4 principles for working in remote teams

Someone asked me recently — what did I think were the most important things for a team working well remotely? This got me thinking; working from home is something everyone’s had to get used to these last few months, but I’m in an interesting position of having worked on few different projects since we went fully remote. With those different experiences, are there some common threads I could pull out for what’s worked?

Given this blog exists, you may have already guessed that yep, there are! There are loads of articles out there about leading remote teams, but what I’m more interested in is about working as part of a team. Of course, if you’re a team lead, you have the opportunity to lead the way on a bunch of these practices!

Transparency by default

When you’re working remotely, you lose that shared physical space. No more teams sat together, pulling someone into a conversation or tech chat to get extra input, no more overhearing a problem and being able to offer a solution.

In the remote world, there’s the temptation to chat directly to the person you think you need to — to get their attention, and get a response asap. This can lead to information and decisions being siloed, and in a remote team it can be harder for other people to even know this is happening. Try to adopt a principle of ‘transparency by default’ and have that conversation in the team chat! Slack should be a steady stream, without worrying about things being missed or lost, and it can’t be too active. Just tag anyone that needs to see something, and anything to be persisted should be documented elsewhere. You’ll be amazed how often someone unexpected can chime in with relevant info, and how much easier it is to loop people in to discussions.

Make time to waste time

No-one (at least not that I know) can sit down, work and focus through the whole day without taking at least the odd break or letting their mind wander. It’s great to share some of that with your co-workers! Maybe it’s a random/water-cooler channel set aside for folks to drop into and discuss non-work stuff, a coffee catchup zoom call, or team/company games and social events at the end of the week. It has to be more of an active choice when remote, but taking that time to connect as people rather than just co-workers will help you stay happier and more productive when you are working, and it’s much easier to collaborate with people when you know them a little better.

Sync smart

The flexibility of remote can be extended from different places to different times — since the start of the pandemic, I’ve worked with people across the UK, Europe and the US. Embrace it! Even if you’re in the same city, some people prefer to get their work out the way early, while others need to look after kids and concentrate on a problem later. Have some agreed core hours to come together and collaborate, and anything outside that is yours to focus uninterrupted how and when you want! Just make sure folks know when you’re around — update your calendar, or say hi/bye on the team chat. This asynchronicity forces you into some other good habits — does this need a meeting, or can it be a discussion in a thread? Do I need to call and get an answer now, or can I send a message to be answered later? Being forced to sometimes handle slight delays means you’ll find yourself working with fewer interruptions, and the collaboration you do have will be more effective.

Psychological safety

Probably the most important point! Working remotely makes it that much easier for folks feel overwhelmed and hide any issues, without it being picked up on. The lack of boundary between home and work means people can end up sliding into overworking. Do everything you can to make the rest of your team feel comfortable sharing problems — normalise asking questions, asking for help and raising blockers. Have a private chat just for the team, without any other stakeholders. Keep an eye out for signs of people struggling (being online and committing code well outside their usual hours). Succeed and fail as a team! If people feel safe making the odd mistake and know the team can help them, they’ll feel safe taking ownership of bigger challenges, and the whole team will benefit.

What are your top remote tips? Let me know!