When I founded Social Element back in 2002, it was a remote-first business.
Of course, at the start, it was just a handful of people to manage, so it was fairly straightforward. But over the years, the business has grown to employ hundreds of talented people spread across the world. And it’s still a remote-first business.
That’s the fantastic thing about opting for the virtual model – you create opportunities and discover tremendous potential, and you’re not limited by geography.
You can choose from exceptional talent who don’t have to fit the traditional 9-to-5 office worker lifestyle. This helps you build the diverse teams that modern businesses need to thrive.
Starting Social Element was about creating a global company from the get-go, and building a distributed remote team supercharged our growth. For example, I could sign up global brands knowing that I had people in their domestic markets who were ideally placed to work on their social media – and not just in-office hours.
I’m hearing a lot of people saying they’re being forced back into an office (those real estate costs need justifying, after all!).
And I’m also hearing employers saying you can’t foster creativity unless you’re in a single building. That’s simply not true – but you do have to work harder at it.
Making remote working work for your business
Of course, every company is different, but there are some core principles that anyone can use to make virtual or remote working work for you:
Approach it with trust and respect
Trust your team to do fantastic work and meet their deadlines while working remotely. If someone’s performance falls short, handle it as you would if they were in an office. We’re all adults, and we all need to work out how to manage our time and conflicting priorities. By giving people flexibility and showing that you trust them, people are much more likely to go the extra mile when you need them to.
Get the culture right by focusing on people first
Right from the start, I wanted my business to be the kind of company people wanted to work for. This meant putting people first and creating a culture of trust and acceptance while making people feel like they could challenge each other’s ideas. Culture isn’t a set of values in a document; it’s a thousand small interactions that happen between people every day. We all need to do our part to make our ideal culture a reality.
Build strong teams
As I mentioned in my last post on psychological safety, healthy conflict is essential to progress. It requires a culture of psychological safety, and I’ve found that one of the best ways to help things along is by providing opportunities for face-to-face contact—especially meet-ups that include food (I’m a big believer that eating together bonds a team). It’s important for people to have some time to relax together and share ideas in a more informal setting. It’s also fair to say that creative ideas and bigger-picture strategies can be sparked when you’re in the same environment together, but that doesn’t mean it has to be every day. It’s all about balance and choice.
Overcommunicate
It can be easy to miss information and feel out of the loop, which can cause anxiety and make people feel like they’re being excluded. It’s also important to factor in different communication and learning styles and communicate in a way that’s accessible for all team members. It may feel like overkill but you have to repeat your important messages around 10 times and in different formats e.g. town halls, roundups, chat rooms, email etc.
Add some routine
Mimic in-office routines by having your teams hold regular and consistent catch-up calls that people won’t want to miss, and try to replicate that water cooler chat into the day before getting down to work updates.
Don’t forget the feedback!
You want people to feel valued and respected and that their great work is noticed and appreciated. We build a regular shout-out section into our monthly all-hands.
Model effective boundary-setting behaviour
The best managers of remote workers model effective boundary-setting. Things like:
- Having a secure space to work that’s largely free from interruptions
- Taking regular breaks
- Getting away from the computer to eat lunch
- Building in a mini ‘commute’ that involves leaving the house that signals starting and stopping work
- Protecting personal time, and resting (rather than working) when sick
Things won’t always be perfect, and people don’t always operate at 100%. People and businesses can only truly thrive in a remote environment if flexibility is also included. And remote first doesn’t equal no in-person contact, it’s all about balance.
Remote work isn’t just about changing the location of our workspace. It’s about creating a culture that embraces flexibility and leads with empathy.
