou still have a hierarchical organization, but with a focus on output instead of input.\u201d You should make it clear who is responsible for making specific decisions, and when it is alright for team members to act without approval from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, when bugs are discovered, it is alright for developers to log them and proceed to fix the situation immediately? The remote developers should know the answer to, and limits of, this question. This will also help prevent potential workflow blockages due to time zone differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Here\u2019s How to Best Motivate and Reward Your Remote Engineering Team<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Management style is one thing, but when it comes down to managing your remote team, your job is much easier if you employ the right processes and tools. You need to take care of four different areas: project management, documentation, time tracking, and communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? To efficiently manage your remote team, you need to make sure that everyone has access to all the required information. That\u2019s why documentation is absolutely vital. You should record all information in a suitable format, and store it in an easily-accessible place<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides, everyone on the team needs to have access to what everyone else is doing. That\u2019s where project management software comes in. It will help you keep track of responsibilities, establish clear communication channels and provide continuous feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a manager, you may want to know how your team\u2019s time is spent. That\u2019s when time tracking software comes in. However, many remote team managers choose not to track their team\u2019s time \u2014 instead, they only track the results produced by the team, and trust that team members can manage their own schedules and productivity. A little trust goes a long way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Top remote teams use video hang-outs, splitting developers into pairs, and Agile development practices to help streamline their processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to remote team productivity, we cannot overstress the importance of 1-on-1 time with each developer. In fact,\u00a0Mike Auzenne and Mark Horstman, who train managers for Fortune 1000 companies, endorse 1-on-1 time as the single most effective management tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve seen managers in top remote teams aim to get 1-on-1 time with every developer at least once a week. It’s an excellent opportunity for managers and remote developers to get to know each other. Each will also understand the other\u2019s communication style, and managers will be able to give feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember that performance reviews shouldn\u2019t be the first time that managers communicate negative feedback. This could demotivate the employee and lower productivity. 1-on-1 meetings are a valuable opportunity to work through any difficulties and make sure projects stay on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: How to Build a Successful Remote Developer Onboarding Experience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Buffer\u2019s\u00a0State of Remote Work Report\u00a0in 2019<\/a> reveals that by far the biggest challenge for remote workers is unplugging from work. Being unable to disconnect from work disrupts productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buffer\u2019s research shows that setting minimum time off for employees is the best way to proceed. Just allowing remote workers to take vacations doesn\u2019t necessarily help. They may fear that you see them as less productive if they take longer vacations. As an example, Keith Nerdin, CEO of Swivel, decided to give his four-person remote team a mandatory 3 days off after learning about the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since remote developers value their flexibility,\u00a0consider minimizing \u201coffice hours\u201d\u00a0\u2013 mandatory availability timeslots. If you do decide to have them, then there must be a good reason, and a suitable time discussed with the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, make sure your managers check in with your remote team members to see if they’re managing their time well. This encourages camaraderie, and developers will feel listened to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also try <\/em>Arc<\/a>, your<\/em> shortcut to the world’s best remote talent:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Access 450,000 top developers, designers, and marketers <\/a>Try Arc and hire top talent now \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Performance reviews remain key to the success of any team \u2014 even if recently ongoing 1-on-1 meetings and regular team reviews are becoming more common. When dealing with a remote team, there are some special considerations you need to be aware of for performance reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rule number one: set clear metrics and expectations. It\u2019s great to review employees on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides, since performance reviews can be nerve-wracking, it’s good practice to make it clear when they will be scheduled, what employees can expect from them, and how they can prepare. This will reduce fears and promote openness and transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Synchronous vs Asynchronous Communication for Remote Teams<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking at employees from just the manager\u2019s perspective may give a one-sided picture.\u00a0Phil Haack, who worked as an engineering manager at GitHub, developed a method for analyzing employees from multiple angles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He recommends looking at\u00a0peer reviews<\/strong>,\u00a0self-evaluation,<\/strong>\u00a0and the\u00a0manager\u2019s own evaluation during the performance review<\/strong>. This gives three perspectives on each employee, and a much more accurate overall picture of performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One particularly simple style of peer review is known as the Start\/Stop\/Continue style. Ask each employee to name three to five coworkers they would like to receive feedback from. Then give each of those coworkers a sheet with three boxes: START, STOP, CONTINUE. They will review their coworker in each category (i.e., what should the person being reviewed start, stop, and continue doing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can do self-evaluations in a similar fashion. Ask employees to identify their areas of strength, and where they would like to improve. They can use the same criteria managers will use for evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another element that makes your company culture great for remote work is the support available to employees. When employees are not on-site, it’s more challenging to check in with everyone and make sure everyone is happy\u2026 but it\u2019s important that you do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Building a sense of community can be a challenge with a remote team. It\u2019s essential to make it clear that you\u2019re all in the same boat and set some clear guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One guideline recommended by the remote team at\u00a0Zapier\u00a0is to remember Hanlon\u2019s Razor: always assume ignorance, not malice, when something goes wrong. Mutual trust and transparency are values that should be promoted across the team. Your team needs to focus on accomplishing the project goals – not on ego and office politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should also create a virtual space for recreational activities and casual banter. A #watercooler channel on Slack is a great idea! Many companies have seen increased empathy and team spirit by adopting this practice, including Revelry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Are Personal User Manuals Useful for Managing Remote Teams?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Emotional support is the other key pillar. A highly effective way to make sure remote employees have their emotional needs met is by setting time aside to connect with every remote team member through video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a remote team manager, ensure you encourage your remote team to get in touch when something is troubling them. This can be something personal, or something work-related. This makes employees feel part of the team, and feel welcome to ask for help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And finally, company retreats are a great way to get your employees to meet in person. Remote retreats boost productivity and help the team work better together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zapier, for example, organizes two annual retreats, and they even share\u00a0their method<\/a>. You can adopt a similar practice for your company too, within your budgetary limits \u2014 that\u2019s if you want to have a winning culture!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Remote Work Glossary: 50+ Words and Phrases on WFH & Virtual Careers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s it! We\u2019ve covered the key areas necessary to build a remote-friendly culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember<\/strong>: attracting and keeping the best talent will be much easier once you incorporate the three pillars discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the right company policies, performance review techniques, and support systems in place, you\u2019ll create a nourishing culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also try <\/em>Arc<\/a>, your<\/em> shortcut to the world’s best remote talent:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Access 450,000 top developers, designers, and marketers <\/a>Try Arc and hire top talent now \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ensure a remote work culture at your organization and in your team that’s productive, helpful, engaging, and uplifting. Here’s how.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-remote"],"yoast_head":"\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Freelance or full-time remote + fully vetted<\/em>
\u26a1\ufe0f Save up to 80% with global hires<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPractical Company Policies to Adopt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Management Style<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Remote Management Tools & Processes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
1-on-1 Meeting Time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Vacations & Time Off<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Vetted and ready to interview<\/em>
\u26a1\ufe0f Freelance or full-time<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPerformance Review Techniques<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Clear Metrics & Expectations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Look at Remote Developers from Multiple Perspectives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Support for Remote Employees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Sense of Community<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Emotional Support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Company Retreats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Vetted and ready to interview<\/em>
\u26a1\ufe0f Freelance or full-time<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n