How do you keep your remote team engaged and happy at work?

Show appreciation for team members' efforts and contributions through regular feedback and recognition.

Communication is key, and if you want your team to be productive and happy at work, you need to make sure that you’re checking in with them on a regular basis.

We make sure our remote employees have clear goals that are aligned with higher level company objectives, which helps with prioritisation, focus and a sense of purpose & achievement. We also have mini-rituals (held virtually) like daily standups, monthly all-hands and weekly wins on a Friday to foster inclusion and a build a sense of connection. We also like to bring the whole team together at least once a quarter for in-person collaboration and to build camaraderie and celebrate our wins.

Here's some ideas that we live by from our co-founder. Can share the blog that has full details if you like. Social rituals – Being intentional and cognizant of ways your team can interact and bond. Be sure to give space to and facilitate the non-work parts of work… humans are more than just the parts of themselves that produce work product. Onboarding – Think about the very first moments a new employee joins and what goals and expectations you are setting for them at the outset. Tools – What tools are you using to hold your team and facilitate collaboration? Were they designed with a co-located-first approach in mind? Or are they made specifically for folks working remotely? Core hours/work hours – Be very intentional about your hours of operations, and set those expectations with your team. If your team works across time zones, you may have core hours that are different from work hours, or you may not have core hours at all! You may also want to experiment with 4-day work weeks, or reduced weekly hours. One of the strengths of remote work is giving control of an individual’s work day back to them, but it’s important to be clear about expectations and boundaries to make sure that we dismantle these old philosophies about more hours = more committed employee. PTO and Holidays – When vacations and holidays can occur at the same kitchen table where you work, it can be difficult to unwind. Think about ways you can make sure to protect employees from work bleeding into their PTO, either with rituals or with using tools to shut off work. Encourage folks to uninstall Slack from their phone while they are out– it will be there when they get back. Maybe kickoff holidays and studio closures with a little social time for the final hours of the prior working day. Benefits – Benefits of being co-located will inherently be different. You’re not going to need an arcade in the break room, but you might still want to figure out a way to get snacks to everyone. Is everyone working really hard or you’re working toward a milestone? Maybe find ways to help out with their boring household tasks like cleaning or grocery shopping. Have generous home office reimbursals, think about electricity and internet stipends, and maybe offer pet boarding or dog walking services. Go even further, get weird with it. You can find almost anything on the internet.

As a remote worker I can speak from my experience. What has kept me engaged and happy: - Getting credit for my work - Having a good manager that values my happiness and well being - Friendly competition among the group (currently March Madness Bball pool) - A way to socialize and banter about non work related topics - Flexibility to work without micromanagement